Kaszuby: sand, lakes and a dodgy boat

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Kaszuby

Kaszuby (or Kashubia)...a beautiful and relatively unknown part of northern Poland. Entire hills are made of sand, clothed in thick woodland and peppered with deep lakes. An area renowned for its tranquillity, and home to the Kaszubs, a people with their own language and culture, separate from Polish. Also, like many other parts of Poland, murderous drivers.

Białystok - Gdynia - Kaszuby

Getting from Bialystok to Kasubia is fairly straight forward, but takes a long time all day to go from north east Poland to northern Poland. As the more direct route was not convenient we went via Warsaw. We hopped off at Wschodnia (East) station to buy a pair of slippers, gauged the entertainment on offer for the next hour - and promptly got back on the same train again just before it left for Centralna station.

Our train to Gdynia was busy - it was coming from Kraków and going onto to Kołobrzeg, further along the coast, so even in first class the compartment was full. Still, it was a cheapy train and to do 300 miles or so for 30 quid first class isn’t too bad - you’ll just about manage Leeds to Manchester for that. With both of engrossed in our books, the journey went fairly quickly... albeit with Russian brat down the corridor making its presence felt, and the fact others in the compartment kept the door open, and not wanting the window open a crack (what is it with old ladies?): goodbye fresh air and hello noisy squawk. At Tczew the railway crossed the Vistula by means of a huge bridge and we saw lot of people watching the river there; the banks of the rising river were lined with sandbags - the floods in the south were coming downstream a week later.

We got to Gdynia, and were told by Radek on the phone that we had a lift arranged from our hosts in Wiezyca, and so we got to complete the last part of the journey by car. It wasn’t really necessary, but we didn’t want to refuse our host.

Wieżyca

Next day set out to explore our surroundings. Wieżyca is actually fairly high up, and on a rather odd railway. This railway goes from Gdynia on the coast down to Kościerzyna and Bydgoszcz. But with lots of low lying land around, it picks the highest and steepest bit to go through - the (somewhat generously called) Kashubian Switzerland. Not good for big heavy freight trains. But because of a quirk of history in the inter war years, there was a slice of land running up to the coast, ceded to Poland from Germany, giving Poland back access to the Baltic coast. As a result, with Gdańsk in German territory Poland needed their own port and built a brand new one in Gdynia. They also needed a railway to serve it from the rest of Poland too, and access through the Polish corridor was through this hilly terrain, and so the line to Kościerzyna was constructed.

Fifteen years ago, when we lived in Poland, the line was brought to our attention because we read about someone in Polish Railways who had the inspiration to run steam trains plus bike carriages for 100 bikes (or kayaks or skis) on a normal timetabled train at weekends. I thought that as we were engaged in a railway project at the time, it was well worth the tip up from Kraków to meet this fellow - and so we met Radek for the first time. Now just a secondary line for commuters the railway was seeing a bit more activity during our visit - the long awaited rebuild of the line to Gdańsk meant some diversions of freight trains through Wieżyca.

We spent a day walking down to Orzyce and the lake around there. By now we were acquainted with the local driving style in and around this part of Kaszuby: Murderous. Two occasions of downright appalling driving in 12 hours - one van coming off the road nearly hitting Kasia because he couldn’t be bothered to slow for an approaching car, the next was two cars passing each other, me walking, and an elderly bloke on his bike - at 70mph on a narrow road. I wondered if it was the combination of rich commuters and white van men from the numerous construction sites in the area. Whatever, it makes me think twice about taking a cycle tour in Poland!

Another trip took us down to Babi Doł, which is a steep sided valley. We staggered around trying to find a way to the blue trail from Babi Doł's tiny railway station and ended up meeting some kayakers on the river - but not the path. So after finding a nice bit of concrete to perambulate along (back near the station as I found out later), we hit the trail further down and started on it properly. We passed some kids with a teacher - one small girl shouting gleefully that they had finally hit tarmac. "Huh!" thought I in an aloof manner, thinking the child did not appreciate a bit of woodland countryside. After about the 60th collapsed tree to clamber over, it dawned on me why this small child had expressed a degree of relief. After 6 or 7 miles of this I began to not only feel like that small child but was pretty impressed they managed the trip! The entire length of the path was crossed by fallen trees - in the steep river banks the sand simply gave way. That's the weird thing about Kaszuby, like other hills in northern Poland, the hills and slope are simply a large dump of sand. Somewhere deep down there is some actual rock, but you'll need a big drill to find it.

We emerged from the river valley near the town of Żukowo, where as I'd predicted, there was a nice new pavement along the road - no doubt part funded by EU grants. Even better, with drizzle in the air we spied a bus stop, which got us into Żukowo and in time for a doughy pizza, to be finished off with a sweeter pastry and coffee at the next door bakery. By the time we headed for the railway station, the rain had switched on properly, and so our journey back looking at where we had been was seen through misted windows.

The next day we decided to go for a different activity kayaking. Our host recommended a business by the lake in Orszyce and so armed with a map we pedaled off on borrowed bikes. We reached Orszyzce but couldn't find the place, so I spotted a nice sign indicating the availability of kayaks for hire. The bloke running it was rather elderly and a little frail.

We set off, a bit uncertainly and soon found it difficult to control. At first I thought it was my lack of experience but after a bit of drifting and watching the kayak circle around of its own accord it dawned on us we had a duff boat. We zig-zagged up the lake towards a nice isolated island, and just as we got to the jetty we were greeted by the buzz of a chainsaw, so decided that this idyll wasn’t quite what it seemed. So we paddled back, via a few artistic and involuntary circles and dumped the kayak back at the old bloke's. We pedalled back to Wieżyca.

In the late afternoon we headed up Wieżyca hill. Wieżyca also has the distinction of being the highest point in northern Poland with the hill of the same name reaching a dizzying 328m which, to Yorkshire folk, means ¾ the way up Ilkley Moor. Unlike Ilkley Moor, Wieżyca hill is covered in trees, so instead of lots of sheep, occasional fires and feudal attempts to bring back grouse shooting (oops bit of local politics, sorry), there is a tall viewing platform overlooking the treetops and all the landscape around. We paid a small fee to go up the steps to the platform and waited for a large group of shrieking teenagers to head down. The view is worth the fee, absolutely brilliant. We then went back via the village of Szymbark to pick up some provisions and headed down the hill to Wieżyca.

The last day we had a half day before catching a series of trains to Poznan and then on to the Netherlands. We headed up Patulskie Lake to Gołubie, a short ride for the morning. We poked about the botanic gardens and headed back nicely on time - until Kasia got a puncture. Part of the bike route had been blocked off by some dodgy lakeside development, and so we had been forced to walk alongside the railway, possibly there the bike tyre had picked up a thorn. So it was a bit nervy, - an hour or so before our train and a puncture! Fortunately we pushed/pedaled the last mile go get back in time otherwise it would have been very complicated!

The long journey home

We managed to catch the train, a busy little railcar trundling down to Kościerzyna. We hopped onto a smaller, older and hotter railcar, which did a reasonable attempt at providing the passenger with the experience of travelling inside a mobile biscuit tin. This ran through some very sandy spaces, in some cases just sand with pine trees poking up, punctuated by small lakes and some fields, which also looked decidedly sandy. We passed deer and a fox as we swayed along to Chojnice.

Chojnice has a grand station, though the station felt it had the atmosphere of grander times of the past. We considered leaving our ruckscacks, (by now laden with choice beers from around the country) at the left luggage. But there was noone at the ticket office. There were a couple of ladies there, but far in background away from any pesky passengers! A bloke tied to (justifiability) insist that the ladies lunch time break was well and truly over, but it was to no avail - truly this station was a monument to the glorious past of Polish State Railways!

We wandered slowly into Chojnice with our rucksacks, trying to find somewhere to eat. We passed some fine old Germanic architecture, but no cafes. Traffic was light, quiet, restrained, which made a nice contrast to Białystok or Wieżyca. Eventually, we found a place doing hot food, it all out in hot dishes so we thought we could get some grub quickly. So Kasia ordered us some perogi and we sat down and …waited. We realized that we either lose the 15zł or lose our train, so had to dash out unfed.

The next train was a modern unit, which ran along the plain to Krzyż. It was a journey through the middle of nowhere (sorry - an agrarian landscape of low population density), small towns, some woods, big open fields, the land unremittingly flat. We bowled along at a steady 50-60 mph, which for secondary single track routes in Poland is pretty good. A change in Krzyż got us on our penultimate train - a fast train to Poznań.

By sheer chance, Barbara was travelling through Poznań that evening, so we met up at the station for just over an hour and had an evening meal. It was nice to relay our experiences and relax before the overnight train. We hopped on, and were soon settled on our couchette.

Next day, we arrived into the Netherlands in heavy rain. We decided to get a train out to look round Haarlem, but we were restricted to indoors by the heavy rain. The guide book-recommended veggie café had disappeared, so we found a trendy coffee bar instead for breakfast. The recommended sand dunes national park (more sand, hadn't I enough already?!) was probably best enjoyed without windblown heavy rain, so we settled on being in the town. We decided to visit a museum with lots of scientific instruments and some works of art. At 9 euros a pop, it could have done with some more interpretation. Museums are pretty pricey in the Netherlands, and even the train fare seemed a bit steep (€7 return) for the short journey from Amsterdam.

We got back to Amsterdam, and just in time for a fine thunderstorm as we queued for the ferry bus. The storm let rip just as one bus pulled away and a crowd of us waited for a second and third. The journey was fine except for a very dodgy bloke right at the front whose weird hysterical laughter made the coach driver decidedly nervous. Not great with a motorway lined with four or fives lanes full of traffic. We got on the boat with minimal hassle (unlike the zealous security on the way out!) and could chill out as we didn’t have to do anything until next morning. The best thing about arriving in Hull is that it is a short journey back home across Yorkshire!

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Photos

freight train, Wiezyca
a '42 crests the summit with a train of empty waggons heading for the coast

Orszyce
Fish cafe.

Babi Dol, river valley
unlike along the path, the trees here are vertical

Another bloody log!
Lucky on one of numerous fallen trees in Babi Dol

Wiezyca view from summit
the green canopy on Wiezyca hill

Wiezyca view from summit
looking down to Wiezyca and the railway

ho! ho!
A select shop in Chojnice

Comments

[Heather]

I really enjoyed your post about Orszyce, and the photos make it look beautiful! I've been thinking about lesser known areas of Poland to feature as a "destination of the week" on my community blog, but I haven't quite decided yet. If you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it, as we post the info to share with fellow travelers around the world. We're also looking for travel reviews, photos, etc. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email us at [e-mail]. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)