Running the gauntlet, Karl 4 - Slovenia 0
Trip Start
Jun 04, 2008
1
15
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Bled,
Slovenia
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I am writing this entry from the North of Slovenia in a town called Bled. The town is the country's premier holiday destination and is situated on a beautiful lake. We have been here for two days now and are preparing to head for Croatia this afternoon.
Slovenia has been fantastic! The natural beauty of this small often forgotten country was a real treat and possibly the best we've seen thus far.
It was a midday departure from Lake Balaton. Matty decided that after 5 weeks of not even looking like we'd be pulled over he was going to take over the helm and drive to Ljubliana in Slovenia. We drove along the countryside to the Croatian border where we swapped drivers. As we passed the border we were pulled aside and had our passports and the contents of our van inspected. Once we passed through the North of Croatia and into Slovenia I gave Matty control again and began enjoiying the scenery. Fully aware that we needed to pay road tax in order to drive on Slovenian motorways we opted against paying the tax as we had not been caught in the countries that we had visited previously. About 20km into the country we had to pull over at what looked like a toll booth. The toll booth turned out to be an inspection booth which only made sure each car had a toll sticker attached. I was in the passenger seat (the drivers side in Europe) and had to deal with the inspector. I played dumb Aussie and he politely informed me that we'd have to pay the tax at the nearest servic station.
Statue that greeted us in Ljubliana
We thanked the man graciously for letting us through and assured him we'd buy a sticker ASAP. After reading the brochure that he gave us we realised these jokers wanted $50Aus for letting us drive on their roads. We decided that this was ridiculous and passed about 3 service stations. Just after the 3rd station we saw that there was another toll booth ahead, surely we couldn't get through this one unscathed. We pulled into the check point and I went for the wallet once again playing the dumb Aussie, "You must buy it at a service station" the attendant informed us politely. We pulled away eaving as we assured him we'd buy a sticker at the next service station. As we drove down the highway we felt like nothing could stop us. Around this time a small black hatchback pulled in front of our car and turned on their blue and red lights, it was the cops. Dread came across Mat's face as he read the flashing red sign at the back of the hatch "Please pull over". Driving without his license he was sure this was the end for him (is it the death penalty over here?). After pulling over two undercover policeman walked upto the van and asked for all of our documents including license. As we pulled out the passports and rego we informed them of our nationality, "Wear Owstraliaan". Instantly their attitude seemed to change as they realised we weren't British (as the number plates on Karl indicate). Matt made up a story of how he had lost his wallet the day before with his license and the policeman didn't even seem to care.
Fireman
We waited in the car as they ran checks on the car and our passports. It was at this point we noted how informal and pleasant the two fellas were. We began to wonder if they were indeed cops or just two lads involved in the passport black market. We anticipated their next move, screeching away with our passports but before we knew it they returned the passports, wished us a happy trip and sent us on our way. We were in disbelief as we drove away at how the police were so friendly and insisted on an equal playing field during proceeedings.Stoked to have dodged a bullet but not willing to push our luck Mat and I swapped and put Max Murch in the passenger side to deal with the ticket booths. About 5 km's down the road it was Max's turn to step upto the plate. As we pulled into the ticket station the sweat began to bead on his brow and Max Murch transformed into a stuttering equivalent of Dustin Hoffman in "Rainman". The same result ensued and we pulled away waving, adamant that we'd buy a motorway sticker. This was the last battle of the day and as the heading suggests Karl was 4 from 4 quite an impressive record.
We drove into Ljubliana and easily found a quite park near the canal. We set Karl up for the night (i.e. moved Murchs coffin-bag into the front) and went for a stroll. The city centre was pretty as a penny. There was a canal running through the middle which was surrounded on both sides by a promenade and a plethora of stylish cafes and bars with seating overlooking the canal.
Firman 2
It had a tres chic vibe and as usual I felt out of place with my mop doo, boardies and thongs. We had a few beers and checked out a local club. The club had two floors and gave us a fun night.The next day we went for a walk aroundd town. We explored the castle perched up overlooking the city from a hill and looked at the art exhibits in the national gallery. We walked the streets watching the people and taking in the Slovenian vibe, we liked what we saw. For lunch we had fish and chips and I reminisced the gold old days of fish, chips and Friday night footy, aahhhhh. We had some evening beers before Matty turned in for the night. Never one to deny a good time Maxamillion Murch led the way to an old abandoned Military compound (recommended in our guide book). Upon arrival we were greeted by hundreds of people drinking and having a good time around a run down warehouse. There was spray paint everywhere, broken windows, burnt cars and alot of dreadlocks. Having worn dress shirts and jeans we felt a little put of place but the partygoers proved to be very unpretentious. We had a few beers and one nasty whiskey shot at the shanty bars hidden within the warehouse and chatted with a few locals. At around 1.30am Max and I went back to the club that we visited the night before. After all this we grabbed our kebab (a familiar ritual) on the way home and got to sleep as the sun was coming up.
We left Ljubliana (with a tear in our eye), the city that exceeded our expactions tenfold, and started making our way to Lake Bled.
The boys
We took the back roads for the 50km journey and took a series of traverses through some spectactular mountain scenery. Rocky mountains with intense slopes rose around us, covered in pine trees, as we slowly made our way through the narrow road. As we passed through small villages we had to wait as cars negotiated their way through the spaces between each house. At one stage we had to wait 5 minutes for a bus to fit (with mm's of clearance) between a church and a house. At this point I was sure we had taken a wrong turn but before we knew it we were driving around the beautiful Lake Bled. We found a park in Lake Bled and jumped in the drink. We surveyed the area and put precious Maxi into a hostel. As it was getting dark we went to the hostel and played darts (of course we had some beers). Afterwards we went skinny dipping with a group from the hostel. Freezing from the icy water we called it a night and jumped into Karl.
The next day was a bit uneventful. It poured with rain all day and we spent most of it on the net in a cafe. In the evening I banned myself from booze of any kind and we checked out a little bar up the road. We awoke the next morning and decided that whilst the past couple of weeks had been fun we needed to get the trip back on track and take the drinking back a gear. We drove out of Bled with a menacing storm on the horizon, little did we know that the most menacing thing was to come however that is another story that will be told in the next blog.
