You’ve been working here for almost three decades. What’s the one thing makes you enthusiastic about this job?

Working with people! I never imagined this could be something so beautiful. One day you’re guiding the Brits, another day it’s Germans, Croats, and there are always interesting people with interesting stories in the tour group!

What makes a good cave guide?

Being a bit older and more experienced comes in handy. If they see that you’re just a ‘kid’, they will waste no time putting you to a test, especially if they sense that you’re insecure or that you are you’re giving them sorry here and sorry there. I remember this one time, when I was just starting out, I took around the cave a group of Serbian secondary school students. All of them were a head taller than me, and that was the time when smoking in the Concert Hall inside Postojna Cave was still allowed. And, of course, they asked me straight away, “Može li se pušiti u vozu?” (“Can you smoke on the cave train?”). If I’d had told them yes, everyone would have smoked, and the train driver would have given me a talking-to! If I’d said no, there would have been all sorts of questions like “Pa što ne?!” (“But why not!?”). So what I told them was, “Može, ali samo u vagonima za pušače.” (“You can, but only in the smoking carriages!”) And then they walked around looking for a smoking-allowed sticker... and when they realised I was pulling their leg, they left me alone.

And why Postojna of all the world’s caves?

I’ve seen lots of caves. But Postojna Cave is the Formula One among them. It’s like comparing a Mercedes to other cars. I mean, all caves are beautiful in their own way, but... for example, Le Grotte di Frasassi, the Frasassi Caves, which the Italians praise so much, all the speleothems there are white – like, for example, in our Spaghetti Hall – so in order to brighten up the colour of the cave, the speleothems were illuminated with coloured lights, with blue, green, red ones. We don’t need that. Nature painted the speleothems in its own colours. And also, Postojna Cave is perfect for guided tours. It’s horizontal, so it was possible to build a 4-km cave train track here. And another kilometre of an ordinary tour footpath. You won’t get this anywhere else. In all other caves, there are either stairs or some other obstacle!

Do you think Slovenians are aware what a marvel Postojna Cave is?

I don’t think so. When I hear people – mostly Slovenians – say this is too ‘touristy, kitschy, pretentious’, I say, “Look, there are 15,000 caves in Slovenia! Why aren’t you there?”. This man from Switzerland said it best: “I’ve been to tons of caves, but here you’ve found a perfect balance between preserving the cave and making it suitable for tourism.” And I agree with him. But we’re really lucky that this cave was discovered 200 years ago, because today’s strict legislation would not allow us to make any tunnels, let alone a railway!

What’s the one thing that wows visitors the most?

The cave train is especially fascinating for children. But once you get to the inner cave parts, the visitors are wowed by the sheer size of the cave halls, by the glittering stalactites, and then there are the olms, and right after that, the river once again! In Postojna Cave there is always something that you look forward to seeing next.

Who do you think was the most memorable VIP visitor?

The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. I noticed that she was fed up with all the ceremonial things that go hand in hand with state visits and she told me that Postojna Cave reminded her of the setting of The Lord of the Rings and so we looked for these comparisons throughout the cave tour and talked about the movie. And the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted to talk about basketball –  he’s a tall guy himself – and when I told him about the European Basketball Championship draw, which took place in the Concert Hall inside Postojna Cave, he was stunned. I think this was a really big event that should be highlighted more.  

What will you miss most when it’s time for you to retire?

The whole shebang. I will miss this whole flurry of activity.