The oldest wheel in the world was found in a peat bog in Slovenia, and the bog is the Ljubljana Marshes. Archaeologists working here in 2002 pulled out a wooden wheel with its axle, dating from around 3100 BC, which is now in the city museum in Ljubljana. The find was made close to the village of Ig, a few kilometres south of the capital, where for centuries people built houses on stilts above the wet ground. The pile dwellings at Ig, called Kolišča in Slovenian, are one of the settlements that UNESCO lists among the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.
The marsh, the Barje, is a flat expanse of meadows, ditches and reed beds, with lines of poplar and the occasional farmhouse. It was once a lake, and the peat that formed over the centuries preserved wood, tools and pottery in remarkable condition. In winter, the mist lies across it, and in summer the meadows are full of flowers and butterflies. The houses on stilts are gone, but the museum in Ljubljana and a small site near Ig tell the story, and a walk on the dyke paths gives a feeling of the setting.
Riding here is easy and unhurried. The roads across the marsh are straight and flat, with a few sharp bends where they cross ditches. Behind the village, the land rises to Krim, a forested mountain of just over eleven hundred metres, with winding roads and wooded slopes that are fun on a bike. The Iška gorge, a few kilometres farther, has a narrow road that follows the river through steep rock walls. Traffic is light, apart from commuters in the morning and evening.
A vignette is required for motorcycles on Slovenian motorways, and you can buy one online or at a fuel station before entering. Ig has two thousand people, and fuel is available there or in Ljubljana, which has two hundred and seventy-two thousand and is only nine kilometres away. Try a buckwheat dish, such as žganci with sour milk, or a plate of cured ham and local cheese.
The best seasons are spring and autumn. The ride continues to Trieste, in Italy, over the limestone plateau of the Karst.