Day 51 - 10/9/11 - Saturday- Ljubljana (Skojan Caves)

An early trip start was on the agenda, so a quick supermarket trip to get fresh bread rolls, ham and cheese, OJ and yoghurt (our not uncommon makedo breakfast). After struggling to find the vaguely described designated pick up point we eventually did, and then off we went, a minivan load of 4 Aussies (including Cin) and 3 Safis, and our Slovenian guide. Our guide was talkative, so gave us some explanation of life in Slovenia. Like many countries, he described how many officials were corrupt.

Prior to the caves we visited a castle in the region, and whilst it is easy to become Castle/ Palace/ Fort/ church jaded, this one was quite interesting as it was built into a rockface, and most walls were 2.5 metres thick, making them relatively impenetrable.

Slovenia is famous for its caves, and these caves are on the UNESCO world heritage list. The official explained.... you are not allowed to take photos in the cave, which is an obvious attempt to make you buy the book or DVD. Cinthia decided this was a ridiculous rule (as did 4-5 others) so we became a rogue group at the back of the cave walking congo line, taking photos when enough life permitted.

The Skocjan caves have some stalecmites and stalectites, however they are not that impressive. More impressive is the sheer size of the cavern, which surely is one of the biggest known underground caverns. Whilst these caves are the most famous in Europe, I guess it is hard not to assess things in relativity, as I certainly concluded the caves in Mulu, Borneo were much more impressive overall.

We had lunch at a restaurant where Gnocchi and grated truffles was the speciality, and it was very nice. The local wine, Tiran, was superb, however it is not exported as it does not work well with preservatives.

Post lunch we headed to the coast, a place called Piran, which was not far from the Italian border. Most people also spoke Italian, and our guide told us they welcomed the Italians in World War II, as opposed to considering it an occupation. It was a nice town, full of cobblestone alleys, quaint windowshutters, and it also was surrounded by the sea. Given it was a hot day I took the opportunity to go for a cool down swim, however Cinthia preferred to stay dry, and focus on happy snapping and fridge magnet buying, her normal pasttimes.