The Coast and Caves of Slovenia
I had casually expressed my desire to visit this country to a friend knowing fully well that I would not be going there any time soon. After working in France for seven months I had to return to India, but first decided to spend 5 weeks in Greece and Turkey.
However, things did not exactly go according to plan — I was turned away from the Turkish border at 4 am — and decided to go to Crete instead.
Despite my trip going awry I stayed calm, yet quickly made my next move and found an inexpensive flight to Rome from Athens. Having to return to Paris I needed a cheap flight from somewhere and everything from Italy was too expensive. In a flash, I blurted out “Slovenia!” at the cyber café evoking a quizzical look from my friend. To my luck there was a 12 euro flight from Ljubljana to Paris. I took a deep breath and booked it!
Precious Piran
A couple of weeks later, a 3-euro, 45-minute bus ride took me from Trieste in north-eastern Italy to Koper, a port on the tiny Adriatic coast. After spending a few hours strolling in the streets of this town with telltale Venetian architecture I left for Piran where I would spend the night.
Koper is a delightful little town with friendly people and a charming square in its centre.
The tourist office is situated in an old palace on this square and there are several little streets that emerge from here, some leading to the sea. Saint Mark’s lion, the symbol of the Republic of Venice is omnipresent on many of the buildings.
This short stopover gave me a taste of what I was to experience in the nine days to come. I found my way to the bus stop in the more modern suburbs of this historical town with the help of two friendly girls and boarded the bus to Piran. Half an hour later I hauled my backpack past the quaint little port and reached the town’s main square. I picked up a map at the tourist office and looked for my hostel through the narrow winding streets of this pretty little city.
Piran is the jewel of Slovenian Istria. It is a small peninsula jutting into the open sea, a triangle of tiled roofs. Its streets are labyrinthine but its size ensures that you find your way easily while at the same time preventing polluting cars from entering. One can cover most of the streets of the peninsula in an hour.
It is wonderful to watch people buying vegetables in their local market stalls, accompanying older members of their family or just chatting in a café.
The base of the peninsula is occupied by colourful Tartini Square, a reminder of the city’s cultural past, hosting a statue of violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini born here in 1692. A small hole in the square opens onto the tiny port that looks charming in the pinkish hue of sunset with numerous sailboats quietly reflected in the still waters of the sea.
Walking away from the sea and up the hill leads to the cathedral of Saint George, which stands tall watching over the entire town. The bell tower is striking in its similarity to the campanile of Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice. A bit higher, further away from the peninsular point lie the protective town walls from where one is rewarded with a gorgeous view of the whole of historic Piran and the Gulf of Trieste. In the evening, as the sun sets and the lights are turned on, the view becomes charming and I was just frozen on the city wall mesmerised by precious Piran.
Tearing myself away from this sight, I walked towards my hostel stopping on the way, in a little square, for a dinner of grilled fish and Gundel palacsinta — crepes smothered in chocolate sauce — a creation of the great Hungarian chef Gundel. Eating all alone in a restaurant is an opportunity to reflect and with these crepes I reminisced about my trip to Budapest.
Škocjan Caves
Early the next morning from Piran, I went back to Koper and took a train to Divača to visit the UNESCO world heritage Škocjan Caves (pronounced “Shkotsyaan”) or Škocjanske jame.
The journey itself was marvellous; the little train wound its way through green hills and dropped me off after a 49 kilometre ride.
I left my backpack in a locker as I was on my way to Ljubljana, packed a couple of sandwiches from a neighbouring supermarket and walked to the caves. The path was supposed to be marked but I did not see any signs so I walked along the main road leading to the site in the sunny spring morning. The alternative way of getting there is a free shuttle bus that waits at the railway station. When I got there, the bus was not scheduled to leave yet and since I dislike waiting and love a good hike, I made my way on foot.
The Škocjan Caves are quite expensive to visit with various tour combinations taking you to different parts of the cave. I took the regular tour costing around 15 euros. What is disappointing is that you are not allowed to take any photographs with or without flash and I am not sure if this is to protect the environment within. The large cave is formed by a river that falls from a certain height and goes underground. Over the years, it has eroded the inner walls and formed a cave of staggering proportions replete with stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes resembling all sorts of objects. The walk inside the cave took us to a great height from which we could see the river deep down and one is constantly followed by the gushing sound of the flowing river.
The exit of the cave is in a sort of circular abyss formed ages ago when land from the surface far above collapsed. Water trickles from above forming a little pond here. Following the waterfall upwards, one can spot a small church sitting precariously at the edge of the cliff. It is a truly beautiful sight from below as well as from above. A lift carries the group out of the hole and at the exit is a short walk around the village with numbered signboards explaining the traditions of the town along with facts about the flora and fauna residing in these parts.
On my way back to Divača I was glad to find the marked path because it was mostly through forest in the protective shade of trees. I was all alone and spent a lot of time photographing the incredible array of flora and fauna including colourful butterflies and flowers that lined my path.
This visit was special because it was my first to a cave of such immensity and also because of the friendly people I met. Just before my tour, a guide approached me and asked if I was from India and when I nodded he told me that he would love to go there one day. Later, as I was exploring the village after the cave visit I met him once more and this time he asked me where exactly I was from. When I vaguely said the southern part of India, he probed me further asking if I was from Kerala. I was slightly surprised at his awareness of Indian geography and state names, but then again Kerala has done an excellent job in marketing itself abroad so I thought its advertisements had even reached Slovenia.
I then said I was from a place north of Kerala and he then asked if I was from Karnataka. This time I was thoroughly impressed!
He told me that he loved the sound of Dravidian languages and made me say “ಸ್ಲೊವೀನಿಯ ದೇಶ ತುಂಬ ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿದೆ” — “Slovenia desha tumba sundaravaagide” (Slovenia is a very beautiful country) in Kannada and savoured the sounds of my mother tongue as if it were, quite literally music to his ears. I left for Ljubljana thinking back to this encounter that I will not easily forget, with some appreciation for my own heritage.
Getting there
Slovenia is part of the Schengen zone and can be combined with a trip to Croatia or Italy accessible by bus from the eastern city of Trieste. The international airport located between Ljubljana and Kranj can be reached from European cities like Paris by low cost carriers like Easyjet.
Getting around
Buses and trains connect most of the country although getting to certain areas in the mountains would be easiest by car.
Hi, I am Prajwal Madhav. I hope you enjoy my posts.
