European motorcycle tour Slovenia – 20 Countries in 20 Days (Day 4)
Slovenia Trenta Pass
There are some things that are not in your destiny to achieve, the Trenta Pass was one of these!
I have made a pledge to myself that I will one day revisit Slovenia and ride this beautiful Pass. The scenery is stunning, the roads are empty and its on my bucket list.
THE DAYS EVENTS
An early start was definitely on the cards today to warm up. I’d had very little sleep as it was freezing cold during the night, or at least it was in my £10 doss bag (sleeping bag) from Aldi! Oh, how I wish I’d brought a much better sleeping bag with me, or found a blanket to purchase last night when we
I woke up very early but didn’t get up until 06.30 am. Still freezing cold, I begged some hot water from Ginge for a cup of hot lemon to start the warming up process. I then headed off to the shower block for a boiling hot shower to warm up, as the hot lemon hadn’t lasted very long and hadn’t done the trick. After a fabulous hot shower, I was warm, awake and ready to start the day with a bit of breakfast and looking forward to the rest of the day.
A very lucky chance meeting
When the cafe opened the plan was to have a quick coffee and be on our way early but this didn’t happen because into the campsite rode two Slovenia registered bikes, these two guys greeted us as friends and enquired about our travels. We told them where we were heading and politely asked about theirs. Our day was about to be drastically changed and be turned completely on its head.
A late start had definitely not been planned. Mike was leading the route, as per our initial brief and planning stage back in Tenbury Wells in April. Unfortunately he had not done any routes in the months leading up to the tour, so in true army fashion he was going to cuff-it (do an ad hoc version that is hopefully successful). At that very moment, his luck changed as the two riders were Balkan Tour guides from Alkemist Adventures running their own business. They gave us a route and places to see along the way, what luck that was, eh Mike!
They were very well spoken chaps, just off to Germany to finalise a deal with Touratech for their Baltic Tour guide company. “Any tips guys” was the phrase Mike used as he hadn’t planned any of his routes as agreed, whilst he was back in the UK. This was like a penny from heaven, his luck was about to change big time.
They got the map out straight away and pointed out where the best places were and how to get there, they gave detailed advice on other areas to ride to and what we should be careful of. They also told us about riding in Albania and Croatia, which would be a great source of information for us to use at a later date. We were guided into a National Park where very few bikers venture because there are small ‘B’ roads and perhaps don’t look too interesting but being as these guys knew the area well, we were not about to simply ignore their advice. They also recommended a place to stop on the evening, a small village with fantastic local wines, we were well up for a bit of that after a long day in the saddle riding.
So with a route now planned, it changed the day completely, a coffee or two and 2 hours later (while Mike hastily plotted a route into his sat nav) we were off on our European motorcycle tour Slovenia.
Riding out of Austria
We said our goodbyes after exchanging business cards and went in search of fuel ready for the day ahead. This is because we’d been told about some twisty roads and a few new passes to explore and there probably wasn’t going to be a garage. After filling up we left the area of Faaker See.
European motorcycle tour Slovenia
After a hassle free border crossing that seemed desolate and disused we headed up one of the passes and the views were absolutely stunning. It wasn’t the Grossglockner but it was truly awesome to ride up, but unfortunately somewhere high on the peak the Trenta Pass was closed. We were told by a guy fixing the road and by some bikers who were returning from getting as far as they could but had had to return. We didn’t know why the pass was closed but the red line through the name of the next town on the sign post soon became apparent, that’s what they do in this country for a road closure to a certain destination.
So, the Trenta Pass the Tour Guides had told us to ride over was closed. The way up there had looked promising and we were not at all disappointed with the views, but now a slight problem, a detour would not be an easy one because of the lie of the land. Have you ever tried to ride around a mountain? They are huge in Slovenia, this was going to be one hell of a de-tour. There wasn’t another way to go and the 206 (road number) was the only road over the mountain, unless we ventured east and travelled through Italy to drop south again. We decided to KBO (Keep Buggering On – a famous Winston Churchill saying) and head to Lake Bled which was on our previous agenda but It was going to turn into a long day. This is because we had to backtrack and then head in the totally wrong direction to where we’d been told to go. Still Lake Bled was supposed to be a fab place to visit and our new plans diverted us away from the mountain pass.
The Beauty of Lake Bled
During the European motorcycle tour Slovenia we had lunch not far from Lake Bled at a small but lovely little restaurant where we learnt how to say please, thank you and how to ask for the bill. We’d found a little pizza place in the middle of nowhere (well it wasn’t lost, so it didn’t need finding) but we’d stumbled upon it after Mike got himself geographically challenged (lost). The service, the waitress and the food were all 5 star, we were well attended to and looked after. A few new phrases were written down for future reference and we asked for the bill with our new found language skills and were happy with the small price for such a great lunch. We’d only eaten half a pizza each at the most because they were so big.
EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLE TOUR SLOVENIA - MORE INFORMATION
If you are interested in reading the rest of the book ’20 Countries in 20 Days’, please go to the SHOP for a signed copy.
If you are outside of the UK, purchase ’20 Countries in 20 Days’ as a: