The year 2000 – “Y2K” – has something special in mind for us. Marieke and I get married on Quatorze Juillet. The day after we head south for our honeymoon trip: a hiking tour in the Austrian Stubaital. Next we go on a second honeymoon: a cycling vacation in Slovenia, with our DIOK friends Arnout & Christina, Ruud & Margreet, and Mark & Henriëtte.
Summary
1. To Villach by coach (bicycles in trailer), did not get much sleep. Stops at: Faaker See > Gozd Martuljek > Bovec > Idrya > Postojna > Ljubljana > Bohinj > Bled > Gozd Martuljek > Faaker See. Back by coach again, slept well this time.
2. The Würzenpass, the first slope of the holiday, is an exceptionally steep pass road for cycling rookies like us. While cycling unsuspectingly through the forest, imagine this massive wall of 17% for a few kilometers. All of us have to stop.
3. Slovenia is very hilly. Expect lots of mountains as well as narrow, curved roads. On our second day we cycle the Vrsic pass, the country’s highest paved pass road (1,611 m). A beautiful road with panoramic views of the Julian Alps.
4. Road no. 16 from Dolenja Trebusa to the Gorenja Kanomlja is (at least, at the time) unpaved and therefore hard to cycle. But the valley is magical with all these ridges and also offers a good view of the high mountains further away.
5. Of course we don’t skip the famous lakes of Bohinj and Bled. There are lots of tourist visit these, but I must admit the view of the lakes with the mountains at the background is fabulous. The same counts for touristy Predjama, a castle built next to a steep cliff.
6. The return from Slovenia to Austria is only possible via the Würzenpas. The south side is also very steep but by this time it is a piece of cake for us. Marieke descents with 83 km/h, nearly as fast as speedy Arnout.
7. We have almost as many days off as cycling days. This makes it The Meeg’s most relaxed cycling holiday ever. But, keeping in mind that it’s just the start of a series of cycling holidays I think it is not a bad start at all.
Before
Day 1: Faaker See > Gozd Martuljek
Day 2: Gozd Martuljek > Bovec
Day 3: Bovec (day off)
Day 4: Bovec > Idrya
Day 5: Idya > Postojna
Day 6: Postojna (day off)
Day 7: Postojna > Ljubljana
Day 8: Ljubljana (day off)
Day 9: Ljubljana > Bohinj
Day 10: Bohinj > Bled
Day 11: Bled > Gozd Martuljek
Day 12: Gozd Martuljek (day off)
Day 13: Gozd Martuljek > Faaker See
