Karst Region

Having never intended to see the coast at all, we reverted to the original plan of heading north to the alps. This took us through a region of limestone, caves and underground rivers called the "Karst". We chose a rainy day to "cheat" and take a train into the hills to Divaca. Finding the info centre closed we enquired at the local pub for a place to stay. It turns out that the publican also owns a picturesque guesthouse in a hamlet near the caves. It was a cold and wet 4km ride there, but we were welcomed with a few shots of plum brandy to warm us up. It was also offered again the next morning at 9am!

Roger cooking in the guesthouse kitchen

We joined a 2 hour walking tour of the underground cave and river system that ended in a 140m high chasm. We came out of the cave in the hole under the church:

Caves below church in Škocjan

Underground river flowing from cave

Delayed at the tourist centre by yet more rain, we encountered an Italian wedding party on their photo shoot.


As the rain beat down we caught a 10 minute train to Sežana, then rode across the countryside to a wonderful town called Pliskovica, with not much more than a church and a few houses, where we had heard there was a hostel. The hostel is a renovated old farmhouse now run by a roster of young people from the village.

Bicycle in Pliskovica

The next day, the hardest so far, saw us riding over a pass, down a river valley to Nova Gorica and up the Soca River in the rain to Kanal. The Soca is a vivid blue-green.

Bridge over the Soča River

We arrived thankfully at our campsite, only to find it "closed". We were about to set up anyway, when we were approached by an old man who spoke no English. He made some calls on his phone and his son-in-law arrived some minutes later to open the campsite for us. This was the view:

The town of Kanal where we camped

And this is the hot chocolate available at a local cafe:

Local hot chocolate