Our guide Borut opened the back door of the minivan and there we saw a box full of helmets, another one full of belts and the third piece – a large barrel full of carefully prepared neoprene suits to battle the fresh mountain water. “Yes, my friends, there is no way back now” Borut sad, with a bit of a funny tune. I guess he saw our serious faces and tried to loosen us up. We were all busy taking in the surroundings, looking at where we were. We were at the end of the world, in a valley of the emerald river, in the heart of the Julian Alps with the high mountains all around. Borut explained that this is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled parts of Slovenia, here one finds visitors only in the summer season for the weather is otherwise too harsh and reserved only for experienced sportsmen.
We then got to know the equipment. I got in my hand a neoprene suit, neoprene socks, helmet, harness and shoes, along with instructions on how to put it on and use it. Before we knew it, we were walking up a well marked mountain path, all the way up to the start of the Fratarica stream, which Borut proudly described as “one of the most beautiful canyons in Slovenia”. We believed every word he said, for the side view of the stream showed real beauty. The emerald water flew from pool to pool, somewhere it was a bit wilder and elsewhere it fell into a deep pool and made a marvelous sound.
We stopped at a viewpoint half way up to admire the 55 meter waterfall called Parabola. One can’t believe, looking at the waterfall from a far, that we will descend there, where the mass of water is falling down the cliff. But if Borut says so.. Yes, I admit, I was a bit afraid.