Caves, Ruins, and Rocky Climbs

Two Kiwis, Two Bikes, One Continent — Part 4: Caves, Ruins, and Rocky Climbs | Bikepacking Slovenia & Croatia

After three days trekking through Triglav National Park, we’re back on our bikes and heading south toward Ljubljana, Slovenia’s charming capital. With no fixed plan, we explore Ljubljana Castle, the mysterious Vranja Jama cave, the forgotten Dvorec Hošperk ruins, and the stunning Rakov Škocjan Landscape Park — a hidden gem for cyclists and adventurers.

From there, we ride toward the Croatian border, climbing into the rugged Dinaric Alps. This part of our journey is full of detours, challenges, and unexpected beauty — the essence of bikepacking in Europe.

We’re two Kiwis on a budget cycling adventure across Europe, traveling slow, camping wild, and chasing mountain roads and hidden trails. This is Part 4 of our series, Two Kiwis, Two Bikes, One Continent.

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👉 Watch Part 3: https://youtu.be/BB1GF3yUVT8

👉 Watch our Triglav National Park hike: https://youtu.be/me6SUuiGFrM

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🎵 Music:

On Our Way — Dan Phillipson (Uppbeat
)
License code: N5S1BKYHYO50H5OX

Castles in the Sky — Scott Buckley (CC BY 4.0) www.scottbuckley.com.au

[Music] That was nowhere near as bad as it looked. [Music] The route between Lake Bled and Slovenia’s capital, Labana, is both on and off main roads. Most importantly, it’s paved and downhill, which in combination with mild weather and freshly rested legs made for our fastest ever 60 km. Point villages and beautiful landscapes made it an enjoyable ride. sprinkled with the occasion raising drivers. It’s as if any hold up could ruin their day. The further east we get, the greater the death wish drivers seem to have. [Music] [Music] [Music] We plan to stay three nights on the outskirts of Lyan exploring the long inhabited area. [Music] The city is overlooked by an elegant castle rebuilt into a museum telling stories of numerous groups of people that had been in the area for the past 4,000 years. [Music] Oh, hello [Music] Okay. Like that’s cold against the back. Well, like iced tea. It’s kind of weird. We stopped. We set off southwest with only a vague plan to take an indirect route towards the Croatian border. Push bikes like mom said. [Music] This was the first time in our trip where we had nowhere to be. We could follow our noses and see where they led. [Music] It didn’t take long cycling down less ridden tracks till we encountered our first piece of evidence that we were reentering the wild side of Slovenia. A beer sign. This was both thrilling and a little nerve-wracking, having never come across them before. [Music] There was a pin on Google Maps for a cave in the forest, but very little information beyond that, just that it might be a fun little side mission. We had no idea what we were in for. [Music] [Music] It’s up there. I think [Music] I don’t know what that says. Oh, it’s backwards. Welcome back. Welcome back. [Music] Wow. How many wonder what we’re in? It collapsed. So what diamonds? It’s like a little flower. Wow. in that massive hole that’s just coming out of the ceiling. I was doubting coming down here. I was like, “Oh, I think we’re not going to find what we’re looking for.” Manual mode. [Music] Rana Yama, which roughly translates to Raven’s Cave, was a far more immense and impressive cave than either of us had seen before. The entrance was created by an equally impressive sinkhole. In the state, we found it complete with its own cloud. The cave is passable to another entrance exiting onto the Penina Fields to the south of the cave, but it is also known to fill up with water during rain. Some rather extreme rain in 2014 led the cave’s main hall to have its roof licked by the lake that formed. Both of us were keen to explore deeper into the 510 m long cave, but decided against it due to not having the right equipment or knowhow at the time. We’ll save that adventure for another time. [Music] [Music] You just got caught. I can’t see. There we go. Kind of interesting though. I kind of just assume that there’s going to be out. After our little excursion into the underworld, we pulled off the road at the first stop we saw for a lunch break, which just so happened to be the sight of a ruined manor. [Music] Dor koshik was built at some point in the beginning of the 17th century at the foot of a medieval castle that was destroyed in an earthquake before the manor’s conception. The last inhabitants of the property immigrated during the Second World War, leaving the once mighty manor to be occupied by passing armies and eventually burnt down in 1944. Now ruled over by a herd of goats, the shell of the manor and its surrounding park are partially preserved overlooking the Unika River, which meanders through the Plenina fields. [Music] house. This would have been a part of the gardens too, I imagine. [Music] Refueled, we set off again in search of a scenic gravel road because obviously we hadn’t seen enough today. 82 m of ascent. 820. Yeah, it felt like 820. I assume this is the right one. [Music] Along the unassuming gravel road, canyons, arches, and even more caves are linked by a river and scattered lakes. Somehow, I think this area was even more impressive than the last. What did I [ __ ] say? Huh? [Music] Well, you might be blocked off. According to popular vision, a weaver was once hiding in the cave as well weaving on Sundays. It’s a Saturday. Is it Saturday, right? Christian fighting on Sunday. Wow. [Music] Back to the box. Rakov Shoan was truly a place of wonder and beauty. containing a handful of Savina’s near 7,500 known caves. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Oh yeah, look at that. [Music] It’s like a road. It’s quiet in the road about that. So good. We ended the day at a free camp nearby, surrounded by wonderful people and awesome landscape. [Music] Basically, I’m a genius. Wow, the stalks. [Music] Yeah. [Music] [Applause] We began our first climb of many towards the Croatian border. Having learned from past mistakes, Google Maps was out as we experimented with Kimoot road with GPS and Vo Planner. Thousands of dragonflies. It’s just thousands. Although we still made plenty of mistakes, this time we could only blame ourselves. Okay, this is what [Music] is it a false summit? Bad news and then good news. God, that was [Music] [Music] This is where type 2 fun kicks in. We cursed at the loose gravel and steep gradient, regretted our life choices while fighting our way up. But looking back, I know I would choose to be among the cool shade of those quiet trees again, even with the incline. blew through the trees. There can be no more up. Started with 3 and 39 m of elevation left according to this and now we have 98. Okay, [Music] that adds up. It does add up. And then in that K first K on time we got peak and then we drop and then we slowly rising. Our camp spot for the night was a farm camp guarded by a very friendly wolf of a dog which helped fill the gap we fill as big animal lovers while on the road. [Music] [Music] [Music] The grass is a little bit better, but not hugely. Well, now I feel very conscious of grass snakes and um and bears. Another gravel road and descent. This is where we began to feel we were in the foothills. Our last few days in Slovenia were full of long ups and long downs. Yeah. Careful road. [Music] [Music] I saw you. [Music] [Music] [Music] In the last 10 km to the Croatian border, Oelia bent itself backwards. At the bottom of a descent and the start of our final ascent, we were very lucky. A Slovenian man stopped to help us bend it back into place. Ah, yeah. [Music] [Applause] Our last evening in Slovenia was enjoyed beside the warmest river in the country, the Coppler, which can reach 30° C in summer. [Music] From here we would cross the river into Croatia and then into Bosnia where the mountains would become our new normal. We would begin to count meters of ascent rather than kilome distance. [Music] [Music]