Monday, May 6, 2019

Return To Skocjan Cave, 2

Continuing our return visit to Slovenia's spectacular Skocjan Cave...
Steps cut in the karst by old-time explorers

A more distant look back to the bridge

Leaves and debris from the February flood (and plenty much higher up, too)

Another view of the canyon and river


Last view of one of the wonders of the world

Another swing bridge, high up on an opposite canyon wall

Forgot the name for these calcium pans, each the size of a hot tub or larger; even
after perusing a glossary of cave and karst terms (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
doi/pdf/10.1002/9781444313680.gloss
)


Light at the end...

Exit: one of the two natural entrances to the cave (the other
is the river as it drops underground


In the distance is the river Reka, just before it plunges
underground to make Skocjan Cave and work its way to
the Adriatic

Closer up

Working our way up the gorge to the funicular

And to the outside, where spring is still going full blast

Return To Skocjan Cave, 1

We spent a rain day and an administrative day in Ljubliana, the capital of Slovenia, before preceding on to Skocjan Cave and the end of our brief Balkan re-adventure. We visited Skocjan on July 8, 2018, and pronounced it the best cave ever (http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2018/07/skocjan-caves-best-ever-period.html); and thus our return. The cave was a bit mistier than in July, due to warmer river temperatures within, but the tour was pretty much the same as in July, a two hour subterranean hike, across excellent ground, half of which was the usual stalagmites and stalactites, and such, and even a couple very big rooms, and half of which was in the underground canyon carved by the torrential river Reka as it wends its way, entirely underground, to Italy and a spring near the Adriatic. We even had the same guide, Gregor, who seemed not to notice that I hung back from the crowd. What was different about this visit was that, after turning off the sound, the flash, and the screen of my iPhone, I took a number of pix, a number of which turned out pretty well, considering. See below and next post.
Preliminaries

Helpful model #14,509

At Skocjan, you can see all the stalactites and stalagmites
you'd ever need to see; unless you're a geologist or
spelunker 




But then you round a bend and climb some steps and begin to hear the roar of the
Reka; and then you begin to make out the contours of the canyon ahead; canyon,
in a cave

And are told the canyon and cave, despite their immense size,  have nearly flooded
on two recent occasions; one just last February

Be that as it may, your eyes follow the lighted trail, which hangs out over the
left bank, as it were, a couple hundred feet below

The Bridge of Khazad-Dum, as Vicki calls it

The river below


One of the older swing bridges, still hanging in there

Torrent, again

Now much further along, looking back at the trail

Vicki

More Croatian Scenes

A few more Croatian scenes...
Driving along in the northern mountains, one sees several underpasses like this

Which turn out to be animal overpasses: bears and wolves returning to the area;
we've seen a few of these in Montana and other such places

Easter eve we stayed at Kamp Zelina Dolena, as we did back in July; it's really
more an agricultural sosta, an orchard run by a farmer and his wife; he seemed
to remember us, especially after I recalled his fondness for the Golden State
Warriors, and he again brought us a couple glasses of his home-made high-test
plum liqueur; next morning, as we were departing, he brought out a couple Easter
eggs his wife had painted; a Slavic Easter custom, Vicki said

After doing Plitvice, we spent the night at the Plitvice Holiday Resort; pictured
above is its Indian village and playground

It's still under construction and expansion and typical of the development going
on all around Plitvice; we passed several such that simply weren't there last July

In addition to budget, regular, and luxury RV sites, Plitvice Holiday Resort has
tree-house cabins

Lakeside cabins (actually a sink hole)

Golfing and other recreation area (not to mention restaurant, lounge, general store)

More wilderness and Indian paraphrenalia, yet to be installed

And still more tree-house cabins; Plitvice has been discovered and soon, we
predict, will be going to a reservation system, like some popular US national
parks; you heard it first here...

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Return To Plitvice Lakes, 2

Continuing our second visit to Plitvice Lakes national park, in Croatia...
On the ferry

You'd think they could just paint the thing green

Part of the ferry flotilla

More great color
 



Near the top




Great experience, again!