Into the bear realm - Slovenia

Our destination for the day was Kurescek (Kurešček in Slovenian). It is a small hill in the southern part of Slovenia – only 826 meters above sea level and we chose an easy route. In total it was a 4,5 hour walk up and back down. As the idea of the whole thing was getting in shape for our planned trip to Egypt, we started at high noon. Since it was in the middle of July it was pretty hot but we didn’t mind it.

We left our car at the Turjak castle and took a path into the forest. After a nice but a little bit exhausting (because of the heat) two and a half hour walk, a church dedicated to The Queen Of Peace greeted us at the top of Kurescek.

A tasty meal at the nearby cottage inn was the right thing to do and after finishing it we continued our circular route down the road. It did not take us long to come to a small village of Visoko. Our hiking guide-book was not too generous with information on where to go from there. We tried to follow a narrow path into a dense forest but after some 50 meters it was simply gone.

After a short consideration we decided to go back to the village and ask for directions, because we didn't feel like getting lost in an unknown forest.

We tried our luck with two ladies who were, as they told us, more weekenders than real locals. They mentioned another path but they didn't know where it was going. Apart of that small detail, they also warned us about going deep into the woods. Supposedly because of many bears roaming around those parts, wandering through the nearby woods was not the safest thing to do.

I didn't take them very seriously. What do some scared middle-aged city ladies, who spend an occasional weekend in the countryside, know about woods and bears? Right? Right!

However logical that conclusion of mine might have seemed at the moment, it didn’t last for long. When I saw a look on my girlfriend's face I knew right away we weren't going down that path.

Bears or no bears, I wasn't going to settle for that. I decided to find a true local person who knows those parts. We got lucky soon enough and she gave us some useful information and we were off to find another overgrown path. She didn't mention any bears.

At the edge of the forest there was an interesting sign that made us hesitate for a moment. I tried to cheer my girlfriend up with an explanation of the sign. I said it was quite obvious that this round sign was forbidding bears to enter the area and we were surely safe. Of course I was ignoring the two words below, saying: “Bear region” and also her muttering about bears not being able to read signs properly.

Somewhere down that path I had a bright idea to make a stop and take photos of a weasel crossing our path. I was promptly dismissed. And this time there was no room for an argument. None at all!

M. was not at all comfortable when also this little path ceased to exist. Does anyone notice a pattern? I was confident we were on the right way, but not at all certain. I guess I must have looked pretty convincing because we continued in the proposed direction. Eventually the path appeared again and we were soon standing at the edge of the forest.

When we were out in the clear again I could hear a loud sigh of relief and soon M. was in a better mood again.

Afterwards it didn't take us long to get to our car parked in front of the castle. It was getting late and we decided to head home. I guess M. had enough of excitement for one day.  After a short half hour drive we were already taking a shower in our flat in Ljubljana. This might seem strange, but one can actually get from the Slovenian capital to the middle of a bear region in about a half of an hour.

At the end of the day another interesting trip was behind us and in spite of everything we were glad we decided to do it. (Un)fortunately this time we have no bear photos to share.

This is a guest post from the author of Travel Photo Blogging.

Marko