Orlek - Orleška draga

Access to starting point:
To Sežana we drive on the highway section between the junction Gabrk (near Divača) and the border crossing Fernetiči. We leave the highway at the exit Sežana-vzhod and drive into Sežana (on the way we pass a traffic-light intersection where the road from Nova Gorica joins from the right and the road from Divača from the left). In Sežana, at the traffic-light intersection, we turn left onto Bazoviška cesta (marked with a signpost towards Lipica), after the overpass we cross the railway track, at the first roundabout we turn right (direction Lipica) and at the next one again right (direction Orlek). When we arrive in Orlek, along the northern edge we reach the northwestern part of the village, where the NOB monument is located. Before the monument there is some space where we can park.

From Sežana we can also reach the starting point on foot. Much nicer than on the described road is via the Karst Living Museum, where along the way we can view some other karst attractions. East of the town center we find Bazoviška cesta, where we head south. After crossing the railway track on the overpass, at the first roundabout we turn right (direction Lipica), at the next roundabout we go straight (direction ZGRS Sežana and Karst Living Museum). A little further from the fire station the asphalt ends and a well-marked path through the Karst Living Museum begins. First along a wide macadam path we walk south (direction Bazovica), after approx. 2 km several blazes direct us right towards Orlek, to which there is still approx. 2 km of walking. At some forks there are several directions towards Orlek; in that case we choose the more right option, which is somewhat shorter, unless we are interested in some specific point along the other path variant. When we reach Orlek from the east, we still walk through the village core to the starting NOB monument in the NW part of the village.

Route description:
From the starting point we go past the ecological island towards the west. Already after approx. 50 meters we encounter a fork. Straight leads the access to fenced private land, left leads an asphalt path towards the state border and further towards Trebče (it. Trebiciano), we here go right onto the macadam path. On this path we encounter a few forks, but we always keep straight. After approx. 200 meters from the fork, through a narrow underpass, we cross the railway track. Immediately after the underpass the path splits again into several directions. Here we choose the most right option. After a further approx. 200 m after this fork another fork follows. Here we turn onto a cart track slightly left (in no case perpendicular left straight onto the meadow). The cart track leads us only a few tens of meters between two meadows, then in the forest it turns right and begins descending into the sinkhole. The cart track along the northern, western and then southern slope slowly descends towards the bottom of the sinkhole, which it reaches at the SE "corner" and ends there. Along the way, right at the westernmost point of the path, we will notice the border stone, which informs us that the western slope of the sinkhole is already on Italian territory.

Description and pictures describe the condition in November 2022.

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