Mon 23rd – Thurs 26th June
While we were travelling through Italy, Bevan got to talking to an older English man from Warrington who was horrified to hear that we were travelling through Slovenia. He and his wife had actually driven hours out of their way to avoid crossing into Slovene territory because (and these were his exact words!) 'we're not going there until that country gets more civilised.' Bevan and I had a good laugh over a beer that night and thanked the heavens that such ignorant p*@$s wouldn't be in Slovenia when we got there.
Despite some people thinking that Slovenia is on the 'other side of the tracks', it's pretty safe to 
say that the place is no longer a secret. Granted it was mid-summer and we happened to hit the country's most popular tourist destination on National Slovenia Day (June 25th), but the place was absolutely packed and we were dumbfounded to find more English speakers here than in any other country. To our left were 2 Irish couples with teenagers who refused to leave the camper van from fear of being seen with their parents, even if they were 3,000 km from home. Behind us were 3 British couples who held a 2 hour conversation about how much they missed curry (I was eavesdropping), and then there were the numerous groups of American 20-somethings wandering through town gossiping about friends back home at full USA volume. Did everyone pick up the same Eastern European Lonely Planet guide that we did??? Or has Rick Steves released a Slovenia edition of his travel books that we didn't know about??
Feeling a little less like adventure travellers venturing into uncharted territory, we decided to live up to our full tourist potential and hire a gondola out to the church tower on the island in the middle of the lake.
Oh, did I forget to explain why everyone was here? Because Lake Bled is downright stunning! If you could picture your idyllic lake setting complete with European castles and church steeples, I can pretty much guarantee that you'd end up with Lake Bled's skyline. Cinderella and Snow White would have cheated on their Prince Charmings and fought on Jerry Springer just to land the lucky prince bachelor who overlooked this setting from his mountain castle.
View from our camp site - Lake Bled at nightThe entertainment options don't stop at swimming. If you get bored of paddling around the crystal clear water or staring at the muscular shoulders of shirtless rowers practising across the lake, there's also the Vintgar Gorge just up the road. It's a beautiful shaded haven with a turquoise river gushing into pools of water that you have to hold back from jumping into, and a rickety wooden foot path that clings to the rock face and literally shakes as the hordes of tourists traverse across it.
Bevan walking the foot bridges in Vintgar Gorge Part of the reason Bled is so popular is because it's completely accessible from Ljubljana, making it a perfect mountain/lake getaway on a bank holiday weekend. Regular buses run from Ljubljana to Bled and the town is big enough to have everything you need (i.e. a reasonable night life, casino, supermarket, adventure sports and bike hire) but small enough to still feel quaint and charming.
Canoeists on Lake Bohinj, located about 30 minutes from Lake Bled We even found a huge warehouse selling 2nd hand bikes for around €50 (otherwise known as the graveyard for stolen bikes) and we are now the proud owners of two very beat up but still functioning mountain bikes that will hopefully be the last pick of the bunch for thieves.
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