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.