Slovakia, home of the smallest low mountain range in the world

Welcome to Slovakia!

Since the Czech Republic and Slovakia used to be one, the few words we have learned in Czech work here as well, which is very handy since just to say "Sorry, I don't understand." is a mouth full!

The first thing you notice as you approach the border, the hills seem to actual metamorphose slowly into mountains. Good news for my human, bad news for my heart!

First port of call in this new country was Tercin, a big city with lots of industry but a very small old center.

From there you can climb 130 wooden stairs, an old defense passage, and you are halfway up the hill on which Tercinˋs medieval castle looks down on the city.

There isn't anything to see in castle itself, just the actual building. Most explanations are in Slovakian only, so it was not a very informative visit for my human.

Roman inscription from 179 AC

Plague column and city tower

The most important and oldest pilgrimage site in the country, Velka Skalka, can be found just a few kilometers outside the city.

The Benedictine abbey was founded in 1224, to commemorate two eremites who had lived in a cave underneath today's building for years.

For a little exercise in the morning, my human went up to the summit of Bukov, close to the town of Ladce. Unfortunately the way ran along a paved road almost all the way up, then turned into a cloister until you hit a giant Mary statue on the summit. Well...

After having prepared for a bigger hike, my human was a bit disappointed and so we drove on to the narrowest canyon in Central Europe, Maninska Tiesnava.

From an Autokemp close by, we were going to spend the night there, she could access a nice route, taking her up a couple of hills with good views and through the canyon. Which is a real big word for what it actually is.

The first "summit"

Ah, now we are talking!

Symbolic graveyard for all the climbers who have lost their lives in this area

This is the most narrow part of the "canyon"

But at least she was satisfied after another four hours of hiking and we had a pleasant evening at the camp.

On we went to Cicmany, a tiny village with 122 inhabitants where most of the houses are decorated with white ornamental paintings. Each symbol has it's own meaning, explained in detail on an information board - in Slovakian.

It had rained a bit on the way there, but as we left it started for real.

Very heavy rain, lightning and thunder, and us doing 50 instead of 90, with the wipers on full speed. There wasn't really anywhere to stop and sit it out until we were pretty much in Bojnice.

By that time it had come down to a drizzle and the sun was poking through.

Having had a walkabout around the castle, the most visited tourist attraction in the country, up a hill where a huge steel and wood construction serves as a viewing tower, through the little center, we decided that there wasn't much more for us to see.

Canˋt tell you why itˋs the most visited site in the country since we didnˋt go in

There was also a Dino Park next to the lookout

No view from the top, not for 11€. My human prefers to climb mountains to get a view.

Since we were finally getting into a more mountainous region, it was time to take on the first mountain that actually deserves to be so called, Klak.

With an altitude of 1352m and a very distinct summit, you can see it from far off as you approach. There are different routes up, we decided on the one from Fackov. Not sure if the name is also the motto of this sleepy village...

Welcome to Fackov! We hope you will feel right at home!

Off my human went, climbing steadily through a healthy forest, startling a couple of stags, but otherwise not seeing anyone until she got to the summit, just to her liking.

The views were nice on this fine day and seeing the ranges build up in the distance made her rather happy.

The Byzantine double cross, motive of the countryˋs flag

In the afternoon we stopped at a huge reservoir where she was hoping to be able to swim. There were a few people in the water but it really didn't look very inviting.

So instead of swimming in, she went on a bike ride around it before we headed of to Ontario Lake to spend the night.

After Fackov, the spa town of Lucky felt a bit more welcoming and so we did some wandering around, having a look at a little thermal waterfall and a pool with 32 degrees thermal water. Which, honestly, is not really what you need when the air temperature is at 34 degrees, but there it was, so in she went.

Fancy benches

We keep seeing this, in the Czech Republic and now here, cups on fences. Can anyone explain, please?

This is at 7 in the morning and there is already people

The first mountain in the Tatra range my human was going to tackle was Dumbier, with 2043 meters the highest mountain of the Lower Tatra.

I was left at a car park and off she went. With 1.400 height meters to overcome, this was more of a challenge than anything she had done for quite a while.

It started nice and easy with a beautiful path through a forest and then became gradually steeper and rockier.

She didn't meet a single person until she got to the summit.

From there she crossed a ridge to the neighboring Chopok, which get's serviced, if you are so inclined, by a cabin lift. It's a ski area, after all.

And suddenly, but not surprisingly, there were a couple of hundred mostly ill equipped people around.

Dumbier summit, 5 people in total

Chopok summit, way too many people

To get into pole position for climbing Krivan the next day, we drove to a car park with a trail head right beside it.

Krivan, 2494m high, is the most western mountain of the High Tatra range and it is said that every Slovakian has to climb it at least once in his/her life.

It also graces the 1, 2 and 5 cent coins and is a national symbol.

At 5am some cars started to arrive so my human got ready and left just before 6 and I turned around for another snooze.

Contrary to our internet research, there weren't many hikers on the trail (yet), so she had a nice, quiet ascent, overtaking a couple of people here and there.

Like on Dumbier, first came serpentiens through the forest before it got rockier and rockier. The last hour was scrambling over boulders with a nasty wind blowing and fog rolling across the summit.

So far so clear. That was going to change.

Yes, that is snow!

Oh well, itˋs not like she is not used to it...

She was quite happy to have brought a hat and even gloves, they came in very handy.

It got a bit more busy on the summit ridge and on getting to the top, there was absolutely no view to be had whatsoever. The fog just kept rolling in.

If you have been following us for a while, this won't come as a surprise to you.

Heading back down a different, longer route, by the time she got back she had scaled another 1.400 height meters and had done a good 20km.