Slovenia #2: Into The Mountains
Roman briefs us on our hike before we start out
After four days of exploring the city of Ljubljana on our own, now we were heading into the mountains. We were on a guided trip organized by Mountain Travel Sobek, a descendent of Mountain Travel, a company founded way back in 1969. It started out running trekking trips to Nepal and was quite successful, spawning an entire industry for adventure travel. (Since we returned from our trip just a week ago, the company announced that it has officially changed its name to MT Sobek.) It's offerings are physical activity/adventure oriented, not passive tours. You don't ride around in a luxury coach, you get out and work. The trips are built around hiking or rafting or kayaking. They also tend to be high end, fairly expensive but high quality in terms of arrangements and lodging. We did a trip to Peru with MTS in 2014 and really enjoyed it. When we looked for a trip to the Eastern Alps, they seemed to offer the best option so we went with them.
New shepherds hut built in traditional style
There were ten people on our trip. Actually there was an eleventh person, but she arrived late and didn't join us till the second day. Roman Krizanic was the head guide. He's been leading trips for MTS for ten years. Jan Zoric was our second guide. For groups larger than eight two guides were needed. The main reason was that we traveled in vans that could hold eight passengers besides the driver. With eleven people we needed two vans to hold our group. Having two guides was a good thing though because it gave us a lot of flexibility. We didn't all have to stay together on hikes. One guide could be up front with the fast hikers while the other stayed back with the slow hikers (that would be me). It gave us options whatever we did. One group could do one thing while another group did something else. And since we had two vans there were always extra seats while we were traveling, which was a lot more comfortable because we weren't all crammed in together. The people in our group were all friendly and easy going but it was nice to be able to spread out.
Sandy enters a mountain village
After loading up the vans we hit the road. We encountered a fair amount of traffic leaving the city so it took us a good two hours to reach the trailhead. When we finally got there we were all anxious to hit the trail. Our first hike was to Velika Planina, the largest of a group of shepherds villages on a high mountain plateau. The first hour was steep uphill but it felt good to be in the mountains and out walking. After that it was easy hiking. When we reached a mountain hut we stopped for a rest break, where we had a chance to get a cup of tea or (in my case) a Coke.
We continued hiking over the high, rolling plateau until we reached our lunch stop at Velika Planina. The village had been completely destroyed during the Second World War, as were all the other villages in the area. Because of partisan activity the Germans burned everything to the ground - they weren't big on winning Hearts and Minds in those days. That means all of the buildings are relatively new, but when people rebuilt they did it in the traditional style, small wooden huts with unusual concial shaped roofs. So the village looks much as it would have looked more than a hundred years ago.
Looking into the living room of a traditional hut
The season in the mountains here is short. The village is only occupied from May through September. No one actually lives there full time or makes their living there. Tending the herds, getting milk and making cheese, is more of a sideline or even a hobby. Some of the inhabitants of the village are elderly - retired folks who just come up for the summer. Others are high school or college students who spend their summer vacation herding. It's not a livelihood, more a tradition that is maintained by the families who own property in the mountains.
While Roman and Jan prepared lunch we visited a small museum that showed what the traditional shepherd home was like eighty years ago or more. It only had two rooms. The outer area, which went all the way around the hut, was a shelter for the animals. At the center of the structure there was an inner room which was where the people lived. It was so tiny that we had to split our group to go in. Even cramming in shoulder to shoulder only five people fit inside at a time. Living there in the old days was clearly a tough life.
Jan and Roman get lunch ready
Then it was time to eat lunch. First we had a traditional Slovenian food, buckwheat and sour milk. I didn't think that sounded very good, or looked very good for that matter, but I was a good sport and did try it, even though I'm not an adventurous eater. I didn't think it was very good. To be fair, the sour milk wasn't as bad as it sounds. It wasn't just spoiled milk - it was more like yogurt. It was mixed in with the buckwheat to form a mash that I thought was kind of bland. The Slovenians all seem to love it though. Maybe it's an acquired taste.
Fortunately there was lots of salad and good bread and cheese for those of us who didn't like the mash. After finishing lunch we started out again with a gentle climb. As we came over a rise we had a fantastic view of the major peaks of the Kamnik Alps. Big limestone mountains, they looked impressive in the distance. It was the kind of view that we had come to the Alps to see.
The big mountains finally come into view
Eventually we came to the upper terminal of a ski lift, an easy way for people to get to the high country. No shortcuts for us though. We had earned our altitude. Well, except for driving up to a high trailhead. But we still felt smugly superior to the tourists who rode all the way up on the lift.
Next to the lift there was an old guy with a long white beard sitting at a rustic wooden table. He was dressed in traditional costume, complete with the funny bark-strip rain coat that the old-time herders used to wear. He was selling postcards with pictures of him wearing his old fashioned dress in various mountain settings. I wanted to take a picture of him but I didn't think it would be cool. I would have bought a post card but I didn't have change, just a 50 Euro note that I got from the ATM.
From the ski lift we looped around a hill and then headed back. As we went by the village where we had eaten lunch we heard music. In the distance we could see a bunch of people in old-fashioned mountain costumes in front of one of the huts, singing traditional songs. Apparently they were making a music video for a professional singing group. I was half expecting that when we came around the next corner we would pass Julie Andrews singing "The Hills Are Alive".
Roman tapes up Verena's boot
The hike went smoothly except for one equipment problem. Early in the hike one of our group members, Verena, had a major equipment failure. The sole of her boot completely delaminated and was flapping loose making it impossible for her to walk. Fortunately Roman was able to repair it by wrapping up her boot with duct tape. Now near the finish her other boot failed and once again her boot was completely wrapped in tape. In all my years of hiking I've never seen a boot come apart like that, much less two on the same hike. I have to admit that I was impressed by the guides though. I consider myself an experienced hiker but I have to admit that I don't routinely carry a roll of duct tape with me when I hike. These guys were good.
The final downhill stretch back to the vans was an easy hike. From the traihead it took us about an hour to drive to our first mountain hotel. Jan took a longer route with Verena through a town where she was able to get replacement boots that worked well for her the rest of the trip. Having two vans came in handy.
It had been a beautiful day and we had a great first hike. Our mountain trip was off to a good start.
