I slept so well last night. Urska and Marko have a nice big sofa that converts to a big bed. Peter and I slept in luxury.
The plan for today was to cycle around Cerknica Lake, visiting Postoyna caves on the way. Plans however are not to be taken seriously, and things ended up better than planned.
Peter and I left our gear at Marko and Urska’s, and cycled to the Postoyna caves. Here we were met by a reporter and cameramen from a popular national Slovene TV station, 24 hour. Peter had arranged this meeting, and here is the result:
My spot is near the end, at 11 minutes and 15 seconds. Thanks Peter for the link.
Just after the interview, the Marketing Director for Postojna caves introduced himself, and being suitably impressed by my travels, gave Peter and I free tickets for the cave. A big thanks to Postojna Caves!
The caves are impressive. A very well thought out tour gives you a good idea of the cave’s interior. The caves in total are some 20km in length, and the standard 1.5 hour tour takes in about 3km of this.
The first 1km or so is by train. Speeding through narrow caves and past massive stalactites and stalagmites, it’s almost as if you are riding on a train in Disneyland. Only the surroundings are real!
Photos are not allowed, but I snuck just one for the memories.
The cave tour took longer than expected, so we arranged to sleep again at Urska and Marko’s place that night. We met Urska after lunch, and the three of us headed towards Cerknica Lake. Two recumbents and a mountain bike.
Cerknica Lake is an intermittent lake, drying up in summer, and appearing again over the later months of the year. There are no rivers running into or out of the lake. The lake is fed by springs, and the water leaves via springs.
The causeway we are on here is at times completely submerged, and at other times is surrounded by grassy fields. Today we were lucky enough to see the lake close to half full.
In Dolenje Jezero, a small village on the shores of the lake, locals have constructed an intricate model of how the lake works, with pumps and channels that mimmick the lake’s changes. We got an in depth run down.
On the way to Cerknica Lake are springs that gush water out of the ground at an amazing rate. The photo below shows such a spring. There is no river at the left of the photo. Just rocks.
Such springs created rivers that flowed through caves and massive natural arches.
It was a fairly cold day. Grey and misty, requiring gloves to keep the hands warm. Urska and Marko’s apartment was a welcome place after an afternoon of chilly riding, as was Luka (at far right in the photo), another experienced cycle tourer, and a friend of Urska and Marko. He cycled for about three months in New Zealand, and even went to Invercargill (my hometown).
Dinner that night was prepared by Marko. A traditional Slovenian dish called Jota. It uses sour crout. Very good indeed.
Man, I thought that food was something sweet, more like a dessert. Even the idea of Sauerkraut (see the similarity to the English?) shocked me! I have a big glass of sour crout in my fridge and am feeding my dog because I can't see it any more these days.