Slovenia turned out to be a bit of a disaster - at the time, but given what happened later I actually think it was for the best. The original idea was to spend a day or two there - as it turned out we were in and out in a day.
The campsite in Austria was really quite pleasant and as Snod says almost completely deserted. A young lad who was working a few fields away spotted us arriving and came over. we told him we were just staying the one night, so he contacted the owner and went off to get keys to open up the toilets and showers for us. Dinner that night was another lidl special and really nice too under the stars in almost complete silence miles from anywhere. Next morning the owner turned up and charged us just 5 euros each he seemed happy enough - Snod suspected he was just 'some bloke' and we had been ripped off. strange lad.
We were only about 10 miles from the Pass which would take us across a bit of Italy and then on into Slovenia. A lovely road... not as steep a climb as many of them, lovely wide sweepers by comparison - it was obviously not a well used pass - At the top it soon became apparent that this was a skiing destination. with hotels and so on.. all very much closed with a lot of work going on.
Then.. 'Passo Chiusu' - pass closed signs and a barrier across the road. I sat there and wondered for a moment which alternative route to take when this little italian car came shooting up the road behind us.. signalling that we should 'go for it' and off it went down the 'closed road'.
We followed.. after a few miles we came to the first bit of works, nothing serious - the guys in the car stopped for a natter and we carried on - a lot more cautiously. never really knowing what was round the next corner.. for all we knew the road might simply disappear!! and leave us with nowhere to turn round. But.. as it happened the road was closed due to some major work going on next to a tunnel - a huge crane. was partially blocking the entrance. but.. we went through and just on the other side came to another 'Pass closed" sign.. and there, we were in the clear. Seemed the road wasn't really closed at all. Maybe 'some' vehicles wouldn't have got through.. but we did.
A little further and we reached the little town of Pontebba. a place that seemed to have taken 'faded glory' and turned it into an art form. some of the buildings were so 'gently faded' they looked like they had been painted that way.. but no, it was all quite natural. has to be seen to be believed though.
after that another winding and really badly surfaced road took us over the heights and into the next valley.
it comes as a shock.. but you soon get used to it. smoking and drinking in petrol stations. pretty normal.
After that.. headed for a campsite. Snod turned down the closest. a naturist one. and so we headed for one close to a lake. Big mistake that was.. as dusk fell it became Mosquito hell. Snod was completely unaffected. I had 12 bites in total. Still... once we were back in the tent we were free of them and next morning they were gone.
breakfast was served to us by a rock chick in a roadside diner... she didn't speak a word of english but was all smiles and who could resist.
We had been told that the weather on the north side of the Alps was pretty horrible still.. a lot of rain about in bavaria and round berchtesgaden - so.. we decided to head west, sticking to the southernmost Austrian valley.. the Lachtal and pop back into Italy. I had convinced Snod that a look at the Dolomites (as we were so close) was a good idea.. and then we would turn for home and head over to the Black forest.
My post:
After MB had given his money away to a random fellow we filled up with cheap Austrian petrol and headed to Italy. The pass was broken (as mentioned) but we made it through easily enough, to arrive at a cafe with melty cheesy things and the parking spaces outside covered in drops of oil, it definitely went to Italy. We sat talking to an old German man about our bikes and where we had been, his wife (maybe?) translating for us, all very nice. The next road was more sun bleached rocks and blue river, hairpins and tunnels.. You really can get used to it. Then, suddenly, an abandoned border crossing like something straight out of a Cold War novel.. The border with Slovenia was really serious business not so long ago and you can feel its oppression.
Still, Slovenia! Down the hill to the junction, only to find that the Mangart road we wanted to go up was still closed - a common theme for the trip, May is just too early for a lot of high up places. Still, off we go to the first campsite along some beautifully surfaced roads with nice views, even being chased by other bikes along the end of it. At this point Slovenia is rating A++ (Austria is A++++) but because the Mangart was closed we arrived at 2:30PM, what a waste of a day if we stop. Onwards to lake Bled, possibly the largest tourist attraction in Slovenia.. We don't really have any maps but it'll be signposted all over, 'course it will!
It wasn't.
The deeper we went into Slovenia the worse the roads became, the highlight being the "offroading" that MB mentions - the surface had been torn off and replaced with crushed rock, the pieces of which were a good 6-8cm in diameter and jagged as you like, shifting around under the tyres in a horrible manner. This was okay (not really) in a straight line but then there was a hairpin and it continued upwards the other way.. Pretty sure I held my breath for a couple of minutes until it was over. Just after this MB went to ask the crazy old cyclist where we were and I snapped this pic:
Indeed I did turn down the first naturist campsite in Austria, but I'm not sure it could be called a "big mistake"! The next one was near to a lake, but it wasn't a lake really.. It was full of reeds and a bit small. This was actually my first encounter with mosquitoes ever, but they were small and looked pretty harmless. "Do they bite?" we innocently asked the receptionist. "Of course they bite!" was her reply. Haha.. Ha.. Oh she's serious? No one else was outside that evening, they were all old enough to know better. MB joked that we needed a sacrificial cow for the mosquitoes to feed on and leave us alone.. Lucky for me he was the cow.
Breakfast the next day with Rock Chick was delicious, sold as goulash but it was simple beef stew.. But with a bit of crusty bread it was so good. The ice cream was good too, little wonder I seem to have picked up 2kg of extra belly during this trip! It was again baking hot that day though, we stopped a couple of times for drinks and ice creams. But then.. MB went for an overtake, pulled out but then slowed down and pulled back in. I thought he might have wussed out because of the oncoming traffic but it'd be a first. He beckons to me to come ride alongside.. DUN DUN DUNNNN! Flappy clutch lever time. Now what?
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