balkan

I always said i’m a ‘city-girl’! Well, i am probably a weirdo, whereby i have this claustrophobic issue yet love the hustle and bustle of a busy place. Haha

But somehow this city-girl, always got captivated by nature. Always! Nature never fails me. It is always breathtaking, and it always remind me to its Creator.

And today i want to share to you this awesome place that captured my heart. Located at northwestern side of Slovenia, Bled town has attracting visitors from all around the world, All the more its Bled castle and Bled lake.

History said that German Emperor, Henry II was giving a favour to the local Bishop. But the Bishop thinks that the castle is too fancy for him to stay in. Since then, so many owners come and go, was Brixen administrative building once as well. So the castle itself changes a lot too in terms of their architecture. I myself don’t really understand buildings, but this oldest castle in Slovenia is just pretty and worth the visit.

Why though? Because it is seated just next to the beautiful Bled lakes, surrounded with big mountains decorated with a pretty little island church in the middle.

Beautiful, isn’t it?? I can stop and stare for a long whilee.. and right after visiting the Bled castle, we took our bus tour to visit that pretty tiny island church.

The bus ride from the castle to the lake was about 15mins, and took about another 20 minutes for the lovely boat ride (Pletna – a gondola like with canopy on it)

Once we arrived at that little island, we have to take 99 steps up to the church up there. History said that long long time ago there was this rich couple who lived in Bled castle. Then the husband died when he was travelling. To keep the memory of her loving husband, the wife wants to build a bell tower. But apparently after two times of sending, the bell always failed to reach the island. She finally decided to built a church to commemorate her husband.

Until the local Bishop heard about this story, and try to send the bell for the her husband for the third time.

Finally the bell made it to the island! And legend said, if you ring the bell and believe, all your prayers will come true. ♥️

Now, this place is a busy place for local couple to take pre-wed and have a wedding in this island. Well, i cant see why not. Since it’s indeed pretty in here.

My parents kept asking me and my brother to go for this Balkan trip. And we finally agreed to go in March, when the period is already heaten up a bit. Well, if you try to google, the best time to visit Balkan countries (southeast of Europe) is during the Spring time, which is in April/May. But since we have to go for a tour, there’s not much options on the travelling dates.

Ok, maybe some of you are asking, why Balkan? Apparently my parents are quite an avid traveller, even though most of their trips are on tour. So, not much options for us the kids to choose for. We just need to follow their lead. Haha

Anyway, the very first day of the Tour is super interesting for me. We went to Postojna (read: postonyah) cave , the billion years old cave that was just discovered 200 years ago by a cave lamplighter assistent, Luca čeč. The cave itself is super huge, it is stated that it’s the only cave in the world that have a double track railway line!

Yes, it’s the very first time for me as well to enter this kind of cave with a train (you can see my IG for reference🙈) , and it’s quite an interesting experience too to travel the first 3,7km with it. It feels like you’re in some kind of rides in universal studio. Haha. *Thanks to the imperial couple Franz Joseph and Elizabeth, who came to visit for the first time, and the people got it set up for them to enjoy the cave. Since then, the train tide has always been revamped for the visitors to enjoy the ‘show’.

i’ve been to this kind of cave in Hanoi (Thien Chung Cave) and China (Guilin, Reed Flute Cave – this one is pretty amazing too) but nothing like this before. Maybe it’s size captivates me. I think the size of the cave is 70 metres high, with more than 24km long.

But yesterday, we only walked about 2,5km. Which is the normal package of the attractions. Maybe the other 19km is not explorable for the visitors.

You have to enter this cave guided by the provided tour guide, and in designated time. So if you’re late, you have to wait for the next timing. They have many languages too. But mostly are still in english and european language.

The stalactites and stalagmites are so amazing. I can’t stop staring at some of them. Moreover when i know that it takes 10,000 freaking years to only grow a metre of it. It’s just Mindblowing!

Btw it’s cold and quite damp inside, so make sure you bring a jacket and wear comfortable shoes to walk that 2,5km of awesomeness. And dong forget to see blind Salamander aquarium right at the end of the walk. They said that Postojna blind salamander lives in total darkness in the Postojna cavern complex. They can grow to up to a foot in length, making them the world’s largest cave-dwelling animals and they can live up to a century.

There’s another funfact too why we cannot use flashlights inside the cave. Scientists said somehow our flash lights have some chemical reactions that somehow will stimulate algae to grow on the Karst. Surprise surprise!

*amazing 5 metre Karst that is very iconic. The white one (right side) is made from pure limestone, whereby the red-brick one (left side) is made from limestone with a mixture of red soil. Interesting to see how a side by side thing can grow differently.

And can you see the sparkly-like-diamond Karst? So lovely 😍

*For you who’s a bit claustrophobic like me, there will be some small tunnel inside the cave, but it’s still manageable since it’s not that tiny and there’s still room to breathe. So you can still chillax and enjoy :))