after a few soft miscommunications with the tourism hireling that operates both the information desk and gondola ticket dispensary we finally begin our 10 minute scenic ascent, which passes through an impenetrable cloud to reach the top of the plateau. now sitting at an altitude of approximately 1666 meters, we exit the quaint wooden lodge that houses the gondola and gondola administrators to reveal the alpine pastures of velika planina, or would, except it is off season in this slovenian hobbit village and everything beyond 10 meters is completely obscured by an opaque and ominous shroud of fog. according to google maps there is a small restaurant just a 20 minute walk from the lodge but we are the only visitors that day and my colleagues express some scepticism that the restaurant will be open. i am filled with an unexplainable sense of optimism and head in that direction despite all indications that it will not in fact be open. the map shows a winding path that leads to the restaurant but impulsively i decide to leave the marked trail and cut through the wilderness to expedite our travels. after about a 10 minute climb, our google map updates to reveal we have only actually travelled one minute closer to our destination. we quickly realize its travel estimation is not taking into account the steep incline we are on. my colleagues apprehensions increase and they attempt to appeal to my sense of reason and suggest turning back. but at this point in the journey, i have fully succumb to some kind of altitude related hysteria and laughing dementedly i skip deeper into the fog beckoning for them to follow. we travel further upwards into the murky green mountains and the navigation system on iPhone indicating our current location becomes more and more erratic and unreliable. the danger of missing the last gondola ride back down to civilization is becoming almost inevitable. suddenly though, a small footpath becomes visible. we follow it to a grouping of wooden huts. the windows of the huts are darkened and the inhabitants do not seem to be home, but the restaurant is now in clear view. from the exterior it does not appear to open but i push on the wooden entrance and the door creaks open. inside it is warm and inviting and we are greeted by a friendly attendant who serves us hot tea. we have exactly 5 minutes to enjoy our beverages and then we begin to descend back to from whence we came. the service here was top notch. the prices extremely reasonable and the bathroom facilities were spotless. i look forward to coming back here one day.