We have Never been so Close to the Bears

Back to the mountains, back to nature. Beyond Krakow, the landscape, architecture and people’s behaviour change. This is the South Poland that we had searched for in vain last year. We had thrown away our map of South Poland because we did not think we would come here again. The area is called Malopolski – Little Poland. The landscape is reminiscent of the Allgäu, the foothills of the Alps, the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is undulating and gentle rather than rough. Great views.

We cycle along the VeloDunajec into the cross-border Pieninski National Park and then across the Beskids, east of the Tatra Mountains, and we are back in Slovakia, our vacation destination of 2023. We cycle through Spisska Bela to Kezmarok and quickly book a room due to the lack of a campsite. The first supermarket has just closed its doors when we want to buy food at 6pm. We have to get used to these opening hours again. In town, we get a burger and baked cheese at Paloma. We hurry, because the waitress finishes at 9 p.m., even though the evening is so tepid.

The next stage is tough, tougher than we thought when we planned it in the morning: One hundred kilometers and two humps. After a hearty breakfast on the cycle path with a chat with passers-by who are keen to send us to the thermal baths six kilometers away, we cycle on the best asphalt through wonderfully hilly countryside in the morning sunshine. We cycle parallel to the ‘Slovak Paradise’, another one of Slovakia’s many national parks. We stop at a bus stop because the traffic is too heavy for us. Back and forth and back and forth. There it is, the alternative route. In the direction of ‘Paradise’. We pass two or three villages. We pass two Birell bars and in the last village we want to stock up. Thirsty! In vain. So we leave the road and continue on rough gravel. Soon steeply uphill, soon downhill, 17% up, we push the heavy bikes and there is no end in sight while the soup runs down our bodies. A few more deep puddles that we have to go around. Eventually we make it, and so do we. Back in civilization.

We are pretty exhausted, but still have a lot of kilometres to go. We now continue on smooth asphalt. Several meters of elevation gain await us. Then the fantastic views and the church at the side of the road have us cranking up the hairpin bends, just like on our Alpine crossings.

It is good to know that you will be arriving at a great campsite. Tomorrow is a national holiday, as we learn when we arrive at Camping Sokol. The stores are already closed. So we live on apples, plums and whatever else the garden paradise has to offer.

Impressions from the hidden Polish capital Krakow:

We spent two days in Podgorze, close to the city center, and walked our feet off in Krakow. The Market Square reminded us a lot of Sanct Markus’ Square in Venice. Here, instead of gondolas, there are canals through the city.

A flying visit to Kosice, the second largest city in eastern Slovakia, which we visit on August 29, the Slovakian public holiday:

Roma in Slovakia
Apart from the beautiful countryside, the Roma settlements through which we ride where we shop and near which we camp, remain the most impressive. Around 10% of the population in Slovakia are Roma and a large proportion “live” in run-down settlements or slums. The situation is shocking and concerns us greatly.