Lazy lakes and hard hiking.

Dober njan. After the highly rarified and cultured air of Salzburg it was time once more to find a quieter place to dwell. Our travels through Austria were interrupted by some railway track maintenance so it was everybody off and onto a fleet of buses to cart us past the affected stretch. We all piled out again at a remote station in the  mountains. With no train waiting for us to re-board, we stood huddled together on the  platform in a scene reminiscent of Schindler's List. Otherwise though a very scenic trip and finally reached our host Darijo's house in the wilds of Slovenia, (known as the 'green piece of Europe'). He was a great guy and the village was a welcome retreat for us for a few days. It was close to Lake Bled and the mountains of Triglav National Park so we made a snap decision to head for the hills again. Leaving our heavier stuff with Darijo we caught a bus to Lake Bohinj and began climbing...and climbing. After 8 hours of relentless up ness and in hindsight a foolishly hasty decision to forego en route a cauldron of goulash bubbling over an open fire at a charming wayside restaurant, we broke free from the woods and arrived somewhat worse for wear at our first koca or mountain hut high on the slopes of Mt Triglav. Run by a trio of grim Slovenian women the service was of the 'take it or leave it' ilk, but this was countered by the character and venerability of the building and it's huge views. The following day we crossed a high pass and began dropping down again into another valley. Up on the tops it was a barren landscape of crumbling marble, the peaks eroding as fast as they were being pushed up. At times it was two steps up and one back as we skidded on the small rounded stones (literally 'marbles'). Back in the valley we were again walking through a woodland of verdant shades of green deciduous and evergreen trees with occasional clearings carpeted with wildflowers and the odd snake. Nell's cellphone was glowing red hot from excessive floral photography. Our final night was spent in the company of a mix of Germans and Poms Slovenians and Kiwis playing a dice game called Matzee. All very hilarious and multilingual.