Soča-Valley: That’s how I feel sLOVEnian
„It’s not true, no, it cannot be true“, this was our first reaction when a friend showed us pictures of the Soča valley . And when you see
the photos, you do understand: Bright turquoise, crystal-clear water, a view to the ground, whitegolden marbled stones, harsh canyons, soft moss-green crooked magical forests – all this is more than we can imagine and extends our faith in nature. It’s a work of Photoshop, what else?
It just can´t be brighter: The beauty of the Soča valley takes your breath away! Source: Karin Houska
And so, two friends and me, went on this journey to the Soča valley ourselves – to prove, that all the beauty on the pictures cannot be
true. Well, we failed! Soča valley is even more beautiful and breath taking in reality than on any of the pictures.
Only four and a half hours from Vienna or Munich and only an hour away from Wörthersee, Soča valley scores with its closeness
to my home, almost ideal for a weekend trip. For getting there, we chose the challenging – mm, unforgettable – path of the Wurzenpass
and the high Vrsic pass on the Slovenian side across the Karawank Mountains. Our little Peugeot had more than a hard time, getting
us three girls and our luggage (tent, clothes, climbing equipment, food – and everything else you might need for a camping trip) up there and back down again. Maybe this is one reason why our journey did not take the predicted 4,5 hours, but a little bit longer. And afterwards we all decided to follow the recommendations of our GPS when going back home and to choose the other route via Tarvisio and the – hopefully more harmless – Predelpass in Italy.
Everywhere there are pittoresque houses and bridges with flowers and sooo much green. Source: Doris Neubauer
But all the efforts of our trip were pushed in the background because of our „ahhs“ and „oohs“, when we saw the mountains of the Julian Alps and its highest peak, the Triglav. After uncountable curves and hairpin bends, we finally arrived in the valley. On our mind was only one thought: Find the camping spot to see the highly renowned Soča from a close-up.
No, it´s not photoshop. Source: Agatha Witkowski
And this is exactly what we did and we got hold of the last spot for our tent – with access to a little „private beach“, directly at the river. Sweaty after the long ride and because of the 30 degrees Celsius, we are looking forward to the well-deserved cooling; but therefor it’s sufficient just to peak the toes into the water: Brrr, the Soča is freezingly cold – with 5 degree Celsius an ideal cooler for our beers. What a pity you cannot swim in there, because the bright blue-turquoise-emerald Water of the river is calling us now more than ever…
The source of the Soča - bright daughter of the mountain – is located in Triglav national park. Source: Doris Neubauer
The next day, we wanted to go to the source of the 140 km long Soča, walking of course, after all we did not want to miss the view of the
river in midst of the wild ragged, white karst stones with all the waterfalls and gorges. Yes, the river – which is called „Isonzo“, first world war (!) in Italian – indeed had casted a spell over us. By the way, the sad Italian name comes from its tragic fame during the first world war: Since 1915, there were merciless battles going on in this region. Some fights were so inexorable, that the beautiful turquoise river lost his color and turned red from the blood of the deaths. But we do not want to think about cruel deeds like that when looking at the magic river – that they never will be forgotten though is good and the memorials in the area are a constant reminder.
The variety of the Soča is amazing. Source: Doris Neubauer
Back to our hike: Hours later, our cameras are filled with pictures of the Soča and our passion for the variety of the river is hard to put in words. At times, the river is a small tiny creek, at times its 500 meter wide; it’s a torrential ravine and a calm water – all in once. What we did not find though was the source of the Soča. And the view at the map tells us why: The path takes you from the beginning of the national park to the source in the Trenta Valley and is about 20 km long, an impossible task for a day.
There´s plenty of adventure like cayaking, canyoing, and such as well. Source: Agatha Witkowski
So we hitchhiked back to our camp and took our car to the source. Moreover, there is a small path of about 15 minutes from the parking lot to the source itself – and especially the last couple of meters are intense, as they are more or less a via ferrata. But you have to get through that to get the reward, because at the height of 1.050m there it is, the most wonderful source of the Soča. A magical moment, you cannot describe but have to experience!
Three times this year, I was in Slovenia – more than the rest of my life in total. And each visit surprised and convinced me more of the beauty of the place. Soča definitely did not see me for the last time, we are already planning our next trip next summer. The slogan of Slovenia is for sure true to me: I feel sLOVEnian!*
*Slovenia is the only country with the english “LOVE”.
Tipp: CampSites Camp Soca, Adrenalinček-Eko Kamp Korita or Kamp Klin.
Weatherforecast http://www.bovec.si/de/ or http://wetterbote.de/tolmin_slowenien but be aware, that it´s really unpredictable ther. zu erfahren, allerdings kann man das Wetter im Tal laut Soča-Kennern schwer vorhersehen. So gab es bei uns auf etlichen Seiten Schlechtwetterprognosen, die – gottseidank – nie eintrafen.
Erstveröffentlicht auf tripwolf, am 29. Juli 2011
Die Geschichte ist auf Englisch auch im Buch “Travel means Freedom” erschienen.
