Is Postojna Cave comparable to anything else?

I used to say to myself: What is it about this cave that makes people love it so much and want to tour it? But as soon as you step inside it and look around, you realise that Postojna Cave is a unique thing. We travel to the States to see the Grand Canyon. When we see it on TV, we cannot help but be amazed. But anyone who comes to Postojna Cave from elsewhere and sees this world under the earth’s ground ... Postojna Cave – well, it really is a fairytale-like world! Postojna Cave is unique, unlike anything else in the world. It’s one-of-a-kind. I can’t think of words to describe it. Big, beautiful, enchanting, mystical ... Even today, if I go into the cave, I take my time, I walk slowly and look around. Every single time, I notice something new, even though I have seen it 20,000 times.

What’s the one thing that has left the biggest mark on you as part of your cave-guiding- service work?

First and foremost, working at Postojna Cave you could earn a good living – it was salary and consistency. All the team members got on well with one another, we were a good team in every way. And at the end of the day: there is only one Postojna Cave. Nothing compares to it. For me it was a matter of pride, I was proud of working at Postojna Cave. I was a bit of a show-off walking around Postojna. I had a white shirt, a tie... I’m not saying it was the right thing to do, but it was a uniform, I like being dressed up all nice, and to me it seemed that everybody was looking at me because I worked in the cave.

What qualities does it take to be a Postojna Cave tour guide?

You have to like people. You need to know how to do the job, you have to be communicative. You build up your personal authority. For cave visitors, the guide is Ariadne’s thread. They are devoted to you. They trust you. They are a bit lost in the underground world and the guide is their leader, the person in charge, someone they listen to, someone that has the knowledge … and another thing that’s important is to have a friendly attitude, but not in a fulsome, exaggerated way. The visitors need to feel that they are in good hands, that they can ask questions and that you don’t mind answering them. If you get to see smiling faces or get a pat on the back at the end of a tour, you’ve done your job.

You’ve worked as a cave guide, but also as a tour coordinator and cave-train driver. Which job did you like the most?

At first, I loved the cave guiding service. They say, “It’s niceto work with people.” Sure, some people are nice to work with, others not so much. (laughter) The vast majority of them are OK, but then there are exceptions that just don’t seem to like a single thing: "Why are we going so fast? Why are we going too slow? Why did I have to wait in line at the ticket office?"

For the last twenty years, Frenk (Postojna Cave’s iconic tour coordinator) and I worked together as tour coordinators. I did this job until I retired, and I was also a member of the committee in charge of training new cave-train drivers and the cave-train driving tests. So, I also drove tourists on the legendary cave train from time to time.

Are Slovenians aware of what a gem we have?

We sure are, and the number of visitors proves it. Slovenians love visiting Postojna Cave and are proud of it. Foreign delegations never return home without touring Postojna Cave first. Postojna Cave is synonymous with Slovenia. Slovenia is Postojna Cave.

The most unusual question:

How long did it take you to carve these stalagmites and stalactites?