Bohinj compared to Bled

Both of them are nice small lakes with clear water and a lot of tourists around them.
Bled has all these fancy hotels, business seminars, even the camping was not like camping you see usually (electronic keys to entrance etc) and all the time too many tourists around.
Bohinj is just 35 km further to mountains from Bled. The atmosphere there was completely different. Also many tourists around, the camping we got there was like a small overcrowded paradise under the big trees. Just step in if you find a place then come to the reception and pay if not then …
When we arrived to the lake then in one small village it looked like a surfers center – everything in lights and party party party.
The overall image of these 2 places where: Bled is a nice civilized euro tourist place, but if you want more wild and a bit bohemic feeling then move on to Bohinj. Keep in mind that I said “a bit“, cause still this is all Slovenia, that is like a small model of Sweden with all the regulations and rules etc.


Lake Bohinj


On the forbidden tracks

Dead in Slovenia

Hey travelers, something to remember: even the canned food cannot resist the heat up to 40 degrees! The last evening in Slovakia we had one of these cans. Next day the best thing to do was to lay and hang on. Finally during the noon when we got moving towards Slovenia, it took around 100 km to find a pharmacy to get some pills. Try imagine how is it to explain in fluent Slovakian that I want a coal pill (pointing my belly, then a small decorative tree they had in pharmacy as the coal should come from tree and then telling that the colour is usually black by pointing my black shoe). Anyway when being so dead it was not even funny.

All this resulted that during the stay in Slovenia we have been eating only fruits.
On third evening after getting sick we decided to go to a nice small pizzeria in Granska Gora. Result: at night around 3 both of us woken and semi-dead.

Last day in Slovakia

This blog was supposed to be for photos. Mostly till now it has been bla-bla. Actually we have not been making that many pictures. When biking we are trying to keep our bags as small as possible, only liquid, some food, first aid stuff. This has resulted that there is no space for camera anymore.

Though Esko is playing with video camera & time to time I have also been taking some photos.

One picture form the moving car. This sad landscape continued for many kilometers.

The idea of 3rd day was to keep a slow profile and ride at the height we were living - 800m. Result 57km. And finally couldn't stop going to yesterday's track and climbing half the way up and then down - just to get the adrenalin. Besides adrenalin I got a flat rear tyre and damaged rim.

High Tatras

Rock in up and rocks down

Hmm, interesting my legs are OK. No pain in muscles. But guess what, fingers are hurting. Painful to hold the handlebar with one finger on the breaks.
Today is the day for 1:1 gear - the easiest gear.
Basically what we did was climbing up the hill to the gorgeous lake and racing down the afterwards. It all made together 27km. I think this was the best track to try. When going uphill I often thought that this is impossible by bike, but somehow we did it.
And when coming down at one moment Esko explained why he was falling several times "it is impossible to read so much information and act simultaneously".
This was one of the best rides:
1. very technical uphill, physically really demanding
2. beautiful lake and cottage up there - super view and provided food, we were starwing after the uphill
3. very technical downhill providing big portion of adrenalin

First ride in Tatras

High Tatras – khm 8km uphill for the beginning. What a warm welcome:). It goes even better, the first hiking track is also asphalt full of hikers. The gear combination is getting close to 1:2 (In other words: front gear wheel the smallest, back gear wheel second largest).
To be honest in Estonia I didn’t understand why the hell we have this smallest front gear wheel on the bikes, especially when everybody is doing everything to get the bike as light as possible. Now I know! :)

At the end of first road there is even a hiking trail going higher. Demn, but the thing is that everybody coming down are nodding their head when looking us and saying something in Slovak or Polish. Then finally one Danish guy stops to tell that we are a bit crazy going there by bike. After a short talk and few hundred meters further we realised indeed, that this track can be done… but maybe some other time, and definitely without bikes.

The rid! We took another hiking trail. First going along the mountain side, often had to carry the bike on our back. And then at one point the descent starts.
Fast down, trees, soil and big rocks. Speed for this terrain hell of a fast. I am used to break with only one finger, there at some moment my fingers were getting so tired that couldn’t hold anymore. When down hands and legs are shaking for some time.
Adrenalin!


Lost in nowhere. As our Slovakian language was not that good to read the warning signs, so we finished up in the area where storm had thorn up the trees and "lucky us" the bicyclability was up 0%

Loosing my hair and 76km/h

Morning. I lost my hair. It was a camp in Poland. Aneta and Esko did the job really well with the hair cutter.

Near Krakow in a place called Pieskowa Skala the fun starts! A nice place and not full of hikers and this kind of stuff. An old castle(s) or monasteries (in Poland it is hard to get what it is, but it is always safe to say monastery/church, cause this is what it usually is). So the first ride took us immediately down from a hill including a big portion of adrenalin. Single track in old forest. First taste of speed and bicycle handling when surprised by some rocks and roots. Heh, perfect! These the couple of hours we were riding we also made our speed record 76km/h on asphalt.

The night blessed us already with wild camping at the beginning of Tatras in Poland. Top of the mountain with the view to some Polish city lights – don’t ask the name. To make the feeling ultimate, we decided to have the evening beer on the roof of our minivan. The van was not designed to carry 2 persons on the roof, so to make our dream true we had to distribute our bodyweight as evenly as possible evenly … and then still to drink the beer…. :)

4.86km in Lithuania

One of the ideas of Esko is to bike in every country we are visiting. Ok, Latvia went fast, didn’t do any kilometres there. Lithuania = 5 good kilometres to a lake to wash.

Vacation plan and start

It is 22nd of August and we are on the way, the was to spend next 3 weeks in a way we have had it never ever before. Planning the trip actually started almost 1 year ago. Then the dream was to go mountain biking in Alps. With around 6 people. Etc.
In the beginning of the year we started thinking of getting a VW Turtle minivan, to renovate it go with it. By then the dreamers were only Esko and me. Others somehow one by one managed to disappear.
So bikes are fixed (new front derailleur for both bikes, overall service), car had been in service, we have a rough idea and printouts of the places we could bicycle.
Plan: Slovakia and biking in High Tatras, Slovenia and biking in Julian Alps, Croatia and sunbathing on Vis island, Hungary and dancing in Szieget festival. I like when the plan in crystal clear ;)