Praha to Zakopane

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Djen Dobri from Polska!! Although I said that the Czech Republic was my favorite country of the trip so far, it has been far surpassed by Poland, but who knows, maybe every new country we cycle into will be better then the last? Slovakia will have a lot to live up to...

But enough about Poland for now, this blog must start where the last one finished, in Praha. After an annoying and expensive afternoon on computers doing the last blog and making a mess of downloading photos form the camera on a Czech language PC (we succeeded in copying the files but corrupted our memory card in the process - now sorted thankfully - but the CD with the files on it has a habit of crashing any PC you put it into!!) we spent a last evening wandering the streets, admiring the city at its best in beautiful evening light (see extra photos on the last entry) before returning to our campsite in an attempt to get an early start the next day. This was thwarted however by the discovery as we were leaving that our CatEye cycle computer had stopped working - flat battery or so we thought, even though it should last for 2-3 years. After a diversion to the nearest cycle shop we discovered the whole thing was broken as a new battery could not revive it! We bought a cheaper, and thus far more reliable, german model as a replacement. I cannot slag off CatEye enough - this is the second one of their products that has failed us - the first being a front lamp that would "last forever" according to the packaging and the guy who sold it to me. Well it lasted as far as Sussex where I had to dismantle it and re-solder the connections in order to get it to work again. Anyaway, enough product ranting, a new computer bought and fitted we headed east out of Prague, well we did after eventually finding the wrong road but one that went roughly the right way! (New roads being built everywhere, dodgy maps...).

The flat central plain of the Czech Republic stretched out before us once we were clear of the city and we made good progress despite a hot sun. The flat plains are mostly agricultural, and by central European standards (I now realise) quite intensive, that said there were hares eveywhere and the fields and verges are lined with wildlfowers and abundant birds - mostly the kind that are in decline everwhere in western Europe and Britain. We ended up cycling late into the evening in nice light on empty backroads until we found a wood to camp in. This pattern ended up repeating itself across the rest of the Czech Republic - later starts than planned and then cycling late into the evening in an attempt to find a decent free campsite. After doing some maths in Praha and realising we were overspending our budget we resolved to cycle out of the country with the money we had left on us, which meant trying to get by on about 5 pounds a day (especially after being forced to buy a new computer). We manged this quite well however, despite taking a day longer than planned. On the second day we were delayed by melting roads - at a water stop Erika wailed "I'm stuck!" and we realised we had been leaving tyres treads and footprints in the soft tarmac. After Erika managed to remove her foot from the road we pressed on but a sudden puncture forced us to stop once again, in a small village at the communal outdoor table on the green. Whilst replacing the punctured tube I noticed a worrying bulge in my rear tyre and so swapped it with the front one. I also noticed a worrying small dent on the outer edge of my rear rim. An old man emerged from his house to collect the beer and wine bottles left lying around the table and then when he saw the grease we were covered in invited us into his house to wash our hands (and in my case my face too!). Once back on the road we had to speed to the next town for fear of the shops all being shut, but fortunately made it just in time.

The following day we started to enter the hills, and the forests closed in around us, as did the weather. We stopped for lunch in the square of a beautiful small town where I used the fountain to repair my punctured inner tube from the day before. Whilst eating our lunch we could see an approaching storm, and looked around for some shelter. After spotting where to retreat to we watched as everyone else went about there business as usual. I started to think the storm would miss us as the two old guys sat at the bench opposite, who looked like they lived there, did not seem at all bothered. At the first few drops of rain we headed for a large covered shop front. About a minute later the sky let rip and half the town joined us, including the two old blokes who had reluctanlty evacuated their bench. The torrent kept easing off enough for some to make a dash elsewhere only for it to pick up again and new faces would dive under for cover. After about an hour and half it finally eased off and we decided to cycle onwards, but we caught up with the rain about 2 miles out of otown at the start of a monster hill climb. We pushed on through the rain, getting soaked but it was not cold even though only wearing cycle shorts and t-shirts. The forested hills were shrouded in mist and clouds and lit up by lightening flashes, but all of this made us cycle onwards even faster. We camped in a forest about half way up the highest pass of the journey so far (871m) and just as we had found a flat, sheltered spot the rain stopped! The next morning I had to attend to my rear deraillieur as the chain had been skipping and jumping around on the way up he hill in the rain the night before. After half an hour of only making things worse I remembered the photocopies Gareth had given us before we left Kendal, and 10 minutes later had a perfectly functioning set of gears again! Thanks mate - and cheers for the wooden spatula too! After cresting the pass in drizzle we made a speedy ride downhill all the way to Opava in rapidly improving weather. On entering the city I took a left turn towards all the supermarkets and Ostrava (the road we needed out of town), certain that Erika had seen me turn off. Just to make sure I stopped to wait but, failing to get my right foot out of the toe-clip, promptly made a comedy sideways fall onto the pavement. After getting up, checking the bike and my leg for damage and finding only wounded pride I then realised Erika was nowhere to be seen. Cycling back up the hill past the crowd of young boys who had gatthered to laugh at me I realised she had gone straight on... We eventually found each other, got our shopping and found a nice wood for out last camp in Czech. Realising the forest was being worked (we camped beside a tree that had just been felled earlier that day) we decided to get up and away early, thinking the foresters would not start before 7 at the earliest. We woke at 6.20 to the sound of chainsaws nearby, and emerging from the tent saw the foresters working only 50m or so away. They had clearly seen us but did not seem at all bothered that we were camped there! We made a sharp exit anyway and had breakfast a couple of miles down the road, before taking the windiest, most hilly route possible to the Polish border in an effort to avoid the main road (it took a day to cover a distance that should have taken about half a day!).

We were a bit sad to leave the Czech Rep. as it had been our favourite country. People use their land really well; grow potatoes under the trees in their orchards, everything is farmed in strips on rotation and one year is grown clover or vetch along with lots of other wild flowers. People drive battered old skodas but they actually look quite cool and it is good that they keep them running for so long (though the exhaust fumes arent so nice...). How the country has escaped Bush & Blairs' war on terror I do not know - Semtex is freely available for sale everywhere and there are massive roadside adverts for it everywhere. It took me a while to realise this is an energy drink (like Red Bull) and not the plastic explosive...

We arrived in Cesky Tesin and spent our last Czech money before crossing the river into Poland and the other half of the town, called Cieszyn. Cycling up the main street looking for a bank we were amazed at the crowds of people all dressed up, Ok so its Friday night but the place was heaving! Then we realised there is a massive, Sesiwn Fawr style free music festival happening in the main square. This discovery, combined with our tired legs, was enough to make us stay and we found a cheap campsite on the edge of town, got a shower, and headed back for a party. Now Czech beer is very nice and very cheap. Polish beer is just as tasty, just as cheap but half as strong again! Cieszyn is home to a big brewery and the beer (Brackie) was the main sponsor of the festival...nuff said I think. Despite the streets being full of very drunk people from two different countries there was no trouble at all. A bit hungover the next morning we had a lazy day but did manage to sort our camera out at a much nicer (and cheaper) internet cafe than the one we used in Praha. The headline act on Saturday were a band called Electryczne Gitary who were very good and must be very popular in Poland as the entire square was singing every word of every song - no idea what any of it was about though and didnt really care after a few Brackie's. I did make some sketchy WAV recordings but there is no sound file attachement here so I cant let you hear them. The lead singer looked a bit like Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits but they were much better.

The next day we decided we had better make up for the lost progress and head out of town, despite a late start from another hangover. This plan was thwarted when a friendly Polish guy approached me outside the supermarket while Erika was getting lunch. Explaining I didnt understand in my best Polish he then asked me where I was from in impecaable English and introduced himself as Tomek. He is also a cyclist and had just come back from a 4 month tour of Pakistan and India, travelling overland by bus from Poland through Trurkey and Iran. He offered to give us info on places to stay in Tehran and Lahore etc. and we offered to share our lunch, we then went with him to the park where he was going to photograph some historical re-enactemnt part of the festival and met his friend Robert "the Terminator" ('cos he really does look like Arnold Swarzenegger). They are both so nice, freindly and helpful and Tomek invites us to stay at his house in Skoczow that night, which we gladly accept. We cycle to Skoczow with them along an 'under construction' motorway with no traffic and arrive at Tomek's flat where he lives with his parents. His mother kindly makes us lots of nice food and then Tomek and Robert take us to the hill overlooking the town to the see the view at night. The next day they also give us a guided tour of the town and then cycle with us for 20 miles or so into the hills, showing us a mountian pass not on our map and a good place to camp in the hills. We are so lucky to have met them, but Tomek says he is lucky to have met us and be able to help us on our travels!!. Thank you both so much as I know you will be reading this. One day when we are back in Scotland or where-ever I hope you can visit us and we can return your hospitality. This is part of what has made Poland our favourite country, and is part of what makes travelling in general so great - something we had kind of forgotten while hiding out in woods like fugititves!

That night after saying farewell to Tomek and Robert we find a beautiful camp high in the hills with an awesome view down towards Szczyrk and the lake by Zywiec (where another famous beer comes from...). Just as we are putting up the tent a shepherd appears with some goats and sheep, and thinking he might move us on are amazed when, after some sketchy enlglish/german/polish/sign-language conversation we realise he is inviting us to camp down by his house and use his toilets etc. We reluctanlty decline as it was an effort to push our laden bikes this far up the hill but are amazed by Polish hospitality once again!

The next day we wake early due to a scorching hot sun on the tent and cycle down and down to Zywiec and then around the lake and north down a beautiful river valley wedged between steep forested hills; Southern Poland really is fanatastic, just like the alpine foothills of the Black Forest but less busy and less touristy, although this is a tourist centre of the country. I was going to urge people to come here but then that might spoil all that is good about it... That said EU membership seems to be encouraging a flood of new building and expansion of guesthouses etc. as well as road widening and new roads, so maybe you should come now before it is too late... We leave the hills behind abruptly and cylce north across a flat plain to Oswiecim - a nice Polish town but called Auschwitz by the Nazis and home to the notorious concentration and death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Although this kind of a strange tourist destination and not really a nice place to visit it is a place I think everbody should come to. It is not easy to describe the experience - sobering, chilling, thought provoking, and many other feelings that there are not suitable adjectives for. We had planned to stop for an hour or so thinking it is a place we would not wish to linger, but spent 5 hours there and only left as it was getting dark and they were ushering us out. I had not fully appreciated the scale of the operations carried out here or the level of cold, malicious planning that had gone into them, or how much Poland and the Polish people themselves had suffered here. We all know the numbers and statistics from history books but it is hard to imagine what they mean in reality - even when you are here. But seeing the small fragments of the stockpiles of shoes, clothes, human hair etc. that were harvested and hoarded from prisoners and corpses goes some way to bringing these numbers to life. What had the greatest effect on me were the lines and lines of pictures taken of prisoners by the Nazis which are displayed in the museum, and the varied expressions (between open fear, subdued defiance and complete loss of emotion and life) on their faces. That and the main gate on the railway siding at Birkenau, through which you now enter the camp but through which millions passed never to return....
I must however explode the myth that "even the birds are silent still". At Auschwitz 1 there were many birds flying around and hopping about, cheaping way. There was even a black redstart inside the gas chamber/crematorium building. At Birkenau I heard at least 3 different species of bird singing; flowers bloom and hares run between the barrack buildings. It might be nice to think that man's most despicable crimes against man would have a lasting affect on other lfe, but I prefer to admire the fact that nature carries on regardless. One day mankind will probably succeed in annihilating itself, but hopefully life will continue without us...

"....unlimited, however, are the moral and physical powers that man has within him"
Jozeph Garlinsky - Auschwitz inmate number 121421 (and a survivor)

"..have no fear for atomic energy, because none of them can stop time..." Bob Marley


Though this would be a poignant place to end this blog our journey continued, and after leaving Oswiecim after dark as a full moon rose on the shortest night, we followed potholed Polish roads in the dark (not fun, especially without proper front lights) to find a wood to camp in, before continuing onto Krakow the following day. Krakow is amazing and probably my favourite city so far as it less 'in-your-face' than Praha and does not have the boozy tourists that Praha seems to attract (no Easy Jet flights here...). The square in the old city claims to be the largest medieval square in central Europe and it is massive, we arrived to coincide with a festival of folk music and dancing, complete with fancy costumes from all over Poland and beyond. When this got too mcuh we took a wander around the old city, admired the inside and outside of St Marys basililca, the old city walls, and Wawel cathedral and castle on Wawel hill overlooking the Wisl(w)a river. The Jewish quarter of Kazimierz (once a ghetto during WW2 and where Schindler's List was set (and where the story actually happened)) is coming to life again with lots of street markets, bars and cafe's and a thriving music scene. Wawel hill was once home to dragon called Smok (sound familiar?) but was acquired by Prince Krak (who founded the city) after he "outwitted" the dragon (sound familiar again? - I imagine a Bilbo Baggins style riddle contest going on...).

After tearing ourselves away from the city and after riding East for so long we turned due south toward Zakopane and the hills on a scorching day. Riding through rolling hills and woods past people making hay with scythes, forks and horses and carts we entered the Raba valley, which is my idea of paradise. Small villages on unpaved backroads; nobody in a hurry; men, women and children all gathering hay, and toward the end of the day just sipping beers in the sun or shade before heading to the river for a swim - which is exactly what we did. Finding a nice quiet stretch of river we swam, washed, did our laundry, admired golden orioles (bright yellow bird) washing in the river too, then pitched our tent and lit a campfire for the evening, while fireflys buzzed around us and a hobby (falcon) cruised overhead. As it went dark it got cooler but the fire kept us warm, the moon rose through the trees and we listened to large bats echo-locating up and down the river. I can't imagine a nicer camp than this...

The next day we pushed further south to Zakopane at the foot of the High Tatra, a town nestled right underneath huge walls of vertical rock. We are now re-charging before heading into the hills for some walking/climbing and hopefully an encounter with the 20 or so bears that live there... Sadly now both my wheels are showing signs of warped rims (despite Poland being great its roads are the worst so far), we need new brake blocks and are proabably overdue for new chains on the bikes, so it is to the bikeshop tomorrow for spares and a service.

Will our wheels make it? , will we be eaten by bears? Find out in the next episode.... (well not if the latter happens).

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Photos

Open Road Polski style
Erika & our new friend Tomek riding one of Poland's excellent cylce paths (actually a new toll road under construction)

Boy, Girl, Machine
Tomek, Erika & Robert "the Terminator" on top of the pass to Szczyrk

Paradise Valley
Beside the Raba river between Krakow and Zakopane

Town House Tower
In Rynek Glowny (main square) in olde city, Krakow