Ah, the Balkans.  We’ve always wanted to go there and explore their different cultures, histories and languages, the magnificent eastern coastline of the Adriatic Sea and the rugged inland mountains. Yes, the Balkans promise so much to the traveller.  But wait, hold on, we have been to this region a long time ago when most of what is referred to today as the Balkans made up the former country of Yugoslavia.  

Yugoslavia, a mish-mash of different people and cultures which often clashed, was finally dissolved in 1992 and has since become seven different countries – collectively, the Balkans.  Whatever, call them what you will, we’re going to explore them.

After our fab visit to Venice we scurried around the northern shores of the Adriatic Sea and found ourselves in Slovenia, the northern most country of the Balkans and 58^th new country of Follow the Sun.  We’d heard great things about Slovenia, particularly its rugged and beautiful mountainous areas known as the Julian Alps, so we headed into the country’s northern reaches towards Triglavski National Park. 

The Soca River cuts a path through these steep limestone mountains and we followed its course northward through numerous small rural communities with deep valleys and narrow canyons carved out of this porous rock over the millennia, stopping whenever the narrow winding road allowed us (not very often) to gape at the stunning scenery all around us.  

Amongst the highlights of this great drive was the towering Boka Waterfall, 106 metres long and uniquely spilling out of an underground karst cave just before taking the plunge, and the Soca Gorge where the river carved a 40 metre deep narrow chasm through the limestone rock.  Of course we had to camp on the banks of this beautiful river in a quaint little farm-turned-campground with Europeans who don’t mind camping cheek by jowl.  Doesn’t matter, when in Rome…

The next morning we enjoyed probably the highlight of the trip so far, the long, narrow and uber-winding road up and over the Vrsic Pass at 1,611 metres.  This stunning drive had 50 switch backs, no kidding, and gave both driver and passenger a super buzz.  Pity about the cloudy and drizzly day but the views were still awesome.  We’ve done some amazing – and a little scary – mountain drives during Follow the Sun but this one definitely makes the semi-finals. 

But Slovenia keeps on giving as we drove down to Lake Bled, Slovenia’s top tourist destination, a honeymooner’s delight and possibly the most beautiful lake in Europe.  With a handsome castle built on the high rock cliff overlooking the lake and a picture-perfect church and tall pointy spire built on the island in the middle of the lake, plus the high mountain snow-tipped peaks, the crazy aqua blue-green water and the clearing skies had this place live up to all it’s expectations.  We walked the six kilometres around the lake, took photos of everything from every angle and just dined out on this beaut place. 

We camped at a huge campground amongst a United Nations of pop-up vans, mini-RV’s, family tents and old caravans on the banks of another beautiful stream.  The only downside we could see so far is that it is illegal to free camp in Slovenia and discouraged by many signs and warnings.

Mountain lakes are a thing here and we headed to another one, Lake Bohinj, surrounded by step mountains that drop vertically into the beautiful blue-green water, all of this still in the Triglavski National Park.  And here’s a fun fact for Lake Bohinj – much more water leaves the lake than enters it because of the numerous subterranean water sources that bubble up into it. 

There are only 2.1 million people in Slovenia and about 15% of them live in the capital, Ljubljana.  We headed that way through beautiful farming countryside and encountered the same old problem when we got there – nowhere to park Tramp.  At almost seven metres long Tramp doesn’t fit into the European idea of a parking spot and RV parking (we’re not an RV!!) is usually miles away. 

Eventually we found a spot and walked into the welcoming Old Town with it’s walking streets, fancy baroque church, famous triple bridge, large square and the Ljubljanica River which features numerous bridges with grand views of the castle on top of the hill.  We didn’t make the castle but we enjoyed our wander around the Old Town and rated the ice cream there the best we’d had on the trip so far. 

We camped that night in the grounds of the Grad Haasberg, a 16^th century castle which is now in ruins but provided a dramatic backdrop to another deep slumber.  The next morning we broke the piggy bank and did a tour of the Postojna Caves, including a cool train ride deep into the mountains. 

This extensive limestone cave network, carved out over hundreds of thousands of years, was by far the most extensive we had ever seen and featured endless caverns, rooms and tunnels with a fabulous array of stalactites, stalagmites, pillars or columns, shawls and all the other features of a limestone cave on steroids.  Great stuff.

Having fallen in love with Slovenia we reluctantly drove south and crossed into Croatia, a large country in the Balkans which makes up most of the eastern coast of the Adriatic.  Croatia comes with big raps for the hearty traveller but also with some baggage over ongoing wars that bogged down the region’s independence in the 1990’s.  They joined the EU in 2013 and only converted to the euro six months before we arrived. 

Our first target was inland, the country’s most popular hinterland attraction, Plitvice Lakes National Park.  To get there we drove along the coast for some time, hugging the contours of the steep and rugged mountains as they dropped into the sea, then crossing up and over the mountains into lush farmland where we camped for the night in the paddock of a local farmer. 

Plitvice Lakes National Park had come highly recommended but we heard it cost 40 euros (A$65) per person to enter plus parking fees…and it was super crowded. Really? We were pretty disappointed the fee was so high, just jabbing the tourists, but we plunged in regardless. 

Well, what a day.  Yes, the fee was high but our experience there was absolutely fantastic, except the crowds that normally would be seen outside a football stadium after the game.  We parked Tramp and caught a bendy bus up to the top of the park and then walked down (with thousands of others) through the innumerable lakes and over/around/past/through/next to the most extraordinary array of waterfalls we’ve ever seen.  Basically this park is a series of mountain lakes connected in a beautiful cascading fashion by countless waterfalls of all shapes, sizes, heights and volumes. 

The day included a long electric boat ride down the length of one of the larger lakes, two bus trips and probably ten kilometres of walking trails to see what is truly a unique and special place.  The photos tell a better story.  Was it value for money?  Well, I think the entry fee is still too high but they did deliver on their promise, the infrastructure was excellent and we had a fabulous day.  Except for the crowds.

We camped that night well south of the park below a dam next to a lush green field that was ready for harvesting with green mountains as a backdrop.  A great finish to a great day.

As an extra note, this is my four hundredth, yes, 400, blog post on www.ourpangaea.net.  I started the website in 2009 when Julie and I moved to Bangkok so we could keep in touch with family and friends.  Since then the blog has created a life of it’s own and it now chronicles our travels in Australia and all over the world.  Thanks to the thousands of people who have read it and of course we welcome any comments or feedback.  Here’s to another 400 more…I hope!