Wild and Authentic Carphatia

[Irishcoffee]

Thanks guys for your nice words and especially Wayalife for Sharing!

Pics from Balkan Peninsula are on their way!
The "premier" will be streamed on this post!
I do prefer to let pics speak by themselves and hope you'll enjoy them!
Cheers
John

[Irishcoffee]

....So Lets Start With Bulgaria.
We wheeled in Bulgaria from North (Danube) to South (Border with Greece) and from East (Border with Serbia) to West (Black Sea) and reached plenty of remote, hidden but fantastic places both beneath or on the surface or sometimes just between these worlds.

Well let's start with the Underworld.....caving....

.... ice stalagmites....stalactites and frozen wall cascades.....

....a vertical cave...rare limestone phenomenon......

...and let light come from the ceiling slightly down.....to the floor of an abandoned Russian military weapon deposit hidden in a huge huge huge cave....

....the entry is really impressive BUT also the inside of the cave is also incredible....this is one of many Bulgarian so called WOW points...(Devetaki cave)

...so let's move slightly to the surface....and have a look under "God's Bridge" ... natural limestone bridge (a former cave) ...which is majestic stretching over a prehistoric valley....

...or have a look under the "Wonderfull Bridges" in Rodope Mountains (South) close to the border with Greece...

....or look into "God's Eyes"...another fantastic, majestic and scary limestone phenomenon .....


....and God's smiled towards its subjects through those rock eyes.....

....a glimps of light in another corner between the underworld and our world....

...enough with so much God's stuff and cross the "Devil's Bridge"...a marvellous hidden construction with no cement in it which stays there since hundreds of years.....

...on the surface we stopped by some Roses FIELDS..yes Fields...Bulgarians are the major Rose Essence exporters which is valuable then gold and is used in cosmetic industry or also in food industry.....

... then passed by some castle and fortresses originating since the Ottoman Kingdom period ...at the Danube

....or some typical architecture....ground floor and roof from stone, upper floors wood..and of course very very narrow streets.......


...one of the best traditional hotels in Veliko Tarnovo......

...and some rocky & picturesque giants....chained by a fortress tight on top....






....these rocks and especially limestones where inhabited by monks during the period when Christianity was not allowed by the Romans..(Lohm River Valley and xii-th century rock monasteries, UNESCO, Ruse)..



...back on trails.....






...like cats on those wooden ladders trails...

...let's chill a little...



....enjoying some bird eye views....




This was a very small glimpse of 100% Bulgaria
Cheers
John

[Irishcoffee]

Croatia is one of the jewels of Adriatic Sea.
Conquered and dominated by the Venetians hundreds of years, Croatia owns some of the fantastic combinations of rock cities ans dark blue-green sea.
One example: Dubrovnik the fortress on the sea in the south close to the border with Montenegro (next on our Tours this summer):



....or even older then Venetians times but comming from same direction.... Roman emperors were attracted by the beauty of the Adriatic coast as well...a good example ... UNESCO heritage city of Split

But here is a Jeep forum or?
...Motovun ..... Conquered...

....cooling in some limestone canyons...along the trails

...or some fresh air in the woods along mighty waterfalls.....

...Plitvice emerald lakes and waterfalls, a waterland part of UNESCO natural wonders...





....we've scouted Croatia in the last 5 summers starting from the south and wheeling towards north..region by region...
...view from a middle of a vineyard hill.....

....again a cooling spot along the trails....

...almost everywhere the streets are so narrow I was lucky not to have the buschwackers on .....

....if you are on-road or off-road the Adriatic is a magnet....and pops-out almost at every corner of our tours.......

....down there between the rocks....a hidden beach.....

....some sea expeditions......a must .....

....this is a very very short introduction into Croatia....my second homeland.......


This summer in August we hope to join on trials our friends from Jeep Club Croatia in order to post more some "flexing" Jeeps also here!

Cheers
John

[Irishcoffee]

Another country which shares the Adriatic with Croatia and Italy but has also high altitudes Alps (The Julian Alps) is Slovenia.
This was our first expedition into the Slovenian Triglav National Park in the heart of the Julian Alps, close to the Italian Border.
We called this expedition "The 7 Waterfall Wonders Jeep Tour".
Let's start from the underworld with one of the famous caves in the world which has in his belly one of the deepest canyons (Skocjan Cave)


....a real Jurasik world....

...and back to the surface......

...and sometimes need to stop to takes some pics of the surroundings..

....man it was hot outside....33C and humidity at its limits.......therefore we've wheeled fast towards the Julian Alps

.....and soon we've reached point by point our hidden waterfalls (some of them reach 50m high)...enjoy...

...we quickly forget the high temperature......





...Almost unreal colour combinations up in the Slovenian Alps....

...for sure we will return to this part of the Balkan Peninsula to scout other hidden wonders with our Jeep!
Cheers

John

[wayoflife]

Breathtaking!! Absolutely wonderful photos!! Thank you so much for sharing these with us.

You know, looking at some of the old wooden trails, I was thinking to myself, "are those really strong enough to hold a person up?" And then, I remembered your wooden exo-cage and thought, of course it is

[piginajeep]

We need to plan a wheeling trip here! Awesome Pics! Keep them coming

[Robar]

Very beautiful land that you have to explore. Keep up the adventures and keep taking lots of photos for the rest of us to enjoy.

[Irishcoffee]

Thanks Guys!
Regarding those wooden trails in Bulgaria: they are called Eco-Trails and are spread in certain remote but very spectacular places all around Bulgaria (canyons e.g.) so that the tourist can enjoy at maximum (incl. cat adrenaline) the view-points and the deep/steep sides.
Any of you which want to join us on trails in the region is welcomed and can have the possibility to drive a diesel JK/WK/XJ.
We can not promise a Moby Dick but a softer diesel JK brother is awaiting to be challenged.

Personally this summer in August I want to participate to the Jeep gathering in Croatia and then to go to Montenegru, which is truly another Jeep land full of spectacular natural phenomenons.

In Romania our next national Jeep gathering is after the orthodox Eastern, a kinda Jeep Eastern Safari in the mountains with a remote and picturesque landscape.

Meanwhile my friends are fighting with 3-5 m of snow, -25C winter and 50-70 km/h extreme cold winds when helping some people in need placed in remote locations distributing with the army food and medicines. Practically all houses are covered in snow. Such winter was registered in history only in 1954. An air bridge of army helicopters in the air and a ground chain of extreme off road cars are ensuring constant supply to these remote villages.
Some pics bellow:







Cheers,
John

[DMFNJ24601]

Awesome photos sir. Very breathtaking.

Looks like a nice spot for a Project-JK European road trip video!

[Irishcoffee]

Awesome photos sir. Very breathtaking.

Looks like a nice spot for a Project-JK European road trip video!

We need to plan a wheeling trip here! Awesome Pics! Keep them coming

Breathtaking!! Absolutely wonderful photos!! Thank you so much for sharing these with us.

You know, looking at some of the old wooden trails, I was thinking to myself, "are those really strong enough to hold a person up?" And then, I remembered your wooden exo-cage and thought, of course it is

Thanks again for your nice words.
Since my last posting we gathered already 30 Jeeps (mostly JK) for our first Jeep Club Romania event : Eastern Jeep Safari in South Transylvania .
It seems to us that, that "Wouldn't understand" part of the "Jeep Thing" story is surfacing quicker than we expected;
For us it would be a great honnor to have you guys on our trails having fun with diesel powered JK/XJ/WK.
Will come back soon with new pics!
Cheers
John