Cloudy morning. Hark! and behond, there are some deer in the next field doing a spot-on Man-Bear-Pig voice. Another crisis averted. Turns out I have some dry oats left, so I down some handfulls and get to walking. Coming into a small village, I grab some grapes off a vine that are on their way out anyway, and ingest. An old man getting into his car in the middle of the village starts speaking to me. I walk over to see what he wants, and I gather that he is offering me a ride, unprompted. So I say I'm going to Homen, he nods, moves his roll and can of sardines off the passenger's seat and off we go. Momentarily wondering why an old man would be so kind as to offer a foreign-looking wayfarer like myself access into his car, I was cut off by that familiar odor emanating from his mouth as he asked me if I speak German for the third time in two minutes: he was chock-full of alcohol. Slurring and stammering his words, or all-together stopping mid-sentence, I confidently countered his unintelligible Slovenian with my severely broken Serbian, and thus we had our conversation as he managed the curvy roads with surprising skill, which was the only condition I cared about. Arriving at another small village that was technically closer but divergent from the main road to Komen, Old Man pointed down the road, gave a few hand signals, trailed off in his speech, and off I went. After several dead-end turns I exited the village and found I still had a ways to go. Luckily caught a ride at a crossroads the rest of the way. In Komen, got directions to Nadrozica: left, then left at Night Rider bar. Damn-good directions. An hour more walking, and I had arrived; the only tipi in a town of about 6 people isn't hard to find. Apparently, Mitja was expecting me a week later, but he said it was no problem and he and his bear-dog, Max, greeted me kindly. The tipi was legit and I would have my own trailer to sleep in. Three horeses, plenty of land and copious amounts of delicious fresh organic food. Planted a few fruit trees, ate salad and rice for lunch, and then accompanied him while he gave riding lessons in the field. At night, made a fire in the tipi, drank some tea, and otherwise relaxed, glad to have found the place.
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