The High Tatra and the Slovak Paradise
Saturday was meant to be a rainy day, so after two days of intensive hiking, we had planned a rest day before tackling Rysy on Sunday.
No rain came and so my human took the cog railway up to Strbske Pleso, one of the larger settlements along the Tatra range.
The main attractions here are a pretty lake you can walk around in less than an hour, the views of the mountains and...; no, that's it.
A few hotels and restaurants are scattered about and hundreds of people come here every day, winter and summer, to ski, hike, look at the view.
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| That thing sticking out used to be a ski jump, now out of use |
After a mediocre lunch, she went back to the station and let the train take her along the whole length of the mountain range.
The problem with being the only driver is that you can't much enjoy the view while you are on the road. Now she had the opportunity to just stare out of the window and let someone else do the driving.
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| Gerlachovsky stit, 2.655 meters, the highest mountain of Slovakia, can only be climbed with a guide :-( |
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| For 4€ you can drive around the whole day, looking at the scenery |
The alarm rang at 4.30 the next morning. We were told to get an early start to beat the crowds to the summit of Rysy.
Before she could get going, she first had to take the train back up to Strbske Pleso, where the route begins.
And for the first hour on the trail the plan seemed to work out, not a single soul around.
Then she got to a small, very picturesque, lake, next to which a large hotel stands. And out of that seemed to swarm masses of people.
From here on it was a slow overtaking process, one after the other.
In the upper part of the peak are a few ladders and chains to help you get up there. That's where people started queuing up, creating traffic jams.
Not exactly the pictures of Everest you have in your head now, but going in that direction.
After a good three hours and 1.400 height meters, she reached the summit in glorious weather. The sun was shining and the views were spectacular!
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| The first of the ladders and chains |
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| The summit of Rysy (in the foreground) |
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| Having been carried up all the way, Carmelo didnˋt break a sweat |
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| Polandˋs highest mountain (to the right with the people on it) |
Rysyˋs main summit is 2.504 meters high. It's second summit is 2.496 meters high and is, in fact, the highest mountain of Poland, it's right on the border.
So you can climb Poland's highest peak without ever having hiked a meter in the country. Nice gimmick!
Having spent almost an hour on the summit, she began the arduous climb down, trying to take care of the knees.
What can I say, the 20s are long gone!
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| The hut just below the summit |
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| Short break at the lake on the way down |
To get some information about our next destination, we briefly stopped in Poprad, which is the largest city in the Tatras. With 50.000 inhabitants it's still not very big.
And soon we were on our way to Slovensky raj, the Slovak Paradise.
This is one of nine national parks in the country and is a subdivision of the Western Carpathians. It is well known for it's gorges and waterfalls.
One can hike through a lot of these gorges, always upstream, often with the help of ladders to get up the waterfalls and fallen trees and big rocks to help you cross the streams.
The most famous one is Sucha Bela and it is a bit of an adventure to walk through there.
There isn't so much water at the moment, but you can imagine that rubber boots would be the only suitable footwear if there is.
Hiking through Velky Sokol, one of the longer gorges, the water came steadily from above and my human got soaked to the bones.
The forecast had spoken of a little light rain for an hour. Well, not quite.
But that just made for a bigger adventure.
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| Blajzloch |
We found a wonderful spot for the night on the shores of a good sized lake in Dedinky, a small town in the South of the National Park.
The next morning looked promising, so off she went for another hike through a couple more gorges. Around midday it started to fizzle again but luckily she was well covered by the forest, for most of the time, at least.
By 1pm she was back and the rain had started properly. And it didn't stop until nine o'clock that night. Which means we just spent a very chilled afternoon, some napping, reading, writing and chatting to a nice German couple that had pulled up next to us in their huge truck.
Imagine Mr. Bean standing next to Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and you get a picture of what the two of us looked standing next to each other. Nice guy, though. The truck, I mean. Not sure about the Rock.
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| 13 tonnes, one tyre as big as all of mine combined |
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| Gift of our Dutch neighbours, they had gone a bit mad while picking |
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| Makes for a phantastic breakfast |
After another quiet night on the lake, we moved on to Cingov from where my human went for a last outing in the Slovakian Paradise.
Up to Tomasovsky vhlad she went, the most visited view point in the whole park. From there she passed through a couple more gorges and got back happy and dry this time.
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| No wonder itˋs popular, you can even see the Tatras from here |
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| A symbolic graveyard |
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| One last look at the Tatras |
Levoca was our next stop. Here you can visit the gothic Basilica of St. Jacob, where you can look at the highest wooden altar in the world, 18,6m, created by Master Paul over 10 years! Visit is by guided tour only, which is held in Slovakian. Well, thanks for that! No photos allowed, either, so here is another sneaky one:
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| The church and the town hall |
My human then visited a museum for special education, which she found rather interesting. You had to go by tour here, too, but this one was in English and private, nice! She learned about Braille, different learning aids for blind, deaf and otherwise challenged children and was put in a pitch black room where she had to feel her way around a "blind person's kitchen", pouring a glass of water, among other things.
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| A typewriter for blind people, developed by a German in the 18th Century |
To finish off the day, we drove up to Spissky Hrad, Spis Castle that is, built at the turn of the 12th Century, one of the largest castle ruins in Europe.
The upper courtyard is currently under reconstruction, so not all was open, but it sure is a large area.
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| Just pretend the huge crane isnˋt there |
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| Some rocks close by with happy climbers |
This castle as well as the town of Levoca are both part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
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