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"Where we last left off, everything was going according to plan. Cancel that. Next is a slippery slope of delays and missed deadlines. However, this is a little more my usual pace. See what happens when I try to plan ahead? The train to Divača is 20 minutes late, not a problem in itself, but the 'walking trail' to the Skočjan caves is.... loosely marked and the signs perpetually say 15 min away. Prepare to walk 45min if you go. A tad frustrating, but the walk is actually nice, and if we had no agenda, would be relaxing. So we don't get there in time for the 1pm tour and have to wait for the 2pm one. Our train from Divača station is at 4:16, and the tour lasts 1.5 hours, ok, still doable. The tour is great. The caves are amazing. If you have to choose between Postojna and here, choose here. It's a litle more rugged, but way grander. Make note of the former stairs and tour route carved into the cave walls, it makes you feel like a baby in comparison. Really great, UNESCO agrees. I'm not even really a cave guy. As with the Postojna caves, my iPhone pictures are... useless; no point in even trying capture it.
So we get out, the tour has taken almost 2 hours, try to run back the top, I'm quicker than Jocelyn and getting there realize we're not going to make the train at this rate. I run ahead and order a cab. When I go back to get her, she is gone. Bathroom maybe? No, restaurant? No. So I've already lost my friend. I can only assume she took the path to the train station and abandon the cab and resign myself to the surely fruitless trek to the station.
There she is. We miss the train. There are no more to Nova Gorica in time to catch the one to Bled. Ok, find a bus. I try to persuade Jocelyn to hitchhike, but it's a no-go. The bus arrives in Nova Gorica early, but sadly not at the train station.
We go as fast as possible but miss the last train to Bled. This is only 7:30pm right now, mind you. But the trains are all done and there are no busses and we are stranded. Oh Slovenia, why must you shut down so early on a Friday? Some friendly people at the station have a laugh with us about our situation, and recommend that we sleep at the train station and take the train the next morning. Done. It would't be the first time. So, a night to kill, and an uncomfortable place to sleep, if there ever was a time to get drunk, this is it. There is a lot of stuff going on despite how small the town is. We watch a free outdoor concert. I forget the name of the band, but they were good enough for us. Slovenia seems to be full of things like this at this time of year. We make enough friends and drink enough beers to make the night a success, eat a drunken Kebab (as far as I can tell, the most popular food in the country), buy cigarettes at the ridiculous casino full of italians and pass out at the train station. We were hoping to see the wonderful scenery on the way to Bled, it was part of the plan by taking the train. We just both curled up and slept the entire way, woke up luckily in time, and with tired eyes saw beautiful lake bled at 7am from the train station.
It's a nice walk to the town, but we are so tired. We also have a day of biking planned. The hotel is the best one that I've never stayed at. The staff takes pity on us and we have a laugh. It's really not so bad, we've all slept in worse places than a train station. There are bikes waiting for us, and a breakfast in the table which we were kindly invited to. I ask if we can wait for someone to check out so that we can use a room for a little while to get showered up and start the day off right. Riding a good bike makes such a difference. After a nap and a red bull, and with a bag full of fruit and drinks, we explore the region. I think I had been a little optimistic in my plan to bike to lake Bohinj. It is certainly doable, but we are feeling like trash today. It's all mountains. Biking is hard, we are out of shape. We do our best. It's still a nice place to see. There is a reason why it is such a popular tourist town. Look up photos, or better yet, just go for yourself.
We decide to take more care in getting to the hotel on time tonight. It's easy, stop in Ljubljana for 35 minutes gives Jocelyn a taste of the city. The only real taste we get it of the Chinese restaurant near the station. I order our food in Mandarin and blow the staff away. I don't know how many Chinese speaking white guys they get in there normally; I assume zero based on their reaction. I love it, I think I'll be moving to China soon. Taxi from Novo Mesto, and we get to the Vovko guesthouse. Finally a place to rest."
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