We got going early for the exciting drive to Slovenia.

The Belgian group of young teenagers were getting up late. They were very quiet last night – us oldies were the ones who stayed up until 10.30 talking. There was an old castle with city walls as we left the town of Gmund to get onto the freeway.

There were many interesting and beautiful views – like the half a mountain that was missing.

We were soon queuing to go through the tunnel. We had prepaid for the number plate recognition to get a quick pass through the tolls. However there is always one – a person who hadn’t prepaid and held up the queue having to find cash to throw in the bucket.

The Karawanken tunnel is 7864m long – and is currently down to one of the two dual carriageway tunnels due to roadworks. It was a very quick merge of 5 minutes compared to other tunnels we have been through in previous years.

On the other side we were in Slovenia.

After stocking up at a big shopping centre where it seemed to be mostly tourists we continued through Bled. The lake was lovely but the traffic jams and amounts of tourists was not pleasant.

We continued on our way to the quieter lake Bohinj.

We parked up at the Sredjna vas v Bohinj aire which is 4 km away from the lake. The campsite on the lake is booked up and is very expensive at around 60 euro. The aire is at a very lovely location in fields near a village with great views and is only 26 euro including tourist tax. There were only about 10 vans when we arrived so we got a good front row spot just within reach of the electricity.

There is a riding stables nearby. There is also a bike lane that runs from the aire to Lake Bohinj. We didn’t find it on the way to the lake the first time as it wasn’t easy to find. We didn’t enjoy being on a very narrow road with cars.

We arrived in a busy carpark with lots of beach goers – many were locals perhaps since this is Saturday. The lake is a beautiful blue/green colour. There were lots of people sitting on the beach and swimming in the lake. There was a bar on a deck looking onto the lake and a noisy volleyball court.

Hang gliders were overhead jumping off the mountain. Once a bit round the lake in a less busy area it was very pleasant. We went swimming – the water initially warmish and then it went down to a very cool chill in the deeper parts. It was very enjoyable after our bike ride.

Glenn enjoyed the nice clear water.

After a second swim and time to dry out we got back on the bikes. We did find the bike route on the way back which was a very gradual rising gradient alongside the river and through fields so a very enjoyable experience.

The cool beer we had on getting back to the van barely touched the sides. It was now a very pleasant evening and we cooked a barbecue sitting under the sunshade.

It didn’t get dark until 10pm so we sat outside until then with no mosquitoes- very lovely.