The drive from Ljubljana to Piran is a little under two hours in total. We had a planned stop along the way – another cave! Škocjanske jame (jame is cave in Slovenian) is another UNESCO site, and would make for a good stop, since our hotel didn’t have check-in before 3pm.
Good thing Lisa had pre-purchased tickets a few days before as when we arrived, there was a sign saying all tours sold out for the day. We had tickets for the 11am tour, and were a bit early, so we cooled ourselves in the shade at the info centre (hot out again!!) prior to the start. Like Postojna caves, the tour starts by getting to the caves. Unlike Postojna, no train here! We hoofed it for about 20 minutes along the road then through the forest until the cave entrance. At the entrance we got a short information session – in English only – about the caves and the do’s and dont’s of the tour (for example, no photos allowed, so I didn’t take any pictures inside the cave – though they did relax this requirement a bit and Lisa and others were taking some photos, but you’ll have to live with a few that I downloaded from the internet) before they split us into 4 groups of about 35 people each and we entered the cave (yup, about 140 in total on our tour, and they do this every hour 9-5pm).
The beginning of the tour was not much to write home about. The usual stalagmites and stalactites, but more poorly lit I thought than Postojna. I wasn’t much impressed until – we entered “the canyon”. Here, it wasn’t so much about the formations, but the sheer size of this part of the cave. Way down at the bottom of “the canyon” is the Reka river. The path started probably 100 meters above the river, winding its way down the sides of the rock on a paved pathway, then across a bridge 50 metres above, before gradually climbing again. The view when you first enter is phenomenal, and I wish I had taken a photo. It felt like the Indiana Jones cave where he rides the mining cart through it. So while the cave started out lower down in my list of impressive caves, it jumped more than a few notches for this part (still working on my ordered list of caves visited, Martin).
At the end of the 1.5 hour walk through the cave, we exited and had the option of an “easy” elevator ride back to the info centre, a half hour “more challenging” walk, or a 1.5 hour “easier” walk through the forest and along the river. Since this was a stop on our way to Piran, rather than a destination itself, Lisa and I chose the “easy” elevator option. However, just like the mountain trail of yesterday, it wasn’t as easy as the guide made it sound. There were many steps up to the elevator (which was more of a funicular than elevator) and more steps at the top again. Anyway, it was shorter.
After the cave, we got back in the car and headed to Piran, but we were still a bit early. So we made a stop in Koper, a town also on the Mediterranean coast, a walk through the old town, a refreshment, then back in the car to Piran.
Our hotel in Piran is inside the old town, so you can’t drive directly to it (old town of Piran is a no drive zone. Well, its actually a no drive for non-residents). However, it is very close to the end of a very steep and cobbly road that you can drive down to drop off the bags, but have to drive back up to park outside the old town. We notified our hotel keeper we were arriving about 20 minutes before getting there (its a six room hotel, and they don’t have someone at reception all the time) and arrived at the same time as the hotel keeper. I took our bags up the 3 floors of very steep semi-circular stairs (no elevator here) and then went back to park the car in a private spot provided by the hotel. Got a little lost trying to find it (on the very steep and narrow streets) but did eventually find it and park.
Lisa had a short rest while I sat in the main square for a refreshment, then we went out for dinner. After dinner we had a walk around the seawalk of the town, and watched the sun set over the Mediterranean before heading back to the hotel. Lots of pics of sun setting below. Tomorrow we’ll walk Piran so more photos of the town then.
