SLOVENIA!!

After completing our journey of Austria, we were to progress into Northern Italy for around a week, taking some time in the Cortina D'Ampezzo region (the Dolomites National Park) and Venice. As Italy was to be completed only after we had visited Slovenia and Croatia, the next country to be fully completed was Slovenia.

We had allocated just a few days to Slovenia, but had some really high hopes based on the experiences of our friends.

Slovenia has quite a checkered history, with only a very short time as being it's own nation. It was controlled for over 500 years by Austria up until 1918, when Austria-Hungary's WW1 loss found Slovenia split between being controlled by Italy (mainly the West), siding with Austria (in the North) and being part of Yugoslavia (the rest).

WWII then saw Slovenia take an opportunity to regain the bulk of their nation back from Italy. It then became part of the collective of nations known as Yugoslavia. As part of the former Yugoslavian republic, it was the economic driving force behind the collective (also comprised of Serbia and Croatia), and was finally able to wrestle free of the politically and socially disadvantageous circumstances of this group in 1991.

As we crossed the Italian border, the road narrowed significantly in anticipation of a winding, hairpin bend-strewn mountain pass more suited to bicycles than cars. I relaxed safe in the knowledge that it was in fact a road only after checking with Nicola.

We had seen quite a carpet of verdant green from Northern Italy, but what unfurled in front of us in Slovenia was (if possible) even MORE green. It was sparkling, dew-coated and just plain beautiful scenes of mountains, forests, lakes and gushing waterfalls. While engaged in an all-out wrestle to haul the Blue Bolt around a particularly tight hairpin and narrowly missing a completely exhausted uphill-bound cyclist, I couldn't believe the sheer amount of water just pouring off the hills. And it wasn't even raining.

Our first night's stop was in Bovec, a small town (though large for Slovenian standards) known as a skiing, rafting and hiking hub. The town itself was an impossibly clean little village ganged up on by a circle of low rocky mountains and forests. You could hear, smell and just feel the water all around.

We had originally planned on white water rafting, however we soon found that Spring was the best time for this, as the rivers were more swollen with winter snow run-off. So rather than pay for another low-grade (i.e. tame) rapids experience (something we'd already done in New Zealand), we felt we were up for some moderate-level canyoning - a sport which combines hiking, swimming and abseiling, with river beds and waterfalls as the arena of choice.

At 9:00am the next morning we set off with our softly spoken guide to the river in question and hiked quickly up to the top of the falls. Fitting a harness, helmet and (for me) a pair of someone else's runners, we set about descending what we'd just walked through the water. Wearing someone else's shoes is unpleasant for me personally at the best of times, but it was just plain weird wearing them in water. I had to swallow another one of my seemingly idiosyncratic aversions and toughen the hell up.

The experience of canyoning itself I could not more highly recommend - abseiling down in the midst of a 50m waterfall was simply amazing, and having the opportunity to rockslide with the aid of the river off other smaller falls was exhilarating. Feeling drenched but satisfied, we made our way back to town for some more exploration of the local area.

What we found was a veritable 'green paradise' of jewel-coloured water, canyons and deep blue pools. We stumbled upon an out of the way swimming hole area which had only a few local Slovenes. Towering rocks provided diving platforms into the deep blue-green (but icy-cold) water below, and we took turns tumbling, diving and jumping into the depths. To warm up again, all we had to do was lay on the rocks in the sun for a while, before going in again. All in all it was a truly unforgettable experience.

After our time in Bovec, we moved onto Bled, another town blessed with Slovenia's outstanding natural beauty. Another mountain pass awaited us, again covered with cyclists out to immerse themselves in the scenery.

At the top of the Mountain Pass (which was in the Julian Alps) was a lather of coaches, bikes, cows, pedestrians, day-trippers and panini eaters which all conspired to stop the traffic to a standstill. I had to wait while a woman helped her husband back their monstrously oversized camper van out into the flow of traffic, which he made more of a meal of than a mouse would with an entire zebra.

But after freaking out a few more cyclists and pedestrians, I shot down the other side of the mountains and into the otherwordly verdant fields below. Although the road didn't narrow any further (nor widen) the trees seemed to close in around the road to form a dark, lush-smelling cocoon in which we would our way further Eastward.

On the way we called into the touristy but beautiful Vintgar Gorge, a set of lakes and waterfalls formed through the power of the water carving gorges into the surrounding rock bed. The result is a continuous 3km stretch of beautifully coloured pools, teeming with trout and acting as a lifeblood of the encroaching thick green forest.

As a one-up to Bovec's scenery, Bled (as well as being surrounded some of Slovenia's tallest mountains) is centred around a ridiculously emerald-green coloured lake, with a beautiful old church adorning an island in the middle. On a cliff overhanging the waters is a medieval castle, just to top it all off.

Most of our time was spent lazing on the banks of the lake itself, as well as a spot more swimming and consumption of beer. After dinner we were presented with some local blueberry schnapps, which topped things off beautifully and meant that I rolled into the tent with the world spinning a little, accompanied by a buzzing inside my head which I would otherwise have associated with a cacophony of bees fighting behind my eyes.

From Bled, the schedule told us that we must move on to Croatia, but it was with some pangs of regret that we did so. Slovenia proved to be the ultimately most naturally beautiful, non-artificially clean and impressive country we've visited.

The people...

Slovenians are as cool as cucumbers; they live in a land of incredibly impressive and almost overwhelming environmental beauty and they make the most of it. They are outdoors-oriented, fit and healthy, and have a strong appreciation and respect for the world around them.

Although the importance of self image they uphold seems to be a legacy of their Italian neighbours, they integrate this with a much more 'down to earth' sensibility. They are common-sense 'no bull' people who enjoy their place as custodians of some of Europe's most breathtaking environs.

Key activities...

• Canyoning in Bovec
• Once again putting to the test the concept of 'Poste Restante', which on this occasion actually did work (I got all the birthday cards and gifts I was sent via mail!)
• Exploring the countless canyons and waterholes of the region surrounding Bovec
• Swimming in and lounging around lake Bled
• Walking through and around Vintgar Gorge in north-eastern Slovenia

Highlights...

• Canyoning was amazing - kicked the butt of another set of stage 2 or 3 rapids, and got us into the heart of the Slovenian scenery
• Lake Bled is just picture postcard perfect. I could hardly believe that such a place existed in real life
• The afternoon we spent at the local waterhole near Bovec was so much fun. It was bursting with life as kids, their parents and grandparents threw themselves off high rocky points into the freezing cold waters below. One kid must only have been 4, and (armed with a bicycle 'stack hat') threw himself off the very highest peaks previously only trialled by Nicola and myself. There was also a man there who looked like the bad guy from Kindergarten Cop, added to the bonus of swimming and jumping off things, I got some serious milage out of breaking out some Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes ("playtime is OVER"). Nicola also saved a dog who had got a bit ambitious with stick fetching in the fast moving water.

Lowlights...

• The hoards of tourists (mainly a couple of coach loads of Americans) soiling up Vintgar Gorge.
• This is getting a little cliched, but really the main downside to Slovenia was its excruciating ability to make me want to spend more time there.

In summary...

Slovenia was really the clean, green breath of fresh air we needed after some recently spent time in city areas. It was one of the most aesthetically pleasing of natural environs we'd encountered. Norway's hills plunging into fjords, the French alps and the Dolomites soaring peaks; each held their own beauty. But no place truly brought it all together like Slovenia - it's the stuff of nature documentaries and 'best places you've never heard of' books.

But what really makes Slovenia special is not just how beautiful it looks, but in how you can actually interact with that nature. We got to briefly indulge in the water-based lifestyle of summer that the locals themselves lived, and got to experience a sport I'd never previously considered (canyoning).

Most importantly, the Slovenes seem to have got right that perilous tightrope-wide balance between thoroughly enjoying and making the most of their natural conditions and preserving to the utmost the very environment which feeds this lifestyle.

I would liken it to…

The island from Jurassic Park, in that it has this movie set-like landscape and scenery seemingly untouched by humans. Unlike Jurassic Park though we did not get spat on by Velociraptors or crammed into small electric-rail vehicles with strange men with white beards. Or 'Newman' from Seinfeld. Which was nice.