"DOBRODOSLI TO MY OBCINA DIVACA PAGE ......:-)" Divaca by eden_teuling

WHILE WAITING FOR THE GUIDED TOUR TO START I WAS SURROUNDED BY ROSES...

Once you are in SLOVENIA, visiting some caves really is paramount because those places are soooo utterly mesmerizing that you can't miss them!

There are more than 7000 caves in SLOVENIA, image that!! Having seen the 2 most important ones, one would tend to think that the Slovenes live on top of a PIECE OF GRUY?RE, YOU KNOW, THAT CHEESE WITH THE MANY HOLES which you can't see from the outside!

But a UNIQUE underground gorge and its many vast CHAMBERS make the Skocjan Caves so very special.

These chambers are interconnected and form a system of 11 caves, collapse dolines, batural bridges and sinkholes.

Since 1986 they have been under protection of UNESCO as a "member" on its World Heritage Site.

The caves lie on the KRAS from where the technical term 'KARST", used all over the world, originates.

to be continued.....

FABULOUS COLOURS

Of course you have to put on a fleece jacket, a sweater or whatever it is that can protect you against the much lower temperatures (and sometimes some falling water, splashing down and the huge moving cloud of vapour / steam.....

No wonder that DANTE (Alighieri 1265 - 1321 and Italy's well known Poet) got his ideas for writing his WORLD FAMOUS "INFERNO" after visiting these caves...

( HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS "DIVINE COMEDY" ;
this is a long epic poem giving a comprehensive view of human distiny, temporal and eternal; divided into JOURNEYS through HELL and PURGATORY (guided by Vergil) and PARADISE (guided by Beatrice, his idealized love!)

There are guided tours only and that is grandiose.....especially when you have a good guide!
Here too there were different groups, depending on the language you speak or can understand (there will never be a DUTCH guide somewhere....)

Our group (English speakers) wasn't that large, which was a pleasure....

Waiting is not too bad here: there are two covered terraces with picnic tables and you can have your packed lunch or you buy drinks and food there.
There even is a small shop for cheese, ham, drinks, sandwiches etc.. and of course the roses......
AND THEN....the feast can start....I have seen many caves (for the last one see my IRELAND page if you feel like it.....and France, Greece, Germany etc..) but my heart always beats a bit faster in anticipation!

LOVELY COMPOSITION

Here NATURE created a lovely pile of basins / reservoirs and they work like a fountain.......only the other way round!

Here the water comes from above and all basins are filled to the rim and spill the water over that rim continuously, thus forming these round forms....oh, so wonderful!

Following the guide one can admire STALAGTITES and STALAGMITES of different colours, stone "curtains" and massive gorges.....

The system is essentially marked by the Reka-Velka Voda river, that flows through the caves, where it falls into a series of cascades and water-falls, tumbles down the rocks, sounding like thunder and after this journey it finally comes to rest in the small underground Lakes.

The sounds and sights are really overwhelming and they succeed in silencing YOU!

On the banks of the lakes, visitors can enjoy in the reflections of the Karst Subterranean images on the water's surface.

I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO VISIT THESE WONDROUS PLACES....