Kobarid and Camp Koren

August 22nd

In the morning we set off in search of Camp Koren, a campsite that had been recommended to us by the "Cool Camping" guidebook. Many thanks to Rachel's ladies - a wonderful birthday present! The road to the site was hairy to say the least, so I let Rachel do the driving to avoid any blame should anything bad happen. The weather had become even hotter since Austria and today was no exception. In the glorious sun we wound our way through the mountains to the campsite.
As soon as we arrived we knew we would have a "cool" time here. After checking in we found the ideal spot on the edge of the campsite (and a cliff), overlooking the main river, which set the background noise for the site. After the  awning was set up and we had made camp, we set about the strenuous task of relaxing for the day, and exploring the river a little. We also used the free facilities and washed all our clothes, had showers, used the internet (for which there was a small charge) - all in all the site is great value for money. On top of this, the site staff were really friendly and welcoming which made life really easy for us.

August 23rd

We started today with a walk around Kobarid. Immediately outside the campsite entrance you come across the Napoleon Bridge which has wonderful views on either side. The was initial wooden bridge was destroyed by the Venetians before the French built the first stone bridge over the river to march to Predel Pass (where the monument we saw two days ago stands). It was subsequently destroyed in WWI to be rebuilt by the Italians, and during WWII was the scene of heroic defense from Slovenian partisans against Germany forces who occupied the territory in November 1943. There are monuments to these defenders on the bridge.
During our little walkabout we crossed the stream to get to the waterfall of Kozjak which was stunning. There were minor waterfalls around this too which made for a very pleasant stop. Crossing the river again, we stopped for a quick dip in the river, which was absolutely freezing despite the roasting hot temperatures on land. Up on the Tonocov Grad, a large hill overlooking Kobarid, there is a Roman settlement, dated from the 5th Century with a tremendous view of the town below, and on the way there you pass through the trenches used by the Italians to defend the area against attacks from the Austro-Hungarian and German forces during the Battle of Caporetto, or the 12th Battle of the Isonzo during WWI.
We then arrived in the town, where we went to a cheese museum to see how cheese was made through the centuries in this area. After this we bought some of the local produce and rushed back to the van to make dinner and scoff the lot!

We finished the day with another stroll down to the river and a quick dip (very quick!) before relaxing at the on-site bar.

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Tarvisio to Bovec

August 21st

The stop in Italy was only a brief one as the next morning we headed into Slovenia, just over the border. Before we left we had a little look around Tarvisio and it was quite a nice border market town. The weather was again glorious and we left Italy looking forward to when we would return and see it properly.

As we drove we passed a little stream and stopped to cool down with a brief splash. It was pretty cold but very refreshing. We then stumbled across this lake in the midst of the mountains and had to pull over for a dip. The water of Lago Del Predil, although crystal clear was very, very cold and although you could see the bottom of the lake through the water easily, diving down the water became so cold that you had to surface pretty much
straight away.

But no sooner had we crossed the border into Slovenia than our chins hit  the floor. We had seen some beautiful scenery up to now but this blew our little heads. We had headed into the Soca valley and immediately came across this castle. The castle was destroyed during the Napoleonic invasion and now stands as a memorial to the fallen Austrian defenders (the area was under Austrian rule until 1908). A wounded lion guards the tombs of the fallen soldiers.
We stopped in the town of Bovec which is the unofficial capital of the Soca region and is surrounded by the Julian Alps. Here we found a real treat. Firstly, they call cheese "sir" which went down very well with Rachel, and next the cheese-makers are happy to sell direct. As we approached a house which had the "Sir" & goat sign a head popped out of a window followed by feet to the front door. Within minutes we had purchased some of the finest tasting cheese we had tasted. Typical for the region, it was mild but so creamy and full of
flavour at the same time. Needless to say this went within hours, but we had discovered the joy of buying cheese straight from source and later we were also told that we should do the same when buying the Slovenian
wine which is also very highly rated apparently. I look forward to verifying this claim.

For the night we settled in at the local motorhome rest spot, the Stellplatz equivalent, cracked open a bottle of beer and watched the sunset. After sundown, we ventured to the on-site pub which was actually a nightclub and the place where the locals from Bovec unwind after a heavy day. Here we met Jernej, who was the Slovenian national kayaking champion, and was on the lash with his kayaking team. He spoke excellent English (as does everyone here), and weirdly it sounded more and more Scottish as the night wore on. We shared quite a few beers and stories before we had to retire for the night as we had an early start the next morning, but it was good fun.

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Climbing Mt Mirnock

August 20th

Today we climbed Mt Mirnock, which stands at 2116ft above sea level and towers above the Millstatter See. We started the climb at Glanz which was pretty high to begin with and climbed for about 2.5 hours up to the peak. On the way we passed some more funky fungus, as well as alpine strawberries and raspberries, which we had to try. The way up was through woodland with mountain streams cascading down occasionally. This was really tasty to drink and we regularly filled out water bottles wherever we found one. The weather was glorious and this made it slightly harder work, but it was absolutely worth it as the views from the peak were incredible. There were some  great places to sit and rest on the way up including these purpose-built chairs and sun loungers near the peak. it was fun to look down at the houses below, and Nailz was not afraid of getting quite close to the edge. In fact Nailz was in bullish mood as he growled at everything in sight, from intimidatingly large horses to the cows that roam around the hillsides.
Mount Mirnock is known as the Mystic Mount by the locals as the peak is crossed by two "energy" or geomantic lines, the Kloster and the Kult lines. Locals say it is possible to feel the energy in various sensations such as heat, cold, tingling etc. I felt a strange sensation in my stomach which only abated after we had passed the peak and had lunch.
It took slightly longer to get down, as I was knackered by now, and we did go a different, and slightly longer way back down. It was nice to view to the lake we had scuba-dived the day before from such a great height, and houses looked tiny.

We finished with a drink at Gasthouse Klammer before we headed away from Austria and, briefly, into Italy to a town called Tarvisio which is where we bedded down for the night.

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Click here for our route (google maps)