My first adventure: Kamniška Bistrica and Velika Planina

Juan Lopez, young Spanish entrepreneur discovering Slovenian tourism (more pictures)

Sunday 24th October 2010, 06:00 a.m. Ljubljana (Slovenia) the alarm clock went off. Time to get up. Darkness. I left home, I was prepared for the adventure that awaited me that day. In the street all was silent and the darkness was only broken by the full moon light. I went to the bus station and went to a place that had never before heard of: Kamniška Bistrica.

In Kamniška Bistrica, Maja expected me. Maja is a nice lady who among her many jobs promotes tourism in the area. But, what is there to see in Kamniška Bistrica?

Kamniška Bistrica is an Alpine river in northern Slovenia, left tributary of the river Sava. It springs from the Kamnik Alps, near the border with Austria. It is 33 km long. Kamniška Bistrica flows through the town of Kamnik, where it is fed by the river Nevljica. So Kamniška Bistrica is in fact a river, but also the name of one of the most beautiful valleys I have seen in my life.

As a good hostess Maja showed me the most significant places of the valley, among which are the following:
• The spring of the river Kamniška Bistrica: The water springs from the moss-grown rocks and then stops for a short period of time in the artificial lake. The lake is a good place for refreshment.
• Predaselj gorge: The gorges Veliki and Mali Predaselj present the narrowest part of the riverbed of the Kamniška Bistrica. A few minute walk along the gorge opens a beautiful view on the riverbed and the colour of the river pure.
• Plečnik's Mansion: This building was built by  the architect Jože Plečnik and was The Royal Hunting Lodge of the King Alexander (Yugoslavian King).
• Memorial Park: It’s a park which includes the memorial tablets of all casualties in The Alps. There is also a memorial tablet for Tomaž Humar, one of the best Slovenian alpinists.

Maja and her Tourism Association can help you organize your trip to Kamniška Bistrica, she will show you the most beautiful and hidden places, and organize all kinds of activities such as hiking, mountain biking, archery, fishing, kayaking, zip line ... and she could  prepare a typical Slovenian food.

After seeing the wonders of Kamniška Bistrica, Maja, a friend of hers and I went to Velika Planina. Velika Planina is a grass plateau located at 1,500 meters altitude (Kamniška Bistrica is 600 meters high). From Bistrica,  Velika planina can be accessed by the cabin lift or through the mountain road. In Velika Planina, you can do all sorts of activities. In summer, you could go hiking, mountain biking, visit the typical shepherd houses, see the church of Santa Maria. In Winter, Velika Planina is a perfect place for snow lovers: skiing, sledge-runs, cross-country skiing, snowshoes walks  ... But we were in the autumn: at first the sky was overcast, but when we started climbing, fog broke out so we could barely see 10 meters far which made it easy to get lost. But going with these two experts, there was no problem. After an hour and a half we saw the houses of shepherds and arrived at the church of Santa Maria. All was quiet, silence, harmony ... The tiredness and the cold was coming over us, so we went to eat at Jarški Dom. As we were cold, we drank dušica (a traditional herbs liqueur) and the soup obara with žganci, so pretty quickly we were warm again. Finally we tried the traditional dessert štruklji. Everything was delicious. We were in heaven. On the way back the fog lifted and we could clearly see the traditional houses of the shepherds and the nearby Alpine peaks, such as Grintavec (2.558m).

In the evening we had dinner at the International Center Picnic "Pri Jurju" where we enjoyed a traditional Slovenian dinner and we talked animatedly to Marjan, the owner. And to finish the day, I stayed at the hotel Pri Orlu, a cute hotel, where in every detail there is a good taste.

I want to thank all the people I’ve met on Sunday, but especially Maja. Thanks for all and we are meeting soon!