I became a true Slovenian!!
Even as a boy, I listened to my grandparents talking to their friends about their homeland, remembering the events and customs that connected them to Slovenia. In those stories, my grandfather Ivan often used to say, "Unless you climb Triglav you are not a true Slovenian!".
My ancestors immigrated to Banja Luka in 1927 from Slovenia from the Karst, so I am a coastal inhabitant born in Banja Luka. My wish was to become a "true" Slovenian. On September 17, 2023, I climbed Triglav and can proudly announce that I am 100% Slovenian.
It took a long time for all the pieces to come together and to have my wish come true. With friends from PD "Abonos" from Banja Luka, we set off on that long-desired adventure. My wife Ljiljana went with me. We do everything together and without her this could not have happened.
Everything went smoothly and according to plan from the beginning. In the evening, we left at one o'clock after midnight and arrived at Bled around 7, where we took a short rest, took a walk and ate warm croissants with a cappuccino. The beginning of the ascent was from Pokljuka. The weather was perfect for us, it was ideal for hiking, sunny, no wind, ideal temperature. We reached the home of "Planika" through beautiful areas and without much effort in about 7 hours of walking. We also took breaks. One of them was near Vodnik's house at the foot of Triglav. We ate sandwiches, drank mountain water and looked in the direction of the mighty mountain range that towered over us and watched from above. A little apprehension arose in us: "Will we succeed?"
We slept in the home and early in the morning before sunrise, we timidly looked at the top of Triglav to see how he was doing. And Triglav, as a true host, welcomed us into its arms. Everything was like a beautiful dream, after climbing the cables and holding on to the pegs, we reached the top excitedly. The blue sky and Aljaž's house in that blue infinity left us breathless. The thought "We succeeded" flew through our heads and a huge wave of happiness overwhelmed us. This was followed by taking photos and enjoying the view of the surrounding peaks, as the main prize. We couldn't stay as long as we wanted to see the beauty of Triglav, because we had a long way to the bus, another 8 hours of walking.
We were grateful to Triglav for its hospitality, because like all mountaineers, we did not go to the mountain to conquer it, but to be conquered by the mountain.
That's how it was, Triglav won us over and we spontaneously sang "Oh Triglav my home, how beautiful you are!".
Ivan Memon
