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Home >European
Touring > Europe 2006 > Slovenia
Part 3
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Slovenia 2006 - Part 3
Continuing eastwards to the flat plains of the Drava
River then south through rolling hills to the Croatian border then
northwest again looking for the sun
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 4 |
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Day 7 - to Ptuj and a modern spa resort
Our tour continued eastwards on the motorway for about 30 miles passing a toll
station (910SIT) just before our turn off to Ptuj (pronounced Pertooee). The terrain here was flatter
and mostly agricultural but the old historic red roofed town of Ptuj stands on
a hill beside the River Drava. We found a small carpark on the edge of the town
and strolled around the compact centre for the morning visiting the castle
(free access to the impressive galleried courtyard) which was worth the climb for the
views across the town. Among the
old buildings was the town tower with ancient stone carvings, tourist office (in
summer) and gift shop. The streets
were more lively than in some towns we had visited with many interesting buildings, a small
market and a few fashion shops.
Shop
sign - lost in translation!
After leaving Ptuj we headed south
passing through Rogatec where we stopped at an open-air museum (not well
signposted). It contained an interesting collection of rebuilt farm buildings
including a traditionally furnished farmhouse where the girls' bedroom has bars
on the windows to keep out unwanted male visitors, barns, beehives and a double
hayrack (toplar) with corn cobs drying, also an old village shop and forge. We
were the only visitors and the entrance fee was only 650 SIT each including a
guide leaflet in English.
Rogatec museum of traditional life
 
farmhouse
interior
beehives
 
traditional
barn hayrack with corn
We then drove further south to Brecize and Catez
where motorhome parking places were listed but we were unable to find them so continued
to Terme Catez, a huge modern spa and waterpark complex with hotels, chalets and a
large campsite, expensive by our standards at 24€ but that included admission
to the pools however by evening the rain had returned!
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Ptuj roofscape
Ptuj castle courtyard
stone carvings on town tower
Ptuj Dominican Monastery
St George's church Ptuj
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Day 8 - South to the Croatia border
We set off still in rain, following the Krka river westwards through a fruit
growing region with lots of polytunnels, stopping at Kostinjevica where the
road crosses the river on a wooden bridge. Needing to top up our provisions
we pulled into a small TUS supermarket on the edge of the town and were
amazed by the huge variety of items for sale, a typical general store with
just room to get a small trolley down the aisles. Many of the brands are the
same as in the rest of Europe but its always fascinating to look at the
local specialities. On to Novo Mesto, a large town with a Renault car
factory and home of Adria caravans and motorhomes, then across hilly country
to find the source of the River Krupa, down country lanes. There was a small
signposted carpark and a track leading down to the river which emerged into
a large lake from the base of the cliff and a derelict mill - a peaceful
spot with just a small information board. Some children from the nearby
village cycled along to look at us while having our lunch but they were too
shy to start a conversation.
Weir at Krupa River
Continuing to Crnomelj we decided to head for a
campsite listed at Vinica. There was a landscape park listed in a local
guide book but couldn't find it apart from a couple of waymark signs, the
terrain here having lots of sinkholes in the rocks, however we passed a
police radar speed trap safely thanks to motorists flashing a warning! We
found Camping Katra in Vinica, a small village with an attractive church alongside
the Kolpa River forming the
border with Croatia. The site was basic, mostly static caravans buried
within extended shacks. There was a road border post a few yards beyond the
site but as our vehicle insurances only covered the EU we stayed in Slovenia
this trip.
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Source of Kupra River
Church at Vinica (the sun didn't last)
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Day 9 - North again looking for the sun
After appraising the weather we decided to head north and miss out the coastal
area so headed towards Ljubljana taking a long deviation around three sides
of a square on the map due to a closed road, through heavily forested hills
(but no brown bears seen) to Stari trg eventually arriving at Kocevje , a
regional centre with large supermarkets, and on to Ribnica for a stop. There
is a large church with interesting steeples and the remains of a castle
housing a town museum with exhibits of witchcraft and torture. It is also a centre for
woodenware but apart from the large wooden carved cutlery at the entrance
signs to the town and exhibits in the museum we found no evidence of craft shops in the town
centre.
Steeples
of St Stephen's church
Continuing northwards we bypassed Lubljana on a fairly empty motorway (no
lorries on Sundays) but very busy where the motorway stopped, and continued
on to Radovljica and the turning to Lake Bled. As this is the main tourist
area the roads were again busy. The lake is a popular resort and being a
Sunday everywhere was crowded, so we continued up the attractive Bohinj
valley with rocky mountains on both sides for a further 15km to Bohinjska
Bistrica the main town in the valley where we found the pleasantly uncrowded
Camping Danica, an ACSI discount scheme site so for the first time there
were campers from the Netherlands, Germany and even a few British - and the
sunshine had returned at last!
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Ribnica castle museum
Ribnica castle entrance
Witch's skeleton Ribnica
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Day 10 - Bohinjska Bistrica
A lazy day catching up with the chores and
shopping in the local Mercator mini supermarket and a stroll around the town
which had a modern sports complex, swimming pool and even a cinema. There
was also a very helpful tourist bureau with lots of information about the
area. This is the terminus for the car-train from Podbrdo and Most na Soca
south of the mountains and there is also a vintage steam train on some days.
Camping Danica has good facilities with a bar, restaurant and sports
facilities adjacent, and
alongside the River Sava Bohinjska where canoeing and fly fishing is available.
At last it was sunny all day, in fact too hot on our open pitch so we unpegged and
carried our tent/awning 20 metres to a shadier pitch that had been vacated
in the morning - much to the amusement of onlooking campers. This must have been
our lowest daily mileage ever! A pleasant evening walk through the village
lanes and meadows followed by comparing notes with a couple of British
caravanners, the first we had met for weeks, finished the day. In this
valley every piece of land that was flat enough was
used for growing hay and families working every evening on their vegetables in allotments amongst
the fields.
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Camping Danica entrance
haymaking the old way
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