I took a bus from Logatec to Idrija, but the bus stop was not at the Logatec train station, and the closest bus stop to the train station was here: 45°55'01.8"N 14°13'26.9"E

I spent about 22 hours in Idrija, from 13:30 on Monday to 11:45 on Tuesday in February.  It was a busy 22 hours, which made the visit more fun for me. 

When I got off the bus one stop before the Idrija bus station, the driver asked me where I'm going.  I said "To the museum," and he said "The (Castle) Museum is at the next stop."  I had meant the Smelting Plant Museum, which the driver was not aware of.  

As it turned out, the Museum at the Smelting Plant opened only a year before.  When I got to the Museum at 13:45, I was the only visitor, and the attendant kindly gave me a tour of the Plant and even served me a cup of coffee while I browsed through the exhibition.  I was especially surprised to encounter the section of the exhibition about the mercury poisoning at Minamata, Japan, which I grew up hearing about, and how the problem in Minamata made the difference with regards to mercury around the world, just as the problem in Fukushima made the difference with regards to nuclear energy around the world recently.  We humans learn by making mistakes...  I spent about 90 min. at the Plant Museum.  

My next plan was to visit the Kamst before it closes at 16:00.  As it turned out, I could visit the Kamst only with a guide from the Museum at the Castle. The man at the Plant Museum made an arrangement for me, and I was told to go to the Castle before 16:00.  I left my luggage at my hotel, which was on the 1st and 2nd floors of the Anthony's Mine structure, before heading to the Castle. 

When I arrived at the Castle, I was again the only visitor, and a girl attendant shut the Castle Museum at 16:00 and drove me down to the Kamst. 

After that, my plan was to go back to the Castle Museum, which was supposed to close at 18:00. But when I told the girl my plan to walk to Wild Lake in the following morning, she suggested that I go to the Lake right then and come back to the Castle Museum when it opens at 9:00 in the following morning, as the path along the canal to the Wild Lake started right from the back of the Kamst. 

So I did exactly that. I walked on a path along the canal for a few km to the Kobila Dam, where the water from the Idrija River is diverted into the canal, all of which are part of the core zone.  There was a short suspension bridge over the Idrija River, which I used to cross the river to the Wild Lake.  The Wild Lake created by a spring did not look as blue as I had heard. 

Now, with no knowledge of anything, it took me a while to understand the function of the Kamst and how all the mechanism worked together.  The water diverted to the canal was poured over the huge water wheel at the Kamst, which operated the whole system at the Kamst to bring the underground water, which inevitably appeared all over the mine, out of the mine and to drain it into the Idrija River. 

I met a local man at the Wild Lake and tried to see if he could drive me to one of those water barriors / dams further into the woods, but he told me it was not possible due to the snow.  But he gave me a lift to my hotel in Idrija.

The hotel also had one of the few restaurants that were open in Idrija, and there I had Zlikrofi, the EU-protected local specialty dish. 

The girl at the Castle Museum had also promised me to see if she could arrange a special tour of the Anthony's Mine after my visit to the Castle Museum at 9:00 in the morning, as the mine is supposed to be open only on weekends in February.  She couldn't.  But instead she gave me a tour of the Francis' Mine when I was done with the Castle Museum, after again shutting down the Museum at about 10:00. 

Photo 01 shows the rotating furnace at the smelting plant. Photo 02 is the water wheel at the Kamst. Photo 03 shows the Kobila Dam and the canal. Photo 04 shows the entrance to the Francis' Shaft. 

I had to catch a bus out of Idrija at 11:45, as I had purchased a ticket for the tour of Postojna Cave TWHS at 15:00 that day.  Skocjan Caves WHS is more unusual, but Postojna Caves TWHS is supposed to be the largest in Europe. 

One more thing about Idrija. It reminded me so much of Banska Stiavnica in Slovakia, which I like so much that I've been there twice.  Both towns are about mining, both have a castle / castles and even a Calvary within the core zones! But, even though I had such a good time in Idrija, I have to say that as far as the overall beauty goes, Banska Stiavnica wins hands down.