Skocjan Caves and Where's the Beef?

Slovenia is very much like Switzerland in many aspects but one... it is full of towering alpine vistas, beautiful green valleys, meticulously clean towns, and a very polite population. Their trains, however, are not as passionately punctual as those in Switzerland. This was my downfall when I tried to get to the Skocjan Caves, which are one of two huge cave systems carved into the Karst ridges south of Ljubljana. I could have gone to the Postojna Caves, but they were very easy to get to, and ridiculously touristy, what with their electric train, carnival music, and hoards of screaming children. So, I decided to go to the Skocjan Caves which were supposed to be a much more authentic experience. To get there, I had to take a local train to some off-beat stop called Divacha, and then hike 5km into the woods. Good times. Of course, I fell asleep on the train, but awoke just as my train was supposed to be pulling into my stop. Jolted awake, I squinted out the window to see where we were. That's when I discovered another Slovene shortcoming - they don't like to label their train stations very well. So, I yelled out 'Divacha?' to the three people gathered in the station. They replied with something that looked like 'get off the train' so I jumped off (there wasnt a platform at this station). That's when the train's two conductors started yelling at me (along with the three people in the station) to get back on the train. Oops. The train was late.

The caves were incredible and well worth the 10km (roundtrip) hike. Having been in several caves before, I wasn't expecting much, but these put the Grotto in Gibraltar and the Caves in Luang Prabang to shame. They were a maze of fantastic stalactites and stalagmites that made one feel like the Mad Hatter. With a guide, you wandered through the 'silent cave,' admiring trippy rock formations in rooms that were as much as 30m high and 120m long. It was an eery feeling, being 90m underground and having water drip on you and bats fly by. Then, you entered the 'water murmuring cave,' a 3km long canyon that was 100m high and had a roaring river at the bottom. Wow.

A random observation on the Slovene Diet: These people rarely eat beef. It's probably because the country lacks cows. This is pure speculation on my part, but I have yet to see a cow in any of their lovely green pastures and beef is ridiculously overpriced in restaurants.

What these people do have is a lot of Turkey. You can get Turkey steaks, Turkey stew, Grilled Turkey, and even Turkey Soup. I have yet to see a Turkey anywhere, but I'm picturing a massive Turkey farm somewhere in the middle of the country, churning out Turkey Steaks for the masses.