Rakov Škocjan and the Planina Cave

Want some snowy photos? :) Here are some shots from a cold and dreary February day when Sebastian and I explored Slovenian Karst a little. The Big and Small Natural Bridges of Rakov Škocjan seemed like a good choice. There were no people around messing with my HDR shots, hehe.








In the afternoon, we met with Andrej, Luka and Neja at the entrance of the Planina Cave (Planinska jama). Žiga, the guide, took us into the underworld. First we rowed an inflatable boat upstream the underground river for over an hour (phew, it was hard!), and then spent the next three hours walking, climbing and crawling through very narrow passages to the end of the cave and back. We were completely dirty, muddy, even wet. But wow, what an exhilarating experience! Having carried all our photographic equipment with us, we set up our tripods in one of the caverns, ran around with lamps and flashes, and took a dozen photos.

Would I do it again? You bet! The whole excursion took about 6.5 hours, we were tired and covered in mud, but I can only highly recommend it to anybody who is reasonably fit and isn't claustrophobic. ;)

A grey and bleak day in Piran, Socerb and Škocjan

My friend Sebastian and I explored Slovenian coast and Karst one bleak Sunday in February. First we went to Piran and climbed the hill with the town wall. Everything was grey and there was no distinction between the sea and the sky.



Always interesting narrow streets of Piran:


Then we quickly visited Socerb Castle.

The views towards the Adriatic Sea weren't exactly magnificent. :D

Our next destination was the Škocjan Cave. Photography is not allowed inside, but I took a few pics at the exit and from the viewpoint. The view from the viewpoint is actually very impressive, with Škocjan village on the other side of the collapsed valley and the Reka River flowing below.

The visit of the cave was a completely different story from many years ago when the Reka River was extremely polluted, dirty, smelly and covered in foam. Now it's clear and green, making the whole experience really memorable.
As I already mentioned, taking photos is not allowed and we could only take our cameras out near the exit. I could barely take one picture before our guide turned off the lights!


When outside, you have to take a path through another cave back to the entrance.


Bleak weather or not, this was a great day. :)

Cave photography in Planina Cave

Cave photography is demanding and quite time-consuming. What Luka, Andrej and I did last week can hardly qualify as true cave photography, but we got a glimpse into what is really involved and now we're determined to go back and shoot some more.
Planina Cave (Planinska jama) is located not far from Postojna, at the edge of Planinsko polje (Planina Karst Field). It is one of the longest Slovenian water caves at over 6 kms in length, representing the subterranean bed of the Unica River. About 500 meters from the entrance into the cave there is the confluence (the largest confluence of underground rivers in Europe) of two underground rivers, Pivka and Rak.
We only shot from three locations. Our goal was to try out different lighting and see the various effects. There weren't any tourists around as organized visits normally take place in the afternoon.




At some point a group of spelunkers emerged from the dark cavern. After a short chat they marched on towards the exit.

Luka ran to and fro with a flashlight a few times.

We didn't go any further into the cave as we ran out of time, but the experience was great and I'm pretty sure the cave will see us again soon.