Skocjan Caves

I checked schedule online & decided to take the 9:30 am train (1.5 hr trip).  It is about 2 miles from the train station to the park with the caves.  There is supposed a free shuttle waiting at the train station.  When I purchased my ticket, the lady at the ticket window mentioned something about a bus.  I assumed she was referring to the shuttle bus for the park.  I checked the departure board for my train, it is listed, but has no track number.  I see a number 2 on my ticket, so maybe the train is at platform 2.

I head to the number 2 platform & ask the ticket collector if this was the right train.  He said no, you are supposed to be on the bus & he then brings to a place with a bunch of people standing next to 2 buses with identical signs.  I asked someone what was going on & apparently there is construction on the tracks.  I follow the majority of the people & get on the first bus.  Then the ticket collector gets on & says I should be on the other bus, this one does not stop at the park.  I change buses & after 1 hr 40 minutes eventually get to the small train station for the park 10 minutes late hoping the shuttle is waiting.  I see a generic white passenger van with a sign in the window, I ask the driver if this is the shuttle, he says yes.  I am the only one on the shuttle.

The guided tour doesn't start until 1:00 pm, so I have 1.5 hours to kill.  They have a nice trail with a scenic overlook to one of the entrances to the cave.  After this I ate an expensive lunch at the visitor's center.  Eventually as the tour is about to start, a large group of noisy Italian teenagers show up.  Luckily they are split off from our group.  The tour was in English even though there are only 3 Americans in the group.  The cave was pretty nice, but nothing spectacular.  The tour lasted about 2 hours.

I had to hustle back to get on the shuttle since the bus was supposed to leave a few minutes later.  The ride back to Ljubljana wasn't fun, lots of bumpy roads, stops in small towns, & windy roads.  If I had known what the day was going to be like I would have stayed in Ljubljana.

After I got back, I did a 4 mile run in the park & ate dinner at the apt.  I still have a cold, but it seems to be getting better.  Tomorrow I take the 9:15 am train to Salzburg, which is about a 4.5 hour trip.  I enjoyed Slovenia & will hopefully get back some day.

Not many photos today since you could only take photos at the exit to the cave.

This machine was in the Ljubljana train station, never have seen this before.