Postjana

We spent the night near Venice, then followed the road that curves around the Golfo di Trieste, with mountains on one side, water on the other. We saw fishing boats, and a beach area with crowds of people sunning themselves. We visited Trieste, Italy, drove through several tunnels, then found ourselves in a short line of cars at the Yugoslavian border at 2:15 PM.

The border police examined our passports and told us to park, and go to the office. They stamped our passports with a Yugoslavian visa — no problem, and no charge. There was a brand new Oldsmobile, with a driver and a little boy, in line ahead of us. The license plate was from the country of Kuwait.

The area near Postjana is famous for the huge caves available for tourist visits. There were small caves right next to the campground, but we didn’t visit them. We visited Postjana Jama (cave), the second biggest in the world, after Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. A beautiful young lady, who spoke excellent English, was our guide. We rode the little train about 2 Kilometers into the cave, and as we rode past the charming sights, Emmy said “Oh what beauty,” and I said, “Yes, and the cave is nice too.”

It took many millennia to create all the colors, sheets of smooth rock, the huge chambers, the things hanging down (stalactites) and sticking up (stalagmites), and all those special characteristics caves are known for. When the train stopped, the guide said, “Follow me.” I said, “You didn’t need to ask.” She mentioned that one time while guiding a tour through the Postjana Jama, the lights went out for two hours. I stayed close to her, just in case she needed protection from some tourist if the lights failed during our tour.

We thought of visiting other caves, there is a cave near Postjana that includes a river and a large waterfall, but decided one is enough. The next day was July 4th, a holiday in Yugoslavia, but we don’t know what they would be celebrating.

In each country of Europe they have their own idea how to stack and dry hay, and ears of corn. Here narrow “barns” were constructed with two huge poles, like telephone poles, maybe 15 feet high, perhaps 20 feet apart. Hay and corn was “hung” on smaller horizontal poles, between the vertical poles, all topped with a small roof, extending over an area about 8 feet wide.