In Tatra Mountains writing Blog

We are heading South! This feels really good. And given its absolutely awful rainy, cold weather – I’m delighted to be heading towards warmer parts of the world.

We have just arrived in Slovakia and are camped up at the High Tatra Mountains. These mountains are reputed to be some of the most beautiful in Europe, certainly Eastern Europe. Hence, the tourist trade is well developed through out the year. I’m here and it’s utterly beautiful. Just wish it wasn’t quite so cold and I’ve given up hoping it doesn’t rain. For now, I’m sitting in sunshine watching very big grey clouds tumble over the mountains and my German biker friend have a shave. Must admit, these guys are very organised and make it all look so easy.

Some travel tips for bikers, specifically dealing with rain:

Only take “technical” clothing. You will need all your clothes to dry out asap even in damp conditions. When you wear damp technical clothing it dries on your body rather than make you feel wet.

When you camp up, take off all your bike gear and stuff them in your roll bags or in a waterproof bag. As much as it may be nice to have them air during the night, if it’s raining or possibly going to rain, you need to keep them dry (and get used to stinky).

I have two pairs of light summer bike gloves and have been using both.

I think the minimum of underwear is 5. As my undies are cotton, I struggle to keep up with washing, drying and wearing in wet weather.

My most useful socks are really thin ones that dry quickly and don’t keep foot odour. I have warm comfy ones that stink and are still wet days later.

A good idea would be to check your clothes for BO (body odour) by doing loads of sweaty work outs to see how quickly they smell. It seems that some fabrics smell and keep BO much faster than others. You will probably live in the one that doesn’t smell and forget about the others that require more regular washing. Being dirty isn’t a problem, it’s the smell that bothers you (and probably others too).

Take as big a tent as you can manage weight and size wise. We have a two man tent and when it rains, it’s really too small for two people - it really only sleeps two. So we are going to be looking out for a tarpaulin.

So, back to travels…

1 August - Czech Republic: Plzen, Prague and Adrspach Rock Town in Teplice Mountains

In spite of the weather, in wet gear and with grey clouds looming, we left the comfort of Augsburg and our friends and went to the Czech Republic. It wasn’t a long trip and the roads were good, but I felt really excited as this was taking the first little step out of our Western comfort zone.

We arrived in Plzen late in the evening and decided to find a pension (cheap room) rather than camp. All our stuff was soaked, as were we, and we could do with the comfort. Slippery cobbled roads and a complicated one-way system made it a tricky business. I spotted a billboard for “Pension Sandra” and noted the parking was included so this seemed to be a good answer to our immediate needs. We were ushered around to the back where there was a secure courtyard for us to park in. I greeted the proprietor saying, “Hi, I’m Sandra!” It went down a treat. We locked up our bikes, sorted out a shower and then went down to the bar where we were treated to a Pilsen beer on the house. Paul and I decided that Pilsen beer is by far the best in the world. I produced my passport and delighted the owner yet again on seeing my name in print. He proceeded to give us the story of how the pension came to be called Sandra. Basically, his wife wanted to name his first daughter Sandra but it rhymes with a word in Czech that means joke. So instead, years later, the pension became Sandra. No, San-DRRA. I quite like my name in Czech. I was then treated to Sandra Vodka: home brewed vodka. He gave me a teaspoon to taste. Well. I sat there quietly cursing. My mouth was on fire. My very animated, jovial host then explained how funny it was to play this particular joke on friends. He didn’t inflict the same joke on the other tourists and so I can only gather that the joke was especially for people he liked (I hope that’s the case).

This was my first opportunity to get access to the internet in a real internet café that actually worked. It was so much fun to read emails and find out that my friend Chamu in Zimbabwe had succeeded in making a website for our trip; most successfully I must add, given I’d only sent him various bits of information and some very basic ideas. So finally www.long-way-home.com is a live site and I think Chamu has really captured the spirit of our adventure.

The rest of the day we did the tourist thing: climb to the top of the church in the square and then go into the underground which is a maze of tunnels under the city. As in many European cities, houses had cellars or “caves” in which they used to store beer and wine. These in time have been used for other purposes, including refuge during times of war. It was quite interesting but we only saw about 2km of the tunnels, there are 3 levels covering an area of 20km. It’s a whole underground world.

Late in the day we made our way to Prague. This was the first time I noticed that the roads were not quite what we were accustomed to and found the wobbling about a bit unnerving from time to time. Not too bad though and thankful I had over 4000 km practice with heavily laden bikes already.

Prague is yet another beautiful European city. It was heaving with tourists and the prices reflected this. I admitted to Paul that I wasn’t really too interested in looking at more old buildings as they were all becoming a bit like, oh-there’s-another-grand-old-building, which meant it was time to stop. Or at least not pay to see them when I didn’t appreciate them. Instead I watched the tourists walk about taking photos of everything and lining up to have their pictures taken at the right “tick-the-box” spots. They really do follow each other about like a flock of bored sheep – rushing to touch something or take a picture because there is already queue of sheep doing it – with no appreciation of what they are looking at or why. I do admit that it is very hard to really react to the environment unless you have a brilliant guide book or brilliant guide or perhaps this is a place you have learned about… Otherwise, it’s very easy to walk about and take happy-snappy shots of things and never even know what they are.

The highlight of Prague for me was visiting a Jan Saudek exhibition. At first it was merely a refuge from the rain but it’s the thing I remember most now. Initially I looked at the photos and wasn’t quite sure if I was looking at some old pornographic material that was a bit artsy. But as I looked at the exhibition I really like some of the techniques he used and some of the pictures (yes, borderline pornographic) were profound. In particular his critique of time, decay and death; sometimes portrayed in photos of a young person juxtaposed with a similar picture replicated with the same model many years later. I did have a good giggle at the rampant bushes some of the women sported. Those were the good old days when women didn’t aspire to looking like they were freshly airbrushed.

The next day we were out of Prague and off to the Teplice rocks. It turned out to be a rare treat and I have the Lonely Planet to thank for this one. Most of the places advised in the Lonely Planet so far had been on the well trodden tourist track and pretty busy – but this was a bit off the main drag. It’s in Northern Czech Republic and not on most maps but we managed to find it all the same (in the rain). Due to the RAIN yet again we decided to stay in a pension again. This time it really felt luxurious, I guess because it was getting cold, I really enjoyed getting dry and warm. Lovely hospitality yet again and we managed to get by with our basic German and my enthusiasm to mime.

The next morning we strolled about the Adrspach Rock Town. I didn’t think it would be quite so impressive and enjoyable. The rocks are mostly sandstone and the formations are created by mostly water erosion. The rocks stand like huge monoliths, some appear to be precariously balanced and as a result visitors have left little twigs at the base to keep the rocks standing. Rather sweet idea. But if one of them did fall over it would be a mighty big crash. The rocks are easily 30-50m high and each has character. They have been named appropriately and it’s clear this is a loved landscape.

We did a little boat trip on a lake there. I had by this time noticed that there were often little green men with bulging orange eyes and fangs lurking in ponds. I have no idea what these are and why they are in lakes and people’s gardens. Judging by the reaction of fellow passengers to the boatman’s comments, creepy notions of Dracular and vampires are clearly comical. It’s the spooky equivalent of a garden gnome. Hopefully, one day I’ll find out the story behind these creepy characters.

6 August - Poland: Krakow and Auschwitz

Refreshed and dried out we went off to Poland. First thing we noticed was the roads got significantly worse. Even motorways were rutted due to the trucks driving along them and I guess, the poor quality of the road making in the first place. It was really easy to find myself wobbling about and if I didn’t really turn to bounce out of the rut, I’d ping-pong along in the rut (and the rain). Then there were pot-holes too which were not too big but as it was wet, we couldn’t tell the difference between a puddle and a hole. The speed limit was really slow with loads of police lurking behind bushes. Most of the time we were driving at 40km per hour… and that made it a long, wet, cold trip.

We camped outside of Krakow as again, mass tourism meant the prices were way-high. And as we were outside of the city, this meant subjecting ourselves to public transport which at the time seemed like a good idea. I’d read in my Lonely Planet (LP) under “Dangers and Annoyances” about the various scams in the places we were travelling through but I’d read them all together so it was all a bit of a miss-mash in my mind.

We got on the bus to the city and at this point you are supposed to stamp your ticket to validate it. Unfortunately, I got Paul to stamp his and then the bus vaulted over the ruts setting a little old lady off her feet and I was worried about her breaking her hip, and so forgot to stamp my ticket. We got off the bus and onto the tram. A few people got on and then what appeared to be a plain clothed ticket inspector. Oops. I’d forgotten to stamp my ticket. So I apologised and said I’d stamp it right away. He was having none of it but this was the first time I was suspicious as his body language was far too threatening. So I suggested he go and check every one else’s tickets too – why make a fuss of me? - Which he didn’t do either. So I wasn’t sure. He wanted my passport which I told him absolutely no way would he even see it, we had no cash yet and so he said he’d walk with us to get the money to pay the fine. We obliged. I still didn’t know if he was really a ticket guy or it was a scam. We said very specifically that we would pay the fine but only at the police station. This all seemed like a good idea. When he said the fine was 70 Polish spondoolies we were outraged. That was more than a fine you’d get on London transport and London transport would be much more lenient towards a genuine mistake, which this clearly was. So I argued with this guy no end. I was so mad I really spitted at him, “And I hope when you travel you get treated like shit.”
I admit he looked a bit surprised that I would be such hard work. Paul calmly took out his note book and said, “Ok, well, I’ll give you the money but first I want to write your details down. I’m going to complain because this is no way to treat a tourist who has clearly simply made a mistake and not trying to cheat the system.”
That did the trick. The guy stormed off and said he was going to the police station. We stood there alone, a bit surprised. I went to a police officer and asked where the police station was. It was the opposite direction and I didn’t see any sign of this guy there either. We were still confused then but decided that we would get out of the city to avoid meeting up with him again. I then delved back into LP while we were on the train to Wieliczka and realised – yes, the bugger was indeed a scam artist. Paul’s calm insistence had worked which is fortunate because I would still be there arguing with him otherwise.

Off to Wieliczka Salt Mine. We’d read about this in our Dan Cruikshank’s Around the world in 80 Treasures and he’d mentioned that the mass tourism touches had destroyed an extraordinary place. I could not agree more. The mine has not been “active” for the past 10 years but the Poles have managed to turn from extracting salt from the mine to extracting money from tourists with alarming efficiency. It was really expensive and not massively interesting. The worst bit was the very tatty exhibitions and naff lighting effects. The mine itself was massive and quite something to see. There are wooden structures all over holding up the tunnels. We found out that there was once forest around Wieliczka but it had all been cut down for the sake of extracting the white gold. Salt once produced a 30% of the country’s income.

That seemed pretty silly to me that a forest was destroyed over salt. I really hope that in the future our great grandchildren don’t think the same of us. How silly we were to destroy the ozone in the pursuit of wealth.

We left Krakow and the scam-man behind us and went to Auschwitz. This is a place I specifically wanted to visit. I’d studied the war poets as part of my drama qualification and a few years ago I’d gone to visit Verdun in France to see a preserved site of World War I battles. Although I’d read a lot about the war and had an insight into the emotions of the men fighting the battle, seeing the trenches, the deeply scared landscape and fields of white crosses was very moving and turned academic understanding into real feeling.

I felt the same about Auschwitz. I’d seen the films and read about the camps but I felt I needed to experience the concentration camp. As one of the plaques in the museum says something along the lines of “Those who do not study the past are forced to relive it”. I do believe this and this is exactly why I make the effort to visit such places.

Auschwitz is now a museum and very sensitively done. The tours in English leave at 11 and 1 o’clock and if anyone goes there, I would strongly recommend joining a tour as it is really worthwhile and will give you so much more than walking about on your own (entry is free and the guide is 26 Polish money). This might be the only time I have ever thought a tour guide has made my visit to a place extra special.

Our guide had a very brisk march and the appearance of a strict school mistress. From the moment she began the tour I could tell she was passionate about telling the story of Auschwitz, the 1.5 million Jews who were murdered there and the thousands of prisoners from around Europe who suffered and died there in excruciating circumstances. Many times she started her explanations with “I want you to imagine…” and she really did highlight the horror and the insanity of what when on. We walked around Birkenau, the biggest of the camps that made up the whole of the extermination camp area, and the exact place that the gas chambers were. I kept saying over and over to myself. How? How did this happen? How did such vile maniacs commit such heinous crimes for so many years? There were kilometres of wooden huts in which as many as 100,000 people would be held with no sanitation and no running water. Just along side them, were massive outdoor fires where hundreds of bodies were being burnt in massive piles, using the human body fat to keep the fires burning. The ovens weren’t efficient enough to keep up with the number of bodies to cremate. Many thousands of people could be killed and disposed of in a day, leaving very little evidence. The ashes were simply used as fertilizer and the rest of the possessions were sent off to be re-used all over Germany, including the human hair to make cloth. Birkenau was largely destroyed but the chimney stacks remain. I looked over this massive field of chimneys and the question remained… How did we let this happen?

This is not the only time in history we (collectively as humans) have stood by and let people perish because we have not done something about it. I’ve had to promise myself that I won’t be one of those people who don’t worry about what is happening in other places to other people.

After that thought provoking experience, we headed off south and straight into more Polish mass tourism. We wanted to see the Tatra Mountains but got stuck in a traffic jam (and rain) and then realised that the only way to see the mountains was by joining a tourist bus group. Nah! We decided to pop over the border to Slovakia.

10 August - Slovakia: Tantra Mountains

Immediately the roads are so much better and we feel like we are back in Europe. The mountains are beautiful and perhaps we will take a walk if the rain gives us a chance to dry out. By now I don’t have any clean clothes and a bag full of damp, stinking clothes. We were forced to camp as the area is so inundated with tourists there is no accommodation, but it’s probably a good thing as the tent could start to rot if we don’t get it out to at least have fresh rain on it.

To my delight two 500XT motorbikes arrived at the campsite and pull up next to us. They are two German bikers, Matthias and Luede, who speak excellent English and this is very exciting as Paul and I haven’t had people to talk to for a while now. Our limited language skills only get us into campsites and basics of menus and there is only so much we can say to each other before even that gets a bit boring and we crave the company of others. The guys are just great and we spent loads of real quality time talking about gear, travel and bikes.

They have vital information on the best roads to take through Romania: that is going to be our first taste of developing world standards. I’ve also been warned about the delightful wildlife that includes small bears that will try to scavenge for food scraps! Yikes. I’m a bit worried about that.

Matteas did a 3 month trip and pointed out that after a while you realise this isn’t a holiday. This is your life and it isn’t easy. He is so right. I think we have reached that point of realising that this can be hard work and is about to get harder.

Our home is a small tent that has to get packed up and taken out daily – and gets wet and rots and makes everything smell. We have bikes to maintain and the parts are not easy to buy in a local shop. Its tough finding places, information, supplies when you are always in a foreign town and don’t speak the language. We have so little clothing that doing laundry is difficult and when the weather turns against you… life gets very tough. It all seemed so easy, to just have one huge holiday, but life is pretty complicated. I’ve mentioned the hassle of electricity but there is also the problem with finding internet cafes that are sufficiently high tech to let us do things like banking.

All said, I wouldn’t be doing any thing else. This is exactly where I’d like to be right now, even though it’s raining again.