First of all, so sorry for the lack of posting this summer.  It had turned out to be so much busier than I anticipated.  From research and school work to beginning contract work on the side, it’s been challenging to stay on top of posting.  I have a plan in my head to catch up on posts, but for now, I’ll just give you some monthly highlights (with photos), and I’ll fill in the details in more posts on a regular basis now.

But before the monthly highlights, I just returned from the Cook Islands the other day, for a quick 6-day island getaway. My story of how the Cook Islands came to be seems to be an amusing one.  Last year on Black Friday (after-Thanksgiving Day sale), Air New Zealand had a fare sale to Auckland, NZ, for under $400.  Sales were posted to Twitter around 6 am, Eastern time.  Being in California for Thanksgiving, by the time I woke up in Pacific time, they were sold out.  There were Twitter rumors that Air NZ would have another sale for Cyber Saturday the following day.  So I turned on my notifications and set a light alarm on my phone for 4 am Pacific time (7 am Eastern time).

$490 RT LAX to RAR?  For the week of my 36^th birthday?  (9 months in the future, at this point)  Sure, why not!  The Cook Islands sound like a great idea.  And it totally was!  More on CI soon, but it was wonderful!  It’s a Polynesian paradise, without the crowds and big resorts.  I will definitely be going back in the near future!

So now, that recap of my travels since April 2018!

April

• Oaxaca, Mexico with a friend!
• Eating all the corn-based tortilla products one can find!
• Day trips visiting Hierve el Agua, the Tule Tree, Mitla and Monte Alban
• Watching a donkey go round and round in circles, grinding agave for mezcal, in a roadside, artisanal mezcal distillery

• Big Island, Hawaii!
• Hives on the flight…
• Photographing the Kilauea volcano and Milky Way in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• Epic hike on lava fields
• Above the clouds, on the world’s tallest mountain, Mauna Kea.

May

• Back to school! In Vienna
• Visit to lovely but crowded UNESCO village, Hallstatt, in Austria
• Relaxing weekend in Budapest, with a friend that I met in Nepal!
• Quick jaunt to Bangkok for some Thai massages and relaxation!

June

• Unexpected and amazing time in Slovenia!
• Cloudy, sunrise hike over Lake Bled
• Hiking at and amazing scenery in Lake Bohinj and Triglav National Park with one half of travel bloggers, Rambles on the Go
• Eating dumplings, walking around Ljubljana and recording podcasts with the Postcard Academy!
• And then, almost the whole month in Croatia!
• Starting in Zagreb, with awful allergies, lots of sneezing, and seeing the remains of failed relationships.
• Full day hike with lakes and waterfalls in Plitvice Lakes National Park, with new Canadian friends!
• Eat lots of amazing pork afterwards at Pri Zvonou, a Zagreb institution within walking distance of my Airbnb
• On to Pula, for sunsets, Roman architecture, and boats
• But wait! I was stung by a sea urchin and had to dig out all the spines from my foot by myself (cue sound: womp womp)
• Chasing sunsets in Zadar
• Hike up to Manita Pec cave in Paklencia National Park
• Lots of balcony time and strolls along the beach in Okrug Gronji

July

• Visiting with Rembrandt in the Rjiksmuseum and friends in Amsterdam
• Crashing a friend and fellow bridesmaid’s family vacation in Milan!
• Taking breaks between eating gelato, pizza, burrata and prosciutto to see Italian Renaissance classics at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
• Hiking above Lake Como, hearing tales of Italian-Swiss border smugglers and getting stung by way too many mosquitos
• Crashing the tail end of a different friend’s (and also fellow bridesmaid in the same wedding actually…) 3 week European vacation, in the amazingly beautiful and wonderful alpine town of Innsbruck, Austria!
• Hiked an incredibly difficult mountain in the Zillertal Alps… (story coming soon)
• Relaxation at Aqua Dome, sparkly things at Swarovski Kristallwelten, and frequent trips to Himal Nepali restaurant, in Innsbruck
• James Bond, mountains, and Milky Way in Soelden, Austria
• Watching Carmen, performed over Lake Constance as part of the Bregenz Festival, in Bregenz, Austria! Bucket list (CHECK)
• And then, back to school in Vienna!

August

• Stumbling upon the Pride on the Canal parade in Amsterdam!
• And finally, back to America for family time and R&R!
• Watched the Perseid meteor shower and shot the Milky Way at Anza Borrego Desert State Park, an international dark sky park
• Chased a particularly foul bucket list item to disappointment, at the Huntington Library, in San Marino, California.
• Celebrated being another year older and feeling particularly thankful for the experiences I have in life
• Crossed the Pacific to the Cook Islands, where I found the perfect paradise, without overwhelming tourists and large resorts.
• Took a day trip to Aitutaki where they have the bluest, clearest waters I have ever seen in my life!
• Sat in the cockpit on the way back from Aitutaki because the owner of my villa in Rarotonga happened to be the co-pilot on the flight!
• Made friends with a group of people that kept running to each other on the island, and happened to be all on the same flight back to LAX.

And now, today, September 5th, I am in Mexico City for a few days before I head back to California!  My life will be a bit more structured starting next week, so stay tuned for (more regular) posts and thanks for your patience!  Hope everyone had a great summer!

Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

Click on the blue icons below to follow her on social media!

lanniesfoodandtravel.com/index.php/about-me/

1. How to get to Lake Bohinj from Bled

The buses leave from the Bled bus station at 20 minutes past the hour.  We took the 9:20 bus, on another charter bus, over to the lake which took about 45 min.  The price of the bus depends on where you get dropped off. Our stop was Ukanc (pronounced, I think, like oo-CONCH), which cost us 4,10 EUR | $4.75 USD. Normally during high season, July and August, the bus runs once an hour and drops you off near most of the main sights.  It being not high season, meant that there was more walking involved.  Way more walking. 

There is an extremely complicated, yet accurate bus schedule here, from Bled to Bohinj.  There legend is extremely detailed, so make sure you are looking at the right column, for the right season, and the right day of the week.

2. Ukanc and uphill to Savica Waterfall

We stopped off at Ukanc, which was the closest stop to the Savica Waterfall, in low season.  And by closest stop, it was still a 50-minute uphill trek, along the side of the only road going up there.  If you’re lucky enough to go in high season and take the bus to the closer stop, obviously it would not take this long.  So off we went. 

I’m so thankful that J was a good sport and trekked everywhere, without any real complaining.  I say real complaining, because part of the amusement during our walk was semi-complaining. Semi-complaining that people who passed us by in their cars never offered to give two random women a ride. Even considering we were obviously going in the same direction, to the same place.  But never mind.

After about an hour (considering breaks to catch our breath and stops for photos), we finally arrived at a parking lot, two restaurants, and a sign that said the waterfall was another 20-minute walk.  More uphill, but this time, with stairs. 

3. Savica Waterfalls

Along the way, there is a little hut to pay the entrance fee (shown below), which was 3 EUR for adults.  All things considering, not a bad price, and definitely worth it.

When we finally reached the falls, there was only 5-10 people up there.  I guess since it was still the low season, it was to be expected.  Near the top, there are also viewpoints out across Lake Bohinj, where you can obviously see the valley formed by ancient glaciers.

Quick facts about the Savica Waterfall (from its brochure that I picked up):

• Height above sea level, at base: 894 m | 2,934 ft
• Two-part waterfall in the form of the letter A
• Height of the large waterfall: 78 m | 256 ft
• Height of the small waterfall: 25 m | 82 ft

4. Lunch stop at Koča Pri Savici

After the falls, we stopped by one of the nearby restaurants for some lunch.  Traditional Slovenian sausage and fries, served with the biggest ketchup and mustard containers known to mankind.

The sausages were delicious and the server was so friendly and talkative.

He asked if we had walked up here via the road or the back path. We came by the road. He encouraged us to take the back path on our way back down, which was shorter.  In reality, it may have been shorter, by mere minutes, but we took more photo breaks and of course, this was downhill. J was smart enough to ask the question, “Will we get lost?”  He laughed a little and said

“Not a chance.  Keep following the sound of the river.” 

And it’s true, we definitely did not get lost. But the sound of the river dissipated after time.  But there was really only one way to go, and after another hour, we had arrived back near Ukanc and the banks of the lake.

4.1 Pause and marvel at Lake Bohinj

5. The long meander to Mostnica Gorge

The next destination was the Mostnica Gorge.  Again, we could have taken the bus. However, it only runs once an hour. So we decided to walk, since it would take about an hour get there. 

From the very west bank of Lake Bohinj (where Ukanc is), to the very east bank of the lake, we walked.  We made some stops along the lake, at a beach and then a pier where we sat for a few moments to rest and enjoy the scenery.  We finally arrived at Stara Fuzina, a small village, which is more or less the gateway to the Mostnica Gorge.

5.1 Stara Fuzina

5.2 Onward to Mostnica Gorge

There were some confusing signs at times. If you followed them, I’m not sure where you would have ended up.  Very likely, you would have ended up at the gorge.  However, we decided to follow Google Maps, which had not led me astray thus far.  We were not entirely sure what we were looking fo. The word gorge really only tells me it’s a very big hole in the ground.  We finally arrived at a booth. The entrance fee was 3 EUR, but the booth was unmanned.  So free entrance it was!  At the booth, there was a fork in the road.

After much indecision, we decided to fork right. There were some other travelers following us and they forked left.  Let me tell you, forking right was the right decision.  Because of this, we accessed large rocks and took some amazing photographs, while they painstakingly looked for a way to cross to our side.  They did not do in the end. I would not have recommended anyway, for safety reasons.  Views below, when you fork right.

We kept walking, trying to figure out where this gorge was. When we arrived according to Google Maps, there was nothing.  We walked on another 20 minutes, but then we realized that the path we were on was no longer marked by a yellow circle and was now a red square.  At that point, we decided enough was enough, and we turned around.  In the end, we realized that the gorge was right inside of the unmanned booth, on the bridge when we forked right.  Suffice it to say, the scenery along the way was absolutely gorgeous and well worth the additional trek.

6. The bus back to Bled

The bus that goes back to Bled leaves at the :47 after every hour, except for at 5:47 pm. Obviously, this is right around the time when we arrived at the bus stop.  I think most people were surprised that there was no 5:47 bus. But not me, thanks to the trusty yet confusing bus schedule.  After some relaxing and a well deserved Magnum ice cream, we hitched the 6:47 pm bus (for 3,40 EUR | $4 USD) and was back in Bled by 7:30 pm. 

According to my Apple Watch, I walked 33,000 steps that day… a personal best.  That amounted to about 16 miles or 25 km.  Exhausting, doable, and extremely worth it.  This beautiful day trip to Lake Bohinj is a must for those wanting to reconnect with nature and those who love exploring foreign national parks like I do!

Resources for Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

If you’d like to visit Lake Bohinj from Lake Bled, check out the bus schedule

Other things to see, in the Bohinj region, which we didn’t have time for:

• Cable car up to Vogel
• Hike up to Pec (about 45 min)

Approximate Schedule for the Lake Bohinj Day

• 8:20 am: Bus from Bled to Ukanc
• 10:10 am: Arrive at Ukanc bus stop, begin walking
• 11:30 am: Savica Waterfall
• << walking >>
• 1 pm: Lunch at Koča Pri Savici
• <<more walking>>
• 4:30 pm: near Mostnica Gorge
• 6:47 pm: bus back to Bled
• 7:30 pm: arrive back to Bled
• 8 pm: I’m asleep.

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Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

Click on the blue icons below to follow her on social media!

lanniesfoodandtravel.com/index.php/about-me/