Fri 15th Sept
In a way it’s a shame to almost rush through Austria but a plan is a plan, as much as we have one and so today we drove uphill again to go to Slovenia. This isn’t the quickest route through there either, as we wanted to drive over the Vršič pass, again one that we first experienced in 2015.
In Spittal I happened to glance across to a building amongst the shops and saw the unmistakable racks of car parts alongside the windows. This is unusual as motor factors in the Uk tend to be hidden away and certainly their wares aren’t easy to see. We stopped and I went in and having done my research I confidently asked in my best German for “wischblätter”. A young woman behind a monitor confidently replied, in English, “ which vehicle”? Rumbled again!
Happily, not only did they have a set of Bosch wiper blades (made in China) but they only cost €12.60 so I handed over my Visa card. Hopefully I can manage to fit these without any subsequent issues.
There was a surprise immediately after turning south from Villach. We dropped a gear and started up the Wurzen Pass. Then we dropped another gear and pressed hard on the power pedal.
I think the sign said 18% for 3 or maybe it was 5 km, either way, it was sustained steepness and second gear was just sufficient, without any hairpins to worry us.
At the top Austria became Slovenia and we saw the relics of the border post. We travelled here by train in 1980, just a few months after President Tito died and the border into the Eastern bloc was a serious affair then. Passports disappeared whilst they were checked and we helped to conceal ‘illegal’ purchases of coffee beans and clothes that fellow train carriage dwellers were smuggling back into the Yugoslav Republic.
Then it was onto the Vršič pass, south from Kranjska Gora, another “we’ve done it before” route. This was a WW1 supply road, built by Russian labour, with many casualties who are buried in a cemetery on the south side.
It has 50 hairpins in total, split roughly equally on each side, however the uphill for us was on the cobbled turns. It’s quite tight and very steep, although that is not at all obvious from the photos.
At the top were two distinctive Westfields from the UK and we had a long chat about the cars, the engines (3.9 V8) and fuel injection / timing possibilities.
Into Slovenia we start to feel that it’s a bit different but it isn’t really. At Tolmin we camped on the outskirts at Camp Siber (click here) but before that we were talked to by a Brit. Painful Paul will probably never read this but whatever!
He saw the Land Rover and followed us until we stopped and then proceeded to talk about the Slovenians. He retired here two years ago but intends to go back the the UK. Clearly he has allowed things to annoy him too much and had a lot to get off his chest. This was mainly car mechanics who don’t know what they are talking about but also petty bureaucracy.
Once he took a longer than usual breath I was able to start to say cheerio. Phew. We checked out another campsite but chose a smaller one hoping for a quiet Friday night. It started well with a local beer but in our corner, three campers made a night of it and we were restless until almost 3am. The next day I saw how young they were and could probably have managed to get them to go to bed. I should have done!
The weather improved further and Saturday was prime for a good drive to Croatia, the coast and along the Adriatic Highway.
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