Salt Pan Boats: Photograph by Will Tenney

Salt Pan Boats

Just south of Portorož, Slovenia, along the border with Croatia, are the still-active salt pans of Sečovlje. As we cycled along the water’s edge in the early morning light, I viewed across the harbor a group of boats still used in the salt industry here. Shallow-bottomed and without any leakage from engines, they must be quite a sight when out working under full sail.

We had to hurry to our next stopping point, the crossing between Slovenia and Croatia. Two passport control borders — one to leave Slovenia and enter a no-man’s land between the two countries, and then a second to enter Croatia. Now that Croatia is a member of the European Union, this crossing may have become easier.