I never thought that I’d be finding my way to Slovenia. It was a place that Shelly, Grace and her cousin Beth suggested to me. Well, here’s the thing. I missed my first train to Lake Bled. First time ever to miss my ride. I was so glad to know that there was another train, or else, I would have needed to cancel my hostel booking and stay somewhere.
I sat on the platform of Wien Miedling waiting for my train. I contemplated….I missed my guitar. I was feeling a little bit sad and lonely that moment. Not knowing what to expect in Slovenia, not knowing what was after…not knowing anything at all. All I knew was, I had to get going.
Lake Bled is located in the Julian Alps in the northwestern side of Slovenia. I would never have thought to be going there, far away from the route that I’ve planned. But all I knew was I wanted a place that was different and not the typical place to go to. When I got there though I realized it’s a top tourist destination (toink). Apparently, based on research, Bled island, found in the middle of the Lake, is the only natural island to be found in Slovenia. A church was built in the middle of the island, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. A walk up 99 steps would give you a pretty sight of the church, though rowing towards the island itself gives a beautiful view too. It seemed to have such a charming feel to it, well if you think about it, it was more of a romantic feel. Yeah, lots of lovers going there actually. The lake was formed by mixed glacial and tectonic activities. On top of the hill that overlooks the lake is the known Bled Castle, that has a medieval-era architecture. That also added to the beauty of the place. At night they turn on the lights on the castle and lovers just pass by the lake and stare up. Pretty.
I had to do a transfer in a small town in Slovenia. I opted to avoid the capital, Ljubljana, and decided to go straight to Lake Bled where I heard I can go swimming and just chill out. My adventure in Zakopane, Poland had me start looking for similar places where there were combinations of lakes and mountains.
I shared a train cabin with a girl from Ukraine, another girl who was from Slovenia and a cool and friendly bloke from England. We were all traveling on our own but it was so cool because we immediately clicked and just talked and talked along the way. The girl from Slovenia taught me a few words and even helped me work out on which station I was supposed to get off. The guy from England was really cool too coz he was really easy to talk to, into mountaineering and rock climbing.
As I got off the train, I hugged them goodbye though I just shared a fleeting moment with them. I figured that it didn’t matter what they thought….. when I give someone a hug, that means I appreciated the company and enjoyed the conversations.
The sun was slowly settling down when I arrived. There was a van waiting at the parking lot offering a ride to Lake Bled for 3 Euros. I accepted, dumped my bag at the back and chose to sit beside the driver. I earlier tried to talk to 2 girls from England, but they weren’t that friendly (more friendly to the boys), so I didn’t bother anymore.
The driver was a lady and wasn’t that much used to driving a van, let alone that it had a manual transmission too. It was okay, she smiled at me and restarted the engine as we stopped before the train tracks. My hostel was Villa Victoria Bled, 50 meters from the lake. She didn’t drop me off there, instead, asked me to get off at the top of the hill. I was fine with that, I didn’t complain, though when I got lost and confused, the weight of the pack seemed to be too heavy for me.
I checked in and was assigned to the 2nd floor, in a 4-bed dorm. I quickly chose the lower bunk bed and settled in. Later on, I met my roomies, a young couple from Turkey.
I went out to grab dinner and decided to sleep early after walking for a while. By the time I got back a bunch of teenage Scottish, Irish and English girls & boys were starting their drinking session in front of the hostel. I thought to myself, “man, it’s gonna be a wild, noisy night for sure”.
I opened the door to the room and quickly heard a shriek. Now at that point, with no lights, I quickly figured that the couple was having a moment (if you get what I mean). It was awkward for all of us. I said sorry and quickly decided to grab my camera bag and tell them I decided to take night shots despite my exhaustion.
From the hostel, I turned on the torch lights on my mobile, and found the way back to the lake. The castle lights were stunning, the vibe was romantic as I watched couples walk by, dreamily staring at each other’s eyes. Awwww.
After an hour, I hang around the lobby of the hostel, checking my emails. Around 10 pm, I decided to go back to the room, hoping they were done. I knocked at the door and asked if they were done. The guy said “can you give us 5 minutes more?”. At that point, I was too tired, but said yes…but a little bit irritated already.
I went down and told the front desk girl that I wanted a room transfer the following day. She was sympathetic to my qualms. I told her, it wasn’t a hotel, but a hostel and a dorm that we were all in. So if they wanted to have their moment, they should have booked their own room instead regardless if they were on a budget. I’ve heard so many horror stories of people having sex in a dorm room, but never did I expect to be in the same awkward situation ever.
They were having a shower by the time I got back to the room. The girl was the first one back in and I was surprised that she spoke English fine, despite his explaining to me earlier that she wasn’t good at it. She was in a bad mood earlier when I first met them. I gathered it was because they had company in the room.
To break the ice, the guy asked me what my plans were the following day. I said I was meeting up a fellow traveler. That was it, I didn’t want to stretch the conversation and be friendly. After a few minutes, I was in dreamland, oblivious to their laughter while they watched something on their laptop.
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