Slovakia

After crossing the border into Slovakia it was only a small push up hill into the High Tatra Mountains then a whole lot of descending. Luckily we were hit with rain for the descent and most of the remaining afternoon. Upon arriving at our campsite we thought we would try for a cabin to dry out but all was booked out so it was into the tent again. We did get a great view of the peaks above us and the evening cleared so we couldn't really complain.

High Tatra Mountains

Expecting some rain the next day we packed up early to make the most of the sun. The whole morning was spent gradually climbing and with the clouds progressively getting bigger and darker we were thinking it will be a long ride in the wet again. To our surprise after our lunch break in the tourist mecca of Strbské Pleso we were treated to sunny skies and about 40km of descent and a tail wind almost all the way to a pleasant campsite along the edge of the Váh River. Good job Slovakia.

On our journey out towards Vrutky we noticed the temperature slowly increasing on us. Our route passed by a glassy lake so it was only appropriate to stop for a refreshing swim. We enjoyed secluded valleys, quant little villages, outrageously steep climbs and descents, castles set in rock cliffs and even treated to some local festival music.

At Vrutky we decided to jump on the train to Bratislava. We were a bit more prepared with the bikes this time and were even helped by the train staff. The bikes and gear were easily loaded into carriage 2 and then we wandered through all the carriages (nicely air conditioned thankfully) to find our seats at the end of the train in carriage 7. We shared a six seated booth with a broken aircon unit. By the time we got off at Bratislava we had probably sweated just as much as if we had ridden. The temperature had sky rocketed since the mountains and we were unpleasantly enjoying 37°C heat. We headed for our campsite about 5km out on the edge of the city, sought shade, set up the tent, then headed straight for the neighbouring lake - relief.

Train time

New bike

We had a couple of days in Bratislava taking in the sights of town, finding air-conditioned museums and malls to walk through and swimming in the lake at the campsite at most opportunities we got. It seemed our plagued summer of thunderstorms had passed and now it was sun. However, we would hate to be fussy but it was too much sun. Sleeping in the tent was becoming unbearable so we had taken to cold showers before bed and draping a wet towels over us. It provided minimal relief and it wasn't until the early hours of the morning when the temperature would finally drop in the tent that you could achieve a few hours of sound sleep.

View from the clock tower

Trying to recover after nearly melting. Calvin decided his body is made for colder climates.

Although a brief visit, Slovakia had been a nice change from Poland. There were many great camping sites and more natural scenic beauty to take in and lakes to swim in. It also saw the end of one of our bike locks as the key lock barrel seized and we were almost stuck with the dilemma of cutting down a tree to free our bikes and then having to ride locked together which would be have been tricky. Luckily the lock came free and was promptly binned.

Warsaw to Slovakia

We had been looking forward to this break for weeks. A chance to stop for a few days and enjoy good food and good company.

Warsaw was a very busy city, and the old town was jammed pack full of tourists. But it was a great place to explore on foot. Anita calculated for us that we averaged 20000 steps a day, except the final day when we only achieved 15000, a little disappointing.

We spent three days catching up with Anita, touring the old town, watching a multimedia fountain light show, eating loads of Polish food, and learning about both the Holocaust and post-war communist Poland. We also tried to learn about the Polish Uprising but failed as we all got completely bamboozled and lost in the poorly laid out, mishmash of information and massively over crowded Uprising Museum. The Guinness Cake that was carefully flown in from Edinburgh was definitely a highlight and a great way to celebrate all three of our birthdays even if they had already passed.

Oh my God we're in Warsaw!

Yes, Warsaw!

As our visas are so short for Europe, we decided to train from Warsaw to Krakow. Getting tickets for the train, with our bicycles, was a breeze compared to the effort of getting on the train itself. As the train approached Calvin was quick to identify the carriage for bicycles. We wheeled our bicycles to the door, lugged them on board and realised there was no room, we were wedged between the door and a man with two huge suitcases so couldn't get our bikes to the bicycle racks. To make matters worse it meant we were not blocking the thoroughfare and a elderly couple 'tsk'd us as they wanted to pass through. We unloaded our bikes, removed the panniers and tried again. This time the man with the suitcases moved for us - very slowly - and feeling frazzled Kate followed Calvin on a little too soon only to be growled by the unhelpful conductor for blocking the doorway. Finally bikes were on, bags were on, and after booting people out of our seats, we were on. Getting off was much easier as we were the last stop and just waited for everyone else to disembark before attempting it ourselves.

No more Guinness cake

Arriving in Krakow we cycled through the old town, past the castle and down the river to the nearest campground only to find that it was full. We quickly found cheap last minute apartment accommodation online and settled ourselves in for a relaxing two nights in Krakow. This was a brilliant town to walk around, and despite the intense heat we made it out to the Krakus mound to get a 360 view of the area.

Krakow castle in the evening light

Our ride out of Krakow detoured passed Schindlers factory and the Plaszow Hard Labour Camp. We then headed through endless suburbia situated on steep rolling hills. We climbed and we coasted until midday when we arrivd at the only campground we could find within a reasonable riding distance of Krakow. Once again it didn't exist so we cycled on through the afternoon to another Agroturistica with views over the high rolling hills.

The benefits of biking when the road runs out

The next day we followed a river upstream towards some pretty big hills. As we started to climb we were approached from behind by a Polish cyclists who joined us for the climb. He was on holiday for a week and as he was suffering from a running injury he had taken to the bike and was doing good long day trips that took on multiple mountains each day from his home. When we hit our turnoff we waved him goodbye as he continued to climb the remaining 500m to his first if several mountains for the day. We were a little envious, but we happily rolled down the long, steep incline to our campground beside the river.

This part of Poland reminded us of some of the small, remote Mongolian villages we had ridden through. The streets were higgilty piggilty and arranged in no particular order, and it was impossible to find any stores although everyone insisted they were there. After attempting to find a restaurant for dinner - a wee treat to ourselves - we gave up and headed back to the campground and had fries and 'casserole' (also known as cheese and mushrooms with sauce on a toasted baguette) and a beer from the little cafe provided.

Our final day in Poland had us riding in to the Tatra Mountains, and taking on our longest climb yet. It went on and on and on. Finally after reaching the top and enjoying a small downhill we turned off to make our way to Morskie Oko, a picturesque lake nestled 10km into the mountains. One kilometre in and we hit a gate. Turns out you can only walk or take a horse and cart for the remaining 9km up to the lake, no vehicles are allowed on the road. 30,000 people had walked it the previous day which explained the huge number of parked cars and buses we had passed during the day and the overflowing carpark at the gate. We had planned on staying at a campground on route up to the lake, but we weren't keen on lugging our gear and bikes up so we sat down had some coffees, pizza and a jacket potato before turning around and making our way to the Slovakian border, much easier.

Into the Tatra Mountains

Slovenia... no Slovakia!

Our final task before leaving Poland was to use all our remaining złotys. We didn't really have enough to buy anything useful or tasty so Kate approached some travels and offered them our last coins. They were a little confused and bewildered but happy with their end result!