Home -> Europe -> Slovakia -> Travelogue 2003 -> Sunday 22 June

Zakopane - Roznava, Slovakian Paradise

The owners of the campsite/motel have their first marriage anniversary and therefore have to visit church before they can serve breakfast, so we can sleep late. At ten we leave and we only have to wait half an hour at the border, so we enter Slovakia about eleven. We first take the road to the west, so we see the Tatra mountainrange from the south this time. After quite some time we discover we have forgotten to turn in the key of the room. Well, when you (the motelowners) read this: we will send it back when we return home and have found your address (as we have done already!).

It is a very nice itinerary and it is clear that this part of Slovakia is covered with woods, mountains and hills. The inclining slopes hide many valleys where small villages can be found, as if one has to make some effort to discover them.

Then we turn southwards, to cross the next mountainrange, the lower Tatra, and turn east again. This church is in Zavadka.

The Slovakian Paradise is a true paradise for hikers. There are many trails in this national park, but Elisabeth's legs still hurt from all the climbing in the saltmine and we just drive through the area and have a break now and then. As you can see, she challenges fate on this picture with another descent. Animals like wolves, lynxes and even brown bears still live in this nature reserve, but we didn't encounter them.

There are many prohibitions in Paradise, that will be clear from this sign. You can see exactly what is forbidden on the larger picture (just click on it). Even the picking of mushrooms and berries is not allowed, but no sign of an appletree or other fruits.

We take all kinds of small roads and drive through nice villages where we find many old buildings like these two churches in Stitnik.

Then we visit the cave near Gombasek (Gombasecka jaskyna). A police officer stops us and asks us where we think we are going, in Slovakian, of course. We point at the caves in our travel guide which he seems to understand and he waves us in the right direction. Elisabeth decides to stay in the car, her legs really need some rest. But there have to be a minimum of 4 people to have a tour and there are only two other people, Poles, so I pay extra for a childs ticket and the tour can go on.

This cave was discovered in 1952 and has a length of 1500 meters of which 300 can be visited. But it is really worthwhile. The colours red, white and black dominate. I forgot to buy a ticket for permission to photograph, but I promise the guide I will pay it later.

The best are the 'straws', very thin stalactites, made of limestone. They are hollow and the drops of water run through them downwards. That way they stay thin from the top to the bottom and don't grow like normal stalactites.

The guide speaks her English very well and especially translates all information for me. When we walk back to the office to buy a licence for photographing, it appears to be closed already. So I promise her to show some nice pictures on the website (hope you like them, we have more) and recommend the place. The tour takes about 40 minutes, it is easy to walk and the admission fee is low. It is really worth visiting it when you are in Slovakia. Dear guide, thanks for your nice stories and I hope you will get many visitors.

We then continue our way on this small road towards Silica and we pass many deep canyons, while on the other side of the road dozens of cars come racing downwards without much consderation for us. There are also some police cars among them, we have seen a lot them, today.

And they weren't the last: when we drive into Krasnohorske to make a picture of the castle we are stopped again by a police officer who seemingly wants to know where we go. To the castle, sir. Oh well, that's allright. And all in Slovakian and talking with hands and feet.

In Roznava we drive into the center to walk around and look for a hotel and there we see the next policecar, with an ambulance, this time: a kid on a bike has been run over by a car and has flown through the windshield of the car. We really are confronted with accidents, this trip.

Along the sqaure is a nice and cheap hotel and we decide to spoil ourselves one more time with a good bed and a hot meal. We can sit outside because the temperature has risen much today, even now it is more than 20 degrees. It is almost 9 o'clock now and we still sit outside, typing this travelogue. The next days it will be even warmer and by then we will be ready to unpack our tent.

Tomorrow we leave Slovakia and enter Hungary, so we have been only one day in this beautiful country. Lovers of nature, especially hikers, really should visit this lovely country.

Travel through Europe and Africa

with Elisabeth and Teije