The route we took from Bovec to Hallstatt was quite interesting. We traced our route we took the other day back into Italy and into... Austria. Passed quite small towns along the way. Not seeing anyone outside...feels weird though.
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| no one around... |
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The monument I mentioned in the
previous post |
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sorry for the angle...but monument dedicated
to Johann Hermann von Hermannsdorf by
Kaiser (Emperor) Ferdinand I |
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| Italy! |
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| the Slovenia and Italy side of border |
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| one more time, back to Italy |
I admit, with all the pictures...I was unsure. Unsure of the route we took..but it seemed that we were climbing higher towards the Austrian border, I guess. Most of the pictures, I had to magnify for clues and chart them on the Google Map to see the actual route.
From the monument in Predel, we passed the area which I enjoyed the most...a zigzag. Syibli refused to drift with the camper van though.
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| Lago (Lake) di Predil |
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| vicinity of Tarvisio |
We pushed on towards the Austrian border when we arrived at this stretch of road with empty buildings on both side of the road. This place must've seen its day years ago. A yellow building opposite the modern one and it has nice character. Most of us took pictures there while all the drivers sort out some issue with the camper van.
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| empty buildings by the road |
The Austrian border! We crossed without much fanfare. In fact there was no vehicle crossing when we were there. We were the only ones.
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you get the idea how fast you could drive,
wish it was in mph |
We drove along the country road. Passed lots of settlements., soaking in the view of Austrian countryside. The weather remained gloomy. It didn't rain, not yet. We passed a few SPAR shops along the way. Reminds me of Lagos, though and the children especially. Madam can take care of herself...I have soft spot for the children.
Our journey to Hallstatt seemed to take us higher and higher. The road get narrower a bit at certain areas. Along the road, there were orange pole which I understood that this area would be covered in snow in winter.
I just love the narrow road we encountered during our drive to Hallstatt. Reminds me of the old state road I used to drive back in Malaysia. You can get carried away because it's quite deserted at times, so you tend to ahem...speed up. Open the throttle..pedal to the metal, you might say. It was fun driving my dad's old 240GL Volvo back then. It was solid..like a brick. Thats what they (Volvo enthuse) called the car. It was a joke actually..the way they designed the old Volvos. Take a brick, just chop of the front and back....and you get the 240 model. Thank god for the new models...they threw away the boxy look. But I always love the station wagon...and we have one..still have it. A right hooker with stick. The only manual car dad has...and still with us for donkey years (means very long).
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| narrow road |
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| higher and higher still... |
It was about 1pm that we arrived at Obertauern. Its a winter sport resort in the state of Salzburg, Austria. About 2500m above sea level and from here, to Hallstatt is about 1hr 45min to 2 hrs..the most. The group stopped here for a while. Reason: The group that left for Milan during our stopover at Lake Como begged Saiful to stop for a while so they could play with snow! The nerve...
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| ski lifts |
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| Obertauern |
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| must be one of the highest altitude store |
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| this place comes alive in winter |
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| snow in autumn |
While most of the group frolicked in the snow, they did not realised that the A1 crew were trying to get into the small van. The keys were inside, but luckily the engine was off. After a few days without drama, here we go again.
The plan was to open the small window at the side sliding door. Which we managed to open using a cloth hanger. The rest was, Dinie, to wriggle in into the van and unlock the doors. No damage whatsoever to the van, I'm happy to report. Still...the bulk of the group were oblivious of what just happened.
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an architect and bakery owner..
not a care in the world |
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| right after Obertauern |
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| St. Martin am Tennengebirge |
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| Lungotz |
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| Annaberg |
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| Gosau |
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| Hallstatt |
We loose light pretty fast. It was barely right after afternoon and it was cloudy. I was in the boy scouts in lower secondary...and It is going to rain, I tell you. It was only a matter of when and where will it happen first. You can see from the pictures above the settlements we passed to get to Hallstatt. I didn't do any sort of editing....too many things to do... and Madam did say that this postings on the trip is too long already.
Anyway, it started to rain cats and dogs as we entered Hallstatt. Right after the tunnel. We parked at a designated area for the night. It is an area for camper van, but we were not allowed to put anything outside the van. Not even the extendable cover. It continued to rain but we managed to have dinner...courtesy of Saiful. The ladies were tired...travelling and cooking (read protest)..it has been 2 days straight without a proper camping place. After dinner, stomach full....what else to do....sleep!
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