Over the years Mount Triglav (2864m) has imbedded itself in Slovenian culture and identity. It is said that every true Slovenian has to stand on the top of Triglav at least once in their lifetime and for Triglav 'virgins' to be spanked on the summit.

I recently had the opportunity to find out what this was all about!

KE's 'Across the Julian Alps to Triglav' holiday takes a high level hut to hut journey around Lake Bonijh ending in a spectular but easy via ferrata to reach the summit of Mount Triglav. The route we took was brilliant; starting on quiet trails with lots of variety along the way including ridge walks, treks through the valley of the lakes, mountain passes and the summit of a great mountain. We stayed in huts that all had their own individual charm. The 1st was an old Italian army base perched in a dramatic setting on a ridge and the bonus, all the huts sold beer! (for medicinal purposes in the evening)

The Julian Alps are limestone so we passed a variety of limestone formations including pavements and sink holes, but there no rivers as they flow underground. However, there are many rivers mapped in the proximity which form caves, 10,250 to be exact!

On summit morning we were blessed with excellent weather and a great cloud inversion. Our guide decided that we would have a early start to make the most of the weather and avoid the crowds. The Via Feratta to the summit has only one route up and down but there are plenty of safe places to pass people. We stayed on the summit taking the customary photos and saw many people up there not just Slovenian. And as for the spanking! Well we did witness a few Slovenian's 'spanking' each other but I think this was more for the fun of it than the tradition.

Fun Fact: The Slovenian Flag is the only flag to feature a Mountain, Mount Triglav, with it's 3 peaks.

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