July 11: Slow and Scenic in Slovenia

With Hungary experiencing a heat wave, it might not have been the brightest idea to take slow country backroads across Slovenia to Keszthely, Hungary today. But with my cooler vest doing its job and the wind doing the rest, it turned out to be a scenic and restorative ride.

Leaving Bled this morning I headed southeast through the foothills of the Julian Alps on small side roads towards the capitol city of Ljubljana in temperatures that were already 80 degrees and climbing.

As I circumvented Slovenia’s largest city, I couldn’t help but notice how much more of the country I was able to appreciate on the little narrow roads. With my reduced speed I was able to flip up my face shield and smell the tightly rolled up bales of hay and freshly cut grass, hear the birds singing as they flew overhead, and feel the welcome shade provided by tall trees on the side of the road and the large branches forming canopies above me.

Navigating my way around potholes and cracks in my path as I road through largely agricultural areas, I kept an eye out for large tractors of all sizes and types turning into the main road from side streets or taking up more than one lane coming my direction.

My route took me on roundabouts through dozens of little villages filled with neatly painted white, yellow, and pink stucco homes and businesses topped with brown tiles. Church steeples rose up above the other buildings in every city and even the smaller hamlets had shrines on the side of the road.

As I continued east the foothills leveled out and the landscape became flatter but still lovely, nonetheless. Emerald- and jade-colored green crops contrasted beautifully with deep brown earth and bright blue skies.

After a few hours my cooler vest had dried out and no gas stations were nearby. But fortunately, I was sweating so much I created my own moisture! Making sure to hydrate regularly, I continued east to Hungary where the landscape became hillier again.

After passing several stunning fields of sunflowers, I rolled into the little lakeside town of Keszthely, where I gratefully unloaded my bags and put them into my air-conditioned room. I’m looking forward to a traditional Hungarian dinner with a local biker this evening and am hoping to get some great tips for the next few days on the road.