Update 2/9/08
The guys wanted to climb at a tiny place in Slovenia called Osp and we arrived at a tiny campsite late in the afternoon. Immediately a man approached us and started talking about the Mog, he was Slovenian and a former climber but had had a nasty fall and couldn’t climb any more. He was in the middle of cooking several large fish on his barbeque and gave us three! We settled into a routine with the guys getting up early and cycling off for a day at the crag, returning mid-afternoon for rest and then some of Ollie’s great cooking... we had discovered that he was a keen and very willing cook so took total advantage of him – yum yum!! There is a lot of climbing in this region but a lot of it was very hard and above the guys level. Another problem was the heat – the crag is exceptionally busy in spring and autumn when it is cool enough to climb throughout the day.
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One afternoon I set them a juggling task where they had to pass the balls to each other... this turned into a marathon juggling session for most of the afternoon much to the amusement of the others in the campsite! |
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After four days we left for the delightful Ljubljana but on the way visited the UNESCO world heritage caves locally. The compulsory tour takes over an hour and they were amazing. The huge underground caverns, filled with stalactites and stalagmites, were discovered by locals around 100 years ago and now has a bridge 45 metres over the underground river which was a bit scary as we wobbled over it! The guide had been to Scotland and was keen to talk to us about her trip so we ended up having a private tour hanging back to chat. We then walked back to the car park via a pretty route taking in river views and several waterfalls.
Ollie left us at Ljubljana for a hostel in the centre while we found a campsite on the edge of town but a short bus ride to the centre. The advantage was the series of swimming pools on the site. They connected together by bridges, steps and waterfalls and had loads of water jets and spa pools – great in the 32 degree heat!
We went into the city the following day and walked round the lovely old town centre. Sitting outside a cafe by the river with a coffee watching people wandering by was enchanting and the city had changed very little since my last visit in 2006. We wandered the small shops and visited the castle on the hill and had long coffee breaks in between!
| Craving the countryside again we collected Ollie, waved goodbye to Ljubljana and headed for Lake Bohinij and more climbing! We arrived at the only campsite in the area only to find complete chaos. We were told to walk round and find a spot for the lorry but as the site was split into two areas - €20 for the non-lakeside pitches and €48 for lakeside. The only problem was that the lakeside seemed to encompass the only flat areas and everyone had squeezed into the cheap areas! We eventually found a spot and immediately decided to leave the following morning! | |
| Oz had a small disagreement with the sleepy guy in charge when he asked how much it would cost to hook up to electric. €5 came the reply! Oz asked if it was a deposit to check that it wasn’t €5 per day but that was the price!! Oz said that it was daylight robbery, much to the amusement of the rest of the queue! Subsequently we didn’t hook up either! |
Ollie relaxes in his hammock home! Click to enlarge. |
The following morning we drove to the crag and Oz and Ollie climbed all morning with a large group of kids next to them getting their first taste of climbing. The afternoon was spent canoeing on the lake. Oz and I found a section of cliff that plunged deep into to the lake so we paddled back to get Ollie and the climbing boots and the guys tried a bit of deep water soloing over the lake which was fun to watch from the canoe. That night we found another crag higher up into the surrounding hills and spent the night camping illegally in the crag parking area. The morning saw more climbing in this spot and another afternoon of canoeing on the lake.
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Lake Bohinij |
Canoeing down to Lake Bled |
Castle on the hill at Lake Bled |
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Oz tackling the crag at Lake Bohinij |
Ollie on a different pitch |
Ollie belaying Oz |
The area is famous for being a perfect launch site for paragliders and paddling across the lake watching them take off at the top of one of the mountains and glide down to the lake shore was very relaxing. We had a swim and marathon frisbee session in the lake before returning to the crag car park for the night. A storm blew in that night and we rescued Ollie from his hammock and he curled up on the seating inside the Mog and slept. At 7.15am we were rudely awakened by thumping on the door! One of the park rangers had spotted us. Oz quickly dressed and, opening the door, asked what the problem was. The ranger said it was a €500 fine to camp in the park and that we should move within 5 minutes!! Oz replied that we had not been here long and that we were here to climb – a likely story as we all looked like we’d just woken up and the lorry engine was stone cold! Still, he didn’t charge us and we moved on quickly!
| I dropped off the guys at the end of the lake and they canoed down river halfway to Lake Bled – about 15 km. Once safely back at the Mog we drove to Lake Bled campsite and arrived in a hailstorm of massive hailstones! People dived for cover, all except Ollie who scampered about finding larger and larger hailstones and holding them up proudly to show me! The following morning we canoed the length of the lake while Ollie climbed the hill to the castle. He then swam across to meet us for an ice-cream. We relaxed for a few days but then Jim texted saying he was climbing in the Dolomites so we packed up and drove to Italy! |  |