As told by me

Ljubljana is suffering an epidemic. It does not discriminate by age but seems only to affect females, and only local females at that. I counted 22 women who showed the symptom (as far as I can tell there is only one) in the ten minutes it took me to walk from my hostel to the river.

The affliction to which I refer is dyed red hair. I’d first noticed a few suffers up in Bled but it was only in the city that the full scale of the outbreak became clear. The primary shade of red is a dark one that I’m not at all averse to, though I also noticed a few rather more orange shades as well.

I questioned my private guide on the boat tour I took (private only because I was the only customer) about this. He looked at me like I was some sort of crazy person and mumbled something about red hair not being native to these parts and perhaps these women were from Ireland. I got the impression that he probably doesn’t spend a whole lot of time in the company of women, other than his mother, so he may not have been the best person to ask.

Along the river

Red hair epidemic notwithstanding, Ljubljana is a rather happening little city that I quickly warmed to. There is a very lively bar/restaurant scene along both sides of the river and there was a free concert under way in the main square, next to the Triple Bridge. This is a rather odd construction which came about in the early 20th Century as the original bridge (the central span) was too small to handle the growing volume of (pedestrian) traffic. To forestall its demolition (it was quite old by this point), a local architect came up with this rather original design to add two additional spans.

Triple Bridge

The main square, next to the Triple Bridge, is something of a homage to Slovenia’s national poet, France Prešeren, with a series of easels suspended from wires, which make for some good photos, such as this one.

Airborne easel

The city’s symbol is a green dragon, based on a legend that Jason (of Argonaut fame) came to these parts a while ago and fought with a dragon. Green Dragons are therefore everywhere (perhaps the red hair thing is a reaction to it?) including the city’s coat of arms and, most impressively, guarding the ‘Dragon Bridge’.

Dragon Bridge

Next to the Dragon Bridge, sitting below the castle, is the main market, a fairly modest affair consisting of a mix of pretty awful clothes and really excellent fruit, veg and flowers. I supplemented my unsatisfying hostel breakfast (two pieces of toast) with a large, juicy nectarine – one of the best I’ve ever had.

The market

The castle is certainly more substantial than its counterpart up in Bled but much less romantic in setting. It was also half closed when I went so didn’t get much out of it other than the views out over the city.

Ljubljana castle

The Town Hall is a nice enough building that I wouldn’t normally have given a second thought to but it was on the list of places I was supposed to see so I wandered in.

I’m glad I did as they have a fantastic sculpture garden set in an atrium off the main hall with some really cool sculptures, including this one (though I confess that I only worked out what it was once I looked at the photo on my laptop later on – until then I thought it was a furry creature of some sort, like Dougal from the Magic Roundabout).

Sculpture garden

The old town is charming. It’s well preserved without being overdone – there’s still plenty of authentic peeling paint around – and is almost completely unblighted by chain stores and has some really interesting hand made toy shops and the like.

Old town

As I was wandering around, I enountered a very friendly (and really pretty) local lass (I’m guessing late 20s) with a very cute puppy bouncing along at the end of a lead. We exchanged smiles, my heart jumped and my warm feelings for this little country grew that much warmer.

This wasn’t the only ‘moment’ I’ve had on this trip either. Bled is a very romantic place, remember…

Speaking of which, the general female attractiveness ratio here (at least in the bits I’ve been to) is pleasingly high. They’re also a genuinely pleasant lot. Nearly all the locals (including the guys) I’ve met have been friendly and welcoming in a disarmingly relaxed way which I find very endearing. Like most small European countries that don’t dub their television, most of them also speak excellent English, along with Italian, German and probably French. It’s almost embarrassing to be an essentially monolingual English speaker in places like this (though I did manage a few minutes of passable German conversation with the Viennese lady I sat next to on the plane to Singapore, so perhaps I should give myself a little more credit).

Slovenia has many similarities with its northern neighbour, Austria, a country in which I’ve spent quite a bit of time, though I find this place much less uptight and decidely less pristine. It’s not a dirty place – far from it – it’s just a bit frayed around the edges (especially outside the tourist areas), and the ‘socialist legacy’ – crumbling apartment blocks mainly – is certainly evident out in the suburbs. I kind of like the extra character this adds to the place though.

Combine all of these attributes with some very special geography and the fact that it is surprisingly cheap (especially for the Eurozone) and I’m finding this a very easy country to like.

Oh, and the conference went really well too.

More Ljubljana photos here

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Slovenia - September 2009

Qantas agreed to push my flight home back a day without charge, which was just as well really. I therefore had some time up my sleeve in which to do some more exploring.

The guy at the hiking shop gave me two recommendations in response to my request for suggested mountains to climb, both of which originated in the same town. So, after another ridiculously early rising (jetlag is not all bad) and a couple of hours of work, I hopped on the very comfortable local bus for the half hour journey west to Lake Bohinj (pron Baw-heen). This was also one of the places that my brother-in-law’s very important boss (of Slovenian extraction) had recommended I visit, so my expectations were quite high.

And I was not to be disappointed. This valley really has the wow factor. I know because I said it out loud, more than once.

A thick layer of mist sat across the valley and the lake itself was a sheet of glass. A gorgeous white church sits at the end of the lake next to an old stone bridge. The lake is encircled by dramatic cliffs and steep mountains leading up to higher, rocky peaks. It is a truly magnificent setting which my photos don’t go close to capturing in its full glory.

Lake Bohinj

The bus dropped me at Ukanc, at the western end of the lake. I wasn’t ready to decide yet which route I should take so I thought I’d check out the gondola as this was just up the hill and seemed like the easiest option.

The next gondola was due to leave in about 20 minutes so I had a look around the outdoors shop in the terminal. I then did a very silly thing and bought some more sunglasses, the fourth lot I’ve bought in about a month (though I did return the one expensive pair). I seem to have developed a real problem with sunglasses – part of this is simply because I have an enormous head and most simply don’t fit me, so I’m struggling to find some that I really like. This particular purchase was a particularly odd thing to do as it wasn’t even sunny, and now I’ve got another pair of sunglasses that I only sort of like. The $8 pair I bought in Beijing would have done me fine for the day and I really should have spent 10 Euros on a vinyl rain jacket instead.

Lake Bohinj again

Anyway. I was joined in the gondola by a number of serious looking and rather well-equipped Germans, who seemed to be looking at my flat-soled electric blue sneakers with disdain. I ignored them and turned to watch the two paragliders go through their preparations. That’s something I really will have to try soon.

Within moments of starting our ascent, I could see in detail where the other route went and really wanted to do it. Within a couple more minutes, once the full scale of things was clear, I started to have serious second thoughts as the whole first section was essentially a massive cliff. I seem to remember the guy at the hiking shop had mumbled something about this option being ‘a bit steep’ at the start.

The other route

So, I decided to continue on up this particular mountain. Like most ski areas when the snow’s not around, this wasn’t the prettiest place, but given my fairly poor level of preparedness (I had nothing remotely wind or water-proof) it seemed sensible to stay close to civilisation in case those clouds darkened.

Looking west from the top of the gondola

I spurned the chairlift that continued up the mountain and charged off, up the very rocky slopes. After I’d reached the top of the chairlift, I quickly overtook my fellow gondola riders (so much for all their fancy gear!) and was at the top (1880m) within an hour.

Naturally, there were awesome views in all directions. I found a comfy little spot out of the wind in which to sit and enjoy them and to scribble down most of what you’ve just read.

West

East

When I returned to the summit, the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped sharply. I therefore had no trouble resisting the temptation to head off along either of these ridges, though with a bit more gear and perhaps a partner in crime, I probably would have. Instead, I got the German couple that had followed me up to take a quick photo of me and then hastily made my way back down.

Cold

Back at the gondola station, I patiently waited for Mount Triglav (Slovenia’s highest at 2840m, and obviously a big deal as it’s on the flag) to shake off the clouds that had hidden it all morning and reveal itself for a photo. This is as close as it got.

Mount Triglav

On the way down, I met a friendly family from Nelson Bay (a bit north of Sydney) who were visiting Grandma’s country of birth for the first time. They encouraged me to visit the Savica Waterfall, supposedly one of the highlights of the area. As this was right next to the trailhead of the other route, I thought I’d check it out.

Walking four kilometres to go and see a waterfall is not something I would have considered doing in the not too distant past, but the new and improved Jon thought nothing of it, even after walking up and down a rather steep mountain. The walk itself was really quite pleasant, along a quiet winding road through some lovely forest.

Walking through the forest

I was getting a little foot weary though by the time I reached the carpark and was surprised to learn that it was still allegedly another 20 minutes walk up a whole lot of stairs (I remember the aussie Mum mentioning something about 500 stairs – there was a competition for getting the right number so lots of people were counting them). Undeterred, I charged up the stairs, overtaking all sorts of lesser mortals.

The waterfall itself was actually quite small. What was impressive though was the almost vertical cliff opposite it up which the other route I had been recommended supposedly went. It wasn’t clear exactly where it went, but it was bloody steep so I was satisfied that I had made the right call in not attempting it.

Savica Waterfall

Steep!

By the time I got back to Ukanc, I was so hungry that I decided to skip the tourist boat which offered a gentle cruise down the length of the lake, and got the bus back to the other end of the lake. I then sat down at a lakeside cafe and wolfed down a pizza that the waitress tried to talk me out of buying – ‘is frozen, is not good’.

The church

The stone bridge

So, I’d got to walk up a mountain and was treated to some of the most spectacular views I’ve ever seen. It was a great day in a very special place.

More Lake Bohinj photos here

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Slovenia - September 2009

Nearly 56 hours after I left home in Melbourne, I was sitting in a very comfortable Mercedes taxi belting along a newly-laid EU-funded freeway away from Ljubljana airport. Borut, my driver, was not a talkative chap which was disappointing as I was in a chatty mood and had even gone to the trouble of introducing myself. There was more than enough going on out the window though to keep me interested for the half hour trip up the valley to Bled.

I’d already decided, based on what I’d seen from the plane, that I like Slovenia. The ragged, rocky peaks and thickly forested foothills look like they contain some great walking and I had already started thinking about pushing my return flight back a day to give me time to walk up one of them.

Wikitravel describes Bled’s scenery as “almost impossibly romantic”, and they’re not wrong. It is a stunningly beautiful place and would be a wonderful place to bring a special someone for the weekend. Thankfully, today was a lovely, warm sunny day. A lovely day for a walk around a lake, in fact.

Lake Bled

I climbed up to the Castle and reluctantly coughed up the seven euro admission charge. The view is awesome though so I suppose it was worth it.

View from Bled Castle

I then found a walking track out the back of the castle which headed along the ridge through a lovely bit of forest, then down to the lake. I believe that a gentle walk through some forest and around a very pretty lake on a sunny afternoon might just be the perfect antidote to two very long days of travelling.

Lake Bled again

The money shot

More Bled photos here

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Slovenia - September 2009

We’ve had a D appended to our flight number. This presumably stands for ‘Delayed’ to avoid any confusion for early attendees of tonight’s edition of QF5 (yes I know you can’t see it in this photo, so you’ll have to take my word for it).

Departures board

We finally left Singaporean soil at 18:00, 18 hours and 40 minutes late. That’s 1,120 minutes. I didn’t think planes could be that late.

They finally decided to pull the pin a bit before 04:00 this morning. Rumour has it that this was primarily because we’d reached a point where the flight crew didn’t have enough permitted flight time remaining to get us all the way to Frankfurt.

So we trudged off back down the length of the terminal to stand in a very slow queue at passport control. Then we waited for our luggage. Then we got on a coach into the city and checked into what was actually a pretty decent hotel. The whole process was actually surprisingly efficient and well-handled though and I think the local Qantas staff did a good job of keeping a lid on things. The fact that most of my fellow passengers are softly-spoken Germans was undoubtedly working in their favour.

My head finally hit the pillow at almost exactly the time I would normally be waking up, and sleep was therefore elusive for a while. My brain must have then remembered the auto shutdown sequence it had tried to engage unsuccessfully at least three times earlier as the next thing I knew it was nearly 10am and I was about to miss breakfast.

Our departure time had been moved back to 17:00, so I took the opportunity to go for a wander around, first up Fort Canning and then along the river to the iconic Merlion.

Singapore River

Singapore has, unsurprisingly, changed a lot since I was first here in the early 80s but I was much more interested in my shiny new Donkey Kong Game & Watch then so I have to admit that my memory is a little hazy. I’d forgotten how odd it is having the sun directly overhead though and I’m pretty sure they’ve moved the Merlion since I was last here.

Me & the Merlion

The flight itself was pleasant enough, though it was really rough across the Andaman Sea and through the Bay of Bengal, which wasn’t a whole lot of fun way back in row 73.

The captain had promised great views of the Himalayas, but they were buried in cloud. He’d talked up Afghanistan as a beautiful country to view from the air (a joke about flying B-52s was made at this point) but it was dark not long after we crossed the Indian coast. He’d also given us a detailed explanation of the cause of our delay – an electrical fault in engine two, which apparently took about five minutes to fix once they’d managed to isolate it. It think it’s fair to say that Qantas’ fleet of 747s are starting to show their age (ours was not the first Qantas 747 out of Singapore to have engine issues this week).

Frankfurt was suitably efficient – we touched down bang on midnight and I was tucked into bed at the airport Sheraton within an hour. In the morning, I was able to wander across the footbridge to the terminal and check-in for the flight to Ljubljana before returning to my hotel room for a bonus lie down while I waited for boarding.

Patience is not usually one of my strong points but this is something I’ve clearly made a lot of progress on lately as I really haven’t minded this epic journey that much. It’s now 49 hours since I left Melbourne and I’ve still got one leg to travel but I’ve been able to sleep (albeit briefly) on two really rather good hotel beds so I’m actually not that knackered. I’ve got a couple of unexpected stamps in my passport, had a pleasant enough afternoon wandering around Singapore, and though I’ve missed the opportunity to explore Ljubljana over the weekend, I have most of Wednesday free to do that so I guess I don’t have much to really complain about. I also have another travel horror story to impress people with, and it is, of course, all about the stories.

I will be having a conversation with Qantas about an upgrade on the way home though.

More Singapore photos here.

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Unintended destinations

About an hour ago my body tried very hard to shut down (it is 5am Melbourne time) but I somehow managed to both stay awake and to avoid losing my temper at the Qantas rep. I put this down to the new magical powers I have developed through a few short months of some very clean living.

I can see the offending engine through the window and it’s pretty clear that it’s not going to be fixed in a hurry.

It’s also clear that I will not make my connection in Frankfurt, despite having what was originally a generous four hour layover. There are only two flights a day from Frankfurt to Ljubljana, the 10.15am one I was booked on, and the 8.20pm one I’m now booked on. I’ve been promised a hotel room when I get to Frankfurt, but that’s little consolation compared with the afternoon exploring Ljubljana’s mediaeval old town that I had been looking forward to.

That all seems a very long way away now though. I’ve been up for 23 hours as I was trying to do the right thing jetlag-wise by staying up until it was bedtime in Europe.

I’m too tired to read, but somehow I seem to be able to compose and type sentences fairly competently. I suppose that’s because it requires more concentration and gives my brain something to focus on other than the overwhelming need to shut down.

They’ve finally accepted that this plane isn’t leaving so we’re off to a hotel in town for what’s left of the night. It’s anyone’s guess when I’m going to get to Slovenia now. They reckon we’ll leave at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see.

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Unintended destinations