Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Idrija

Predjama

33.9

1724.7

Mostly cloudy, mild and windy

Gosticna Pozar, Predjama

Bread, ham, cheese and jam for breakfast; ice-cream, candy and chocolate (sad, isn't it!) for lunch; vegetables soup, Wiener schnitzel and roast potatoes, and apple cake for dinner.

None

Breakfast wasn't available until 8am, so I didn't start walking until nearly 9am, which didn't worry me too much because, though it was going to be a long day's trek, the terrain looked relatively benign.  It turned out that the guest house was actually one of Idrija's historic buildings with an entrance fee payable to see the downstairs area, but my room was good and very reasonably priced (€30 for bed and breakfast).

The route out of town followed a beautiful trail south along the Idrijca River, possibly on the bed of an old railway, before crossing a rickety suspension bridge, complete with several broken and split wooden slats, that swayed alarmingly.  On the other side, the trail climbed steeply up through forest onto a plateau where I spent the balance of the day.  For the morning, the Via Alpina predominantly followed back roads through rural areas with the occasional hamlet and farm house until it reached the sleepy village of Crni Vrh, where I stopped just before noon and bought an ice-cream and cola which I enjoyed sitting in the shade of a tree in the village square.

Not long after leaving Crni Vrh, I met the French couple, Philippe and Francoise, that I had passed yesterday lying in a field.  This time, they were just sitting in a field, and I accused them of being helicoptered along the Via Alpina.  We chatted briefly and discovered we were both heading for Predjama tonight and agreed to meet up if we could.

A hiker's note in the guidebook said that "if you like walking through dense forest for hours, and not seeing anybody, then this is your lucky day" about the afternoon section.  This proved pretty accurate, but it was a beautiful forest full of eroded  limestone boulders covered in green moss, frost hollows filled with ferns, and a mix of trees.  The trail was almost entirely on gravel forest roads and I rolled along at a good pace, enjoying the scenery and listening to my iPod.

The Via Alpina emerged from the forest at the historic village of Predjama, dominated by a formidable castle, dating from the Middle Ages, built into a cave in the side of a vertical cliff face.  Truly spectacular.  Near the entrance to the castle was a guest house, which had a room, and I checked in at about 5:20pm.  The castle was still attracting many visitors at this late hour and I sat on guest house deck with a Coke, watching them make their way to and from the castle.  At about 6:30pm, Philippe and Francoise arrived and joined me for a drink and booked a room.  We later had a very pleasant evening chatting over dinner.  They are an adventurous couple and have been to some very interesting places.