Saturday 21st September 2024

Awake nice and early to be greeted by a cracking day with a few wispy clouds covering the tops of mountains visible from the bedroom window- actually whilst laying flat out. Thankfully the bells stopped pealing about 900 last night.

Breakfast was a great follow up to dinner, with an amazing array of goodies to suit anybody. After about 5 days without vegetable servings, other than potatoes in various forms, I deferred to the Mediterranean style with lots of vegetables and fruit and no sweet treats. I am sure my digestive system will be pleased.

We shared breakfast with a roomful of American men on a Culture Tour which had a strong military history focus.

Our day was not meant to be too arduous with a circular walk to the waterfall and local war memorials, plus a couple of Museums. It wasn’t that simple as the suspension bridge had recently failed a safety inspection and we needed to do a couple of out and back walks instead.

The first one took us through the middle of town, passing a raft of cute houses, many with neat firewood stacks already in place for the winter. The town is remarkably tidy with no litter in sight.

We were soon headed down towards the Soce river. It was crossed by the Napoleon Bridge and what an amazing sight, with crystal clear emerald to tourquoise water running through a narrow gorge before flowing into a set of rapids. The steepling mountains on both sides were an amazing backdrop.

We will need to do a lot of photo culling because it was a clickathon with the camera as we walked along the road heading towards the National Park.

That said as world worst photographer it might still leave some crummy ones.

The scenery only got better, even though the track quality diminished. You had to love the warning signs about falling rocks and use self protection – essentially translate into ‘duck there is a boulder coming’.

Unlike many of other walks we recently did there were lots of others out and about, many with one or two dogs and some with babies in carriers worn like a backpack.

We passed the out of service suspension bridge which looked as though it might have tested the nerves even when it was pristine condition, with its only two flimsy supports made from timber precariously anchored into a boulder.

We branched away from the river and were in the heart of the valley where the major WW1 battles took place. As with Kokoda it was hardly ideal terrain to wage a war.

The track meandered along a small stream before a couple of bridge crossing, with guide wires to help balance, had us at the base of the Slab or waterfall in our lingo.

It was almost like a cavern with a leaky roof with water thundering over the edge , then pooling and gently flowing down to the main river. There were the usual idiots getting off the trail and clambering down rock faces to take the ‘ultimate photo’. 

Fully sated with the experience we headed back, but took the opportunity to branch off up into the mountain side to explore the remnants of the trenches left over from the war. It was chilling to thing you were treading in the spots where the war raged for those 29 months and so many tragically lost their lives after enduring terrible weather and living conditions. 

Clambered our way back down to the riverside, testing the dicky knees. and retraced our steps back to town passing a string of beehives ( a huge industry up here) and a carpark now brimming with more visitors. 

Grabbed a few more snaps off the Napoleon Bridge and caught a glimpse of a few paragliders who were far too high to photograph.

Visited a large supermarket where amongst other things it was ‘do it yourself’ filling bottles with Kefir and at the next stage one of four wines being offered- the latter was under supervision.

Then it was back into town to visit the War Museum, which had won many awards, and understandably so. It was remarkable collection of photographs and artefacts, along with scaled plaster models of mountain battlefields. There was also a theatrette   where a film of the events in WW1 was shown. 

The whole experience was emotional and quite confronting – this was effectively Slovenia’s version of our Gallipoli and The Western Front.

Headed back into town before a bite to eat and then an uphill climb to the memorial for 8000 Italian soldiers who lost their lives in the region.

The memorial , with its walls coveted in the name of lost souls, enveloped the church high on the hill. The church had dual purposes religious celebration and signal points in the war to warn of impending invaders.

From this vantage point you could see down the valley and also look over the township and see what a compact place it was, yet so significant in the war.

It’s interesting now that a symbol of trying to live in more harmonious times is celebrated by the Peace Walk. It runs from the Alps to the Adriatic, some 900 kilometres, passing through many of the battle fields. Maybe one to consider, or at least parts of it, in the future.

Followed it up with a walk around the town capturing all of the recommended sites before heading home for a siesta and then to spread some wealth amongst the local bars with a visit to the one directly adjacent to our hotel.

As with last night the food and service was sensational, this time departing the seafood and settling on venison.

Back at home we read tomorrows trip notes with a little trepidation with quotes like ‘ a long stint on scree’ , ‘severe drop off and slippery footing’ and ‘ don’t take wrong fork as mountaineering experience is required ‘. Sounds like an exciting 14km 5-6 hour walk.

That said there was a very enticing comment at the bottom of the page ‘ you can avoid this section and do one of the alternative walks in the town where todays walk finishes’.

Nothing like a Plan B to consider.