Lost in the hills

What a day we had today.It was a great start at our lovely hotel in Motovun where we were served up scrambled eggs and truffle oil for breakfast with lovely fresh fruit and fresh breads.
The people here have been so helpful and the place is fresh and airy which is a contrast to the other hotels which tend to be very dark inside with heavy wooden shutters tightly latched to keep out the sun.
Our new driver appeared after breakfast to take us to our next walking start at Buzet,this time a larger regional town with some local industry on the outskirts.We were staying in the old town in a four star hotel with a swimming pool - everything is heated,even the rails going down into the water and the seats you recline in.I had a lovely swim on returning from our worst day ever.
We set off on the walk down the river Mirna towards a mining settlement at  Minjera about an hour and a half away.The thunder was crashing above us as we walked and we expected another deluge any minute but nothing came of it so we enjoyed our walk along the river pathway and after getting to the Minjera bridge we climbed upwards through some pleasant trees underplanted with hellebores and some small cyclamen plants.
The track was well marked at this stage and we made good time getting to the old mining settlement before heading across streams and local tracks towards a village called Brkani.
This is when it all turned to custard.Could we find the village?No.
As we left the mine we came to a t-junction but we had nothing on our instructions on which way to turn so our troubles started here. Later there were other places not noted on the instructions so we were very confused by this stage.It was getting hotter and hotter and lots of stops were needed.Wet face cloths applied to cool us down was a relief from the heat. Thank goodness we had plenty of water with us.

We tried several approaches to find the village as the markings had become very sporadic and we would climb a long way before we realised there were none so back we would go.At one stage Brad had us at the top of the ridge and facing a forestry road going where?At this point I said we were lost and we needed to retrace our steps back downhill.Brad hates downhill but  there was no option so back we went.
At this stage all options had been explored so it was back to where we started.Even then we ended up going in circles and losing our way but eventually detective work paid off and we exited onto the road where we started at 4.30 pm.A long day for a short walk!
We were so knackered that we called for a taxi and after a false start he arrived and rescued us.A jolly Croatian man who had a kindness about him that we liked. He will pick us up tomorrow from Hum.
So eventually we were installed in our lovely hotel,bathed and ready for dinner outside in the mellow evening.I had a fig and truffle soup which was delicious with a very nice sav. to wash it down along with a chicken loin and roasted vegetables from the region.
Tonight I plan to sleep well.......