When I talk to people and ask them what they like to do, traveling is on many peoples bucket list. Almost everyone would love to travel. To see new places. To meet new people. To discover new cultures.
I think about this a lot, because traveling is not on my bucket list and wouldn't be on any kind of list id it weren't for my hubby, who likes to travel. To see new places. To uncover the secrets of foreign cultures.
I could live without travelling. I would be perfectly content if not traveling at all. There is already not enough time to do all the thinks I like regularly or to see family and friends more often as it is.
And there are other ways to see places and enjoy the benefits of traveling - paying friends a visit. Friends that I can get to see very often. Friends that live in another region for example.
Few times I year I visit a friend that lives in the South-Est part od the country called Bela Krajina.
In a small country nothing is very far. But there are some places and regions that seem very far away. Bela Krajina is one of such places. Without any fast transport connections it takes time to get there. At least for some people. Because most of you will probably laugh when I tell you that it takes and hour and a half. For some not a long journey, but we Slovenes are used to everything being very near, so for some this is quite a long trip already.
Unfortunately, it seems to be even longer trip to the capital for the people living there, as for them everything is wrong with the region: it's marginal, it's too far, it's too undeveloped, the unemployment is high etc. Which is understandable, but it takes the focus away from the natural richness the the region has. For the outsider it looks like they sit on a pile of gold that they long for and can't reach.
OK, this is my view of the matter and perhaps I'm doing them injustice. So lets return to the nature and its benefits.
A "good" hour as we say of wavy roads, that offer a very pleasant drive. And every exceptional region needs to be a bit remote otherwise it's easily accessible and people tent to not appreciate its beauty and mystery anymore after awhile.
I remember spending holidays there with my family. When I was little we spent holidays there, at the river Kolpa shores, swimming and kayaking in it. I still nurture great memories of those days.
Bela Krajina offers a stunning scenery, with waving hills, greenery every where you look around, rivers that dominate the landscape. It's like stepping in another sphere of place and time. You don't go there. You enter the region. Like through a secret door. From any entry point you come you slide down a hill and majestic view of the majestic views open up. Before you lays the land of fairy or fantasy like scenery.
Later I kind of lost touch with the region and have only returned there few years ago for work, having the chances again to unravel the region's beauty. And I've met some great people whom I still visit every year.
There are hills to hike to. Rivers to swim in. Tranquillity to rest your ears to. Countless springs that start as huge ponds and continue to larger or smaller streams. Wide rapids that flow with most calming pace. Everything is so peaceful and unhurried there.
Having friends in the region therefore poses some benefits. The visit can turn to a simple yet spectacular trip as they always take us hiking or to the Kolpa river in the summer, as the river is really slow and gets really worm in the summer, and most of all they always take us to the spots little known to outsiders, where we can enjoy the quiet and the tranquillity of nature away of the everyday hustle and bustle.
I won't share mine, but I do recommend you find yourselves friends in Bela Krajina and you will get to experience the magic of the region. Or just come and spend few day there.
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