Welcome to Bosnia & Herzegovina... country #48

Travel days are always interesting, especially when it involves crossing a border. You just don't know what to expect!

After we finished exploring Tito's abandoned Villa Izvor (you should click the link if you missed that post) we headed to the Bosnia & Herzegovina border. There was a lot of truck traffic, and I was surprised because it didn't look like a very major border crossing based on what the road looked like on the maps.

The abandoned summer residence of Yugoslavia's dictator Tito

Most people go to Plitvice Lakes National Park to see the waterfalls. But there is another hidden unique attraction that not many people know about. 

In the hills high above the lakes, but now located within the National Park itself is the abandoned summer residence of the former Yugoslavia's dictator Josip Broz Tito. It was very elaborate in its day, and in fact was the most expensive residence ever built in Yugoslavia at the time. 

Now, it's a crumbling ruin.

Heading into Bosnia & Herzegovina

We would like to explore more of Croatia, but we have a choice of which route we are going to take, and we have decided to go through Bosnia & Herzegovina instead. It's all new to us anyhow, so we would be missing something no matter which way we go.

But we think Bosnia is a little more our style. It's certainly more "off the beaten path" than Croatia is. As an example, for every fifteen tourists who go to Croatia, only one goes to Bosnia. 

Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia - our frugality and research paid off!

Let's start by saying this... Plitvice Lakes National Park is stunning. There is no question that the unique geography and waterfalls deserve the UNESCO world heritage rating, and there is a reason it's so popular. It's a really pretty area.

But it's also ridiculously expensive. I don't blame them for charging what they do. If the masses are willing to pay it (and apparently they are) then the market dictates the price, as it should be.

Slunj, Croatia... the town with 23 different waterfalls!

We had arrived in Slunj late afternoon on Friday, so we didn't go out exploring at that time. And then Saturday morning it poured with rain all morning. They called for clearing skies around lunchtime, so as soon as the rain stopped around 11:30am, we headed out to see what there was to see.

And there was definitely stuff to see! It's hard to figure out why this area isn't more well known.

Castles and caves... that was a good day!

It rained on and off all day, but fortunately the "off" times were when we were out doing stuff. So it worked out okay. And even though there was a bit of rain, it wasn't cold and there was no wind to speak of. Highs of maybe 17C (63F) and overnight low around 11C (52F). We're fine with that.

We left our overnight spot at the restaurant parking lot, and it was only a short drive to our first stop... the abandoned castle at Bosiljevo.

Welcome to Croatia... country #47

We could easily have spent more time in Slovenia, but the incoming colder weather motivates us to continue heading further south. We knew this was going to happen, and it was part of the plan. But it's still frustrating not to be able to spend more time in these new-to-us countries.

And I don't think we're going to spend much time in Croatia either. The warmer weather is certainly along the coast, but wild camping (boondocking) is strictly against the law in Croatia, and the €400 fine is a bit of a turn off!

Interesting visit to a mercury mine

On Wednesday, we did the short 14 km (8 mile) drive from Ziri to the mining town of Idrija. It might have been a short drive, but it was long on excitement! Lots of curves and narrow sections, and a series of switchbacks going down the other side.

Idrija is a very different mining town. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the fact that it produced almost half of the world supply of mercury... or quicksilver as it is sometimes called.

Happiness is a great overnight spot

Once again, it took a few hours for the morning fog to burn off, and then it turned into a nice afternoon, with a high of about 14C (57F). Not bad.

Once the fog burned off, we set out to the nearest grocery store. Supplies were running low! We found a well stocked Lidl only 6 kms away where we spent €75 ($108 CAD, $87 USD) filling the fridge. 

Hike to a castle ruins, and Ruth's bike is repaired!

It was really foggy again when we woke up Monday morning, and although it's light outside, the fog takes a long time to burn off. We wanted to go for a hike in the hills, but we wanted to see the views that would afford, so we waited until about 10:30am before setting off. 

And even then it was still a bit foggy.

To me, Ljubljana was just okay

Our friends Glen and Steve suggested that Sunday is the best day to do any city visiting, and we tend to agree with them. We are reminded that is certainly the case in Mexico and we used to make sure we went into Puebla on a Sunday because there was always a lot going on.

And so yesterday morning we drove into the Slovenia capital city of Ljubljana. We left our nice overnight spot by the river at about 7:30am and did the 20 kms (12 miles) or so drive in the fog!

Lake Bled Castle, and Škofja Loka at night

We went down to the bike shop for our 10:30am appointment, but unfortunately the guy didn't have the right tool with him to do the job. So we are still on the hunt for a bike shop that happens to be open when we happen to be there. 

But we left the bikes there locked up, and did the short hike up to Bled Castle. My mother had given us some birthday/Christmas spending money, and we like to use that money to do things that we wouldn't normally do. Things that we normally think are too expensive!

Lake Bled is as beautiful as we expected

Despite the fact that it's still a little chilly, it helps that we are waking up to blue skies and sunshine. It went up to about 12C (54F) yesterday, which was actually quite pleasant in the sun. And it's supposed to warm up a few degrees over the next couple of days.

And what a view we woke up to! We almost thought about staying a second night at the ski hill, but our Schengen Visa time is running low and there are still some things we want to see in Slovenia. 

Starting our 15th year with Slovenia... country #46.

It was 14 years ago today that we set off with our new to us motorhome Sherman. It was also 14 years ago today that we published our very first blog post as we hit the road. You can read that very first blog post here... https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2007/10/were-cookin-with-gas-now.html

We started writing this blog as a way for family and friends to know where we are and what we're doing. As time went on, it also became a valuable daily diary for us... we often look back at something to confirm a fact or a memory. We had no idea at the time that it would attract over 2,000 readers a day and that it would also contribute to our ability to continue traveling.

Lake Millstatt and the city of Villach, Austria

We took the narrow winding backroads from Gmund to Villach. So much more interesting than the autobahn. But yes, also so much more slower! We also did a detour around the north side of Lake Millstatt, and we're glad we did... such a scenic area.

We're not in a rush now, although we do want to continue south to warmer weather. We could take about 10 or 12 days to get through Slovenia if we wanted before our Schengen Visa time ran out, but we'll probably do it in about a week, and then we'll be in Croatia.