To get to Bovec from Kranjska Gora we had two options: 1. Drive the Vrsič Pass, or 2. Take a less congested and easier-to-drive route through Italy called the Passo del Predil. When we'd taken the bus up the Vrsič Pass earlier in the week, we witnessed a broken-down RV causing havoc and bringing the uphill drivers behind him to a standstill with no safe way to pass. No, thanks! We decided to take the Predil Pass. Besides, there were some intriguing stops we could make in Italy along the way, like the Abschnitt Saisera Park in Val Saisera dedicated to preserving battlefield remnants of the Great War.
This open-air museum includes what is left of the Vordere Saisera (literally "Saisera Front") defenseworks built by Austro-Hungarian troops to defend against Italian attacks in this valley. There are several paths leading past trenches, guard posts, and even to a restored tunnel/barracks. An enormous boulder served as the stronghold for the defense line and had gunner posts as well as a wooden barracks behind.
A tunnel goes all the way through the boulder and has two offshoot side tunnels for machine gun nests. When I was in school I have to say that we didn't really learn as much about World War I as we did about World War II. The circumstances and reasons surrounding WWI were a lot less straightforward and I think for young students it seems to be in the far distant past. But coming to this part of the world, where the front lines and trenches were dug and young men fought hunger, weather, and each other really brings the history much closer into focus for me. I was very glad we stopped here and spent several hours exploring the park and the history.
Tarvisio, Italy is the largest town nearby. When we drove through it on our way to Val Saisera, we could tell something was happening, as we saw a bunch of people walking around in lederhosen and other alpine-themed costumes. So on our way back towards Bovec we parked and walked around. Turns out the entire town was celebrating the annual Alpenfest. The town square was full of food stalls and had quite a festival atmosphere.
The main street had been closed to cars for a traditional craft fair. This was one of the nicest ones we've seen. Most times there are a lot of ticky-tacky souvenir booths, but these were true crafts made by local artisans -- clothing, felted dolls, leather handbags, wooden toys, clocks, jewelry and hats. It made me wish I'd brought a bigger suitcase.
After a wonderful and scenic drive back over the border into Slovenia, we arrived in Bovec. This town is known as being the adventure sport capital of Slovenia. Every afternoon from our balcony we could see the multi-colored parachutes of the skydivers being dropped off at the nearby airfield.
Skydiving was not in the cards for us. Nor was canyoneering or paragliding. But rafting the Soča River did sound fun, so we signed on for a Sunday morning run with a local company called Sport Mix. (Their photographer took the next two photos.)
We had an excellent guide from Chile named Guillermo. He has been guiding on the Soča for seven years and prior to that had been a serious backcountry river guide in Chile, so he knew how to read the rapids and keep us safe. The guides also did a great job of making it fun, too!
On the van ride to the river, our guide had pointed out a few good swimming hole spots so that afternoon we stopped in at one to dip our toes in, literally. The water was freezing without a wetsuit, so dipping a toe was about as far as we got.
On Monday we did a hike along the Great Soča Gorge. It doesn't have quite as much infrastructure as the Vintgar gorge so there wasn't an easy-access wooden walkway. We had to do quite a bit of forest walking (and some backtracking) to get to the prettiest viewpoints.
The water is such a vibrant blue-green due to the ultra-fine karst rock flour that is suspended in the water. These tiny limestone particles catch the sunlight and reflect the blue and green colors. The clarity of the water adds to the effect. I'm not sure photographs can even do it justice.
There used to be a cable car in Bovec that would take you to the top of one of the ski resorts here in the Summer season for views and hiking. Unfortunately the Kanin Cable Car was out of service this year (with no anticipated re-opening date). But luckily we knew there was a similar ski area with hiking trails just back across the border in Italy. So on Tuesday we drove back over the Predil Pass to Sella Nevea and took the "Canin" cable car (Italian spelling, of course!) up to the other side of those same mountains.
But we didn't stop there. From the cable car we could also get on the Prevala funicular which took us to some truly breathtaking scenery. Honestly, I feel like taking the "easy" way just gave me more time to enjoy the views while hiking at the top. Otherwise we would have spent hours hiking up to that point and by then I would've been too tired to appreciate epic scenery like this!
We also managed to catch a glimpse of the mythical zlatorog. Okay, well maybe not a zlatorog but definitely an ibex!
After a truly enjoyable hike, we stopped in at the Rifugio Celso Gilberti (which I mentioned in the food post) and had a truly enjoyable lunch. Funny how a lunchtime hike in Italy has been one of the highlights of our trip to Slovenia!
Wednesday was a busy day. We started super early to get to the entrance to the Mangart Road before the parking filled up. The Mangart Saddle is one of the must-sees in this area but the road has five tunnels and is very narrow -- it barely accommodates two cars to pass each other. Parking is extremely limited and they actually have a "car count" as you go in. Only 90 vehicles are allowed on the Mangart Road at a time. If you arrive after the 90th car well, you'll just have to wait at the bottom of the road until someone comes all the way back down.
Luckily we were early enough to go right through the gate after paying our 10 euro eco fee. We nabbed one of the last "real" spots in the parking lot, too. Everyone else sort of just parked as best they could along the road. The road used to be a scenic loop that you could drive right up to the saddle and back around. But unfortunately a recent rockslide has closed the last kilometer of the road to cars, so we had to park and walk up the rest of the way. With only 90 cars' worth of people, it was very easy to get away from the crowds. At times it seemed like it was only us and the sheep.
The ledges at the top could give Seceda Ridge in the Dolomites a run for its money. Mount Mangart is the fourth tallest summit in Slovenia at 2679 meters/8790 feet. You can get to the top but would need to be experienced and prepared for the demanding via ferrata route.
Obviously, I wasn't up to anything like that kind of hiking! But we still were able to hike up onto the saddle to see some incredible views of the Koritnica Valley and all the way to the Fusine Lakes (that we'd biked to while we were in Kranjska Gora (they are behind me to the right in this photo).
It was windy and quite chilly at the top, so after we had our fill of views and sheep we drove back down and stopped at Fort Kluže. There has been a defensive fortress on this spot since the 1400s, and for centuries depending on which empire was in charge of this territory it defended Italy from the Turks coming from the east, or defended Austria from Venice in the west. In the 1790s it suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Napoleon's advancing army. He burned the fortress to the ground. It was rebuilt and was eventually used as a defensive position against Italy in WWI during the battles on the Isonzo (or Soča) Front. Today it is a museum.
We continued our field trip to learn more about WWI history by driving to the town of Kobarid. This town, also known as Caporetto in Italian, was the site of a terrible battle in 1917 where Italy suffered a major defeat and was forced to retreat. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the battle in A Farewell to Arms. Kobarid town has an excellent WWI Historical Museum that thoroughly documents the horrors of the war from both sides and underscores the tragic consequences to the local people who were living along the Isonzo Front. We learned a lot here.
For our last two days in Bovec, we had some pretty rainy weather. It reminded me of the monsoon storms back home, just a huge downpour with loud thunder and the sky opening up. Just before the deluge came through we did manage a quick visit to Virje Waterfall on Thursday. Since it was just up the road from our apartment, we got there early and had this fairytale crystal pool all to ourselves for a few minutes before other visitors started arriving. A great way to end our stay in Bovec!
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