Clean

Ljubljana

The sleeper here was a bit of a production. There wasn't much chance for sleep with two Japanese girls wittering away at the other end of the compartment, and a series of stern looking men in increasingly silly uniforms barging in and turning all the lights on to check my ticket/passport/teeth. The outfit they make rail workers wear here is a belter - olive green slacks with a green and white striped shirt. Very sports casual.

Having slept in my clothes two nights running, it was something of a relief to get to the hostel here and finally put some different ones on. I realised I'd changed only my trousers since leaving Luxembourg. The local army were called in to do a controlled explosion on my socks earlier on. I can't begin to say how good it feels to have some clean clothes on and to have got rid of my ridiculous stubble.

It's another great city. Doesn't feel much like a capital but then it wasn't until ten years or so ago. It's still got an easy going provincial atmosphere about it, and the view from the castle on the hill that overlooks the whole place was alone worth coming for, the lung-bursting climb notwithstanding.