Mimosa and David were not only our hosts for a few days but treated us like their Slovenian family. David is into exotic fruits (his business) and she is into exotic behaviour and in her forties was mothering us, showering us with pastries, exotic fruit,  orange juices which looked like tomato, muffins and…. They lived above a beautiful lake next to a petrol station which was not beautiful. But like most of this north western region things were moving, including the gas station – about 2 kms down the road, leaving behind a newly designed plaza with our friends in the prime spot. 

The cycle path has a railing between it and the cars and crazy bus drivers, while nearby Tolmin is hosting the ‘roadwork games’ where entrants have to build a certain amount of infrastructure in a certain time span which is now. The one hold up is there is only one tar machine, so Tolmin with its new roundabout, cycle ways and paths has a flying start for they have the tar machine.

I’ve already mentioned the moving gas station event (only one entrant). In Bovec there are these stunning rock walls to stop the forest falling on to the main road. Then they have growing competition from the Apartmenta event which began when there was little competition so the winning prizes were more lucrative, but now there are so many there is no room for the others wanting to compete. 

This corner of Slovenia is a busy part of the world and mostly it is of a high standard. While the standard of the information people is generally high, they are let down by the signage which is good but missing details at crucial points. And something else is happening in this wide open event except for the ‘Tolmin Two’ who are way ahead – they’re happy, they smile far beyond that normally expected, they’re accurate, they look at you as though they want you to stay and they ask you to come back!!!!!!!!

We are now staying at the daddy/mummy of them all – Bovec, if only it could get that damn tar machine which every country, I am told, has only one of.

It’s been raining by the way and so much so that they have had to cancel some events, such as the tourist two week dash because of sudden rock slides, scary mud skating and dangerous giant slippery dips, while the ‘tar machine’ has a 24 hour guard and because of the rain it is just sitting there.

But what a rain gain for those staying to compete. Accommodation is at half price, more room on the stunning trails, more water in the unique waterfalls, and easier to get a booking at Bovec’s famously full Gostisce Sovdat Guesthouse.

Then there is Slovenia’s most famous Soca River where green is another colour altogether, let’s say ‘greens’. The Soca knows this and as you cross it, walk beside it or rock in your kayaks in it, it will play with you and like a young dolphin despite its years, will roll and spray for you, wash in and out of exquisite rock formations, climb the intricate gorge walls, and jump high into the air in it’s haste to entertain. As it does all this, it is blessed with an unusual emerald green which it melds with other rare purities to offer you a range of emeralds that no jewellery shop could ever compete with. The Tolmin River has given up its urge to compete with the famous Soca because of its size, its lack of gorge runs and its colour. While it is nearly as pretty, its gorgeous greenish blue cannot match the exquisite emerald of the Soca, and this is never so obvious as when the emerald Soca digests the greenish blue of the Tomlin.

Then we have the magnificent Julianna Alps which stretch from the Karnic Alps and the town of Tarvisio in north eastern Italy to near the Slovenian city of Ljubiljana. It is in these mountains where the famous Triglav National Park calls home, with the Soca River a constant visitor. Like an audience at an opera, the hills and mountains step up like terraced seating allowing most to watch the extraordinary display of a highly accessible river that does its mighty mountains proud. And if you look very closely you might see the mountains at the back leaning so ever slightly forward to snatch a peek as the clouds and the rain tantalise the viewing of a Slovenian beauty rarely to be equalled and for many, never to be surpassed.  

PS: We had to calm our bus driver down today on our way to our new home in Tolmin after he lost it because he couldn’t work the ticket machine, and we already know what a calm Slovenian bus driver can do around these cliff edges. However we were not on the ‘falling over the cliff side of the road’  today but there were roadworks, so that put us on that side for a terrifying minute. We’re home now enjoying home cooked pasta and happy that our next transport is our legs.