Jenny & Ahmed's Cycling Adventure

Paths 2 The Soul - Episode 017

From Kobarid to Bovec (15 to 17 May 2025)

Countries Visited :

From Kobarid to Bovec: emotions, effort and rest...

After an emotional departure from Camping Lazar, we reach Bovec under a moody sky. Another very beautiful encounter with Sacha, who runs Camping Vodenca (instagram: @camp.vodenca) an intense ascent of Mount Svinjak that pushes us to our limits, followed by two rest days marked by unpredictable weather, an ant invasion, and simple but delicious meals. Three days full of contrasts, to read below.

From Kobarid to Bovec: a reluctant departure, an arrival in the rain, and a heartwarming clearing...

Kobarid → Bovec - 22.2 km 🚴

After six nights spent in the little paradise that is Camping Lazar, the time to leave finally arrives. Ahmed, true to himself, is already ready at dawn. We share one last breakfast before taking down the tent. The dew is light, which makes folding easier, and we take the opportunity to wash the groundsheet, which dries quickly. The sky is overcast, but the atmosphere remains mild. We exchange a few more words with our Dutch neighbours, who are also heading off. Around 9:30, everything is ready; we settle near the reception to wait and say goodbye to Mineja. We enjoy a cappuccino, take a few photos and warmly thank the whole team, especially Mineja, for their warm and kind welcome. We then set off for around twenty kilometres with three climbs ahead. The first part takes us to the village of Trnovo ob Soči, along a road that gently climbs following the river. In Trnovo, we stop at a small supermarket run by Daniela, a very friendly shopkeeper, curious about our journey and interested in our blog. After the climbs come some beautiful descents, framed by majestic mountains. We take a picnic break near a cow field: soup, sandwiches, crisps, simple but satisfying. Back on the road, we meet two other bike travellers as heavily loaded as us: Noé and Emilou. Really beautiful people, original and truly inspiring, they travel with an accordion, a trumpet, a transverse flute and watercolours. Noé even pulls a little cart. We chat at length by the roadside. Unfortunately, our paths part ways here. We then pass through a pretty village, then go near the Boka waterfall, the highest in Slovenia. It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to the viewpoint, but the path is poorly marked. The waterfall is impressive, but we stay quite far away. We still have 6.5 km to go, and the rain starts falling lightly. We face one last climb, not too steep but rather long, which we manage to ride up. At the entrance to Bovec, we pass through the shopping area and do our groceries at EuroSpar for dinner, the upcoming breakfasts, and tomorrow’s sandwiches. The sky is uncertain when we reach Camping Vodenca (Instagram: @camp.vodenca). At the reception, a young woman named Sacha welcomes us with a smile. Ahmed asks for a small discount, even though we had already decided to stay. While talking about americano coffee, the conversation naturally shifts to Egypt. Sacha, passionate about this country and travel in general, pleasantly surprises us with her knowledge of the country. We then settle in the clearing higher up: spacious, quiet, with two fire pit spots, toilets, the forest just steps away, and an incredible view of the surrounding mountains. Jenny falls completely in love with the place. We can’t set up the tarp there, but it doesn’t matter. We pitch the tent facing the peaks, the bikes attached to the trees. The place exudes a real sense of peace. Evening falls. We use the communal kitchen to save our gas. Jenny prepares gnocchi with tomato sauce while Ahmed goes to take a shower. We eat at a covered table, under shelter. Ahmed chats with several campers, including a very lovely young Flemish couple from Antwerp, Kizzy and Arno, both so so friendly. Jenny joins them, and the atmosphere quickly turns light: she bursts out laughing over a story about slugs. At 10 p.m., the shower closing time approaches, so Jenny heads off too. We then go back to our spot, deep in the clearing. It is completely quiet. But we quickly realise the ground slopes… towards Ahmed’s side. The night might be a bit roll-y.

Svinjak, the mountain that almost defeated us… but not quite...

Magical wake-up in Bovec: at 6:40, the sun shines directly into our tent, between two mountains. Jenny prepares breakfast in the sun, on a central bench at the campsite. A perfect start to the day. We begin the hike around 9 a.m., following the advice of Sacha, the manager, passionate about travel. Since access to Mangart is blocked by an avalanche, she recommended the Svinjak hike, accessible on foot from the campsite. We walk down to a suspension bridge over crystal-clear water, then cross a flower-filled meadow to reach the village where the hike starts. Svinjak, nicknamed the "Matterhorn of Bovec", peaks at 1653 m, with 1200 m of D+ (positive elevation). The trail climbs through a superb beech forest with twisted trunks, and passes by the historic site of Čelo, a former Austro-Hungarian combat post, very well preserved. The last 350 m are very steep and very exposed. Despite our fear of heights, we still try to climb them, we hang on, but end up giving up 20 m before reaching the summit. Too risky for us to come back down safely afterwards. But even without having reached the summit, we’re proud to have pushed past our limits, together. Picnic with panoramic view, then painful descent: knees, calves, soles of the feet… everything screams "stop". We pass three hikers, one of whom comes from Saulxures, unbelievable! (Saulxures next to Saint-Blaise-la-Roche in Alsace, Jenny’s village). Then back to the banks of the Soča for an icy leg bath. Ahmed is quick, Jenny stays a bit longer. We hope it will ease the pain. Back at the campsite, we chat again with Sacha, still as warm and full of travel anecdotes. At 8 p.m., we grab our things for the shower and dinner prep in one go. On the menu: vermicelli/carrot soup and leftover sandwiches. Two English families who arrived in campervans light a big fire on our plateau but peace returns quickly as soon as they go to bed. We enjoy the fire a bit then slip into the tent. Bad surprise, an ant invasion (not inside luckily)! Jenny even finds some in her rackpack because the zip wasn’t properly closed: rookie mistake 😅

Pause, rain and sharing at Camping Vodenca...

Today, a well-deserved rest day after yesterday’s hike. Even Ahmed stays in the tent until 6:45! We watch for the first rays of sun at 6:40, but a few clouds show up. Ahmed starts the day with a nice hot shower, while Jenny settles in quietly to enjoy the morning and prepare breakfast. The sky is uncertain, with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. We decide to move our tent: ants have taken up residence between the tent fabric and the groundsheet, and the slope of the terrain doesn’t help. All our neighbours are leaving, so we have plenty of spots to choose from. We even manage to move the tent without fully taking it down. Ahmed works on his Excel sheets, Jenny writes in her journal and watches the crickets. Sacha drops by the upper plateau to say hi, still smiling. She tells us a bit about the life of the campsite, run by the family. Then we head out on foot to do some shopping via a trail she recommended. We run into Josh, an Englishman heading off to go rafting. As we walk, we talk about budget and food, one of our big topics, but unfortunately, it leads to an argument. How do we eat well without spending too much? Jenny dreams of vegetables, so it will be salad for lunch, veggies in the evening. We even consider a “fasting week” with plain rice if needed, but that’s tough on morale, especially since even with those sacrifices, we often exceed the set budget. On top of that, at the supermarket, a blow: olive oil at € 14 for 75 cl stings a bit… Fortunately, there are discounts on vegetables to balance it out 😉 Back at the campsite, the sky grows more threatening. Jenny prepares Greek salads. Ahmed sets up to work outside, but has to keep packing things up due to passing showers. We end up eating under the trees, in our chairs. The mood is a bit gloomy because of the cold and rain. Eventually, Ahmed returns to the tent. Jenny prefers to stay outside, and the clear spells finally return: tidying up, a bit of yoga on the bench, animal videos, call to Mama while peeling chickpeas… At 6:30 p.m., we head to the kitchen to prepare the famous “Bovec ratatouille,” a specialty born of a rainy afternoon. Ahmed, just waking up from his nap, heads off to the shower. We cook a double portion to keep some for tomorrow. We have dinner with cider that tastes more like Canada Dry, then stop by the reception before 8 p.m. to grab a little coffee. There we meet Sacha and her partner Jure. We talk about Egypt, religion, social media, travel… a very warm conversation. Sacha offers us the coffees and a 15% discount. She also suggests making a video in French to promote her magnificent campsite (Instagram: @camp.vodenca). We end the evening with a herbal tea and a small fire to warm up the atmosphere.

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Stay tuned for more in our next episode…

Jenny & Ahmed