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Published: April 29th 2008
Vrátna dolina
View of the Fatra Mountains On Saturday, I woke up to a room flooded with warmth and light from the sun - I couldn't believe it - two whole days of such beauty! The bus took me to the Vratna Dolina Valley, which is a valley located in Mala Frata mountain region. For about 2.5 hours, I engaged in one of the most strenuous and rewarding climbs in which I have participated. The day was so beautiful and it felt so great to stretch my body that I simply could not complain, but many of my fellow climbers were not as optimistic and loudly proclaimed their displeasure. I am not sure what the term "mountain climbing" meant to them, but it seemed fairly obvious to me!
The mountains were beautiful; we followed the shortest trail, which, at the end, opened into a stunning grassy valley surrounded by snow-capped peaks and small village buildings. The scene was like something out of a dream and it was, perhaps, the most perfect time to be there. The fresh air, exercise, and fabulous sites made me feel strong and content. I would have been happy to lie in the lush grass and ponder the clouds and mountains for the
Vrátna dolina
View of the Fatra Mountains rest of the day.
Laying in the grass was not a part of our program (sadly) and off I went on my next adventure to Červený Kláštor to take a ride on a plte down the river Vah. A plte is a flat-bottomed, wooden raft that is controlled by two oar-men, one on either end. Sometimes multiple rafts will link together to ride down the river; we had three rafts (that held about 16 people each) tied, across, together and got to see some beautiful nature as well as the remains of two castles. The ride on the river took about an hour; the oar-men did not row down the river, but let the water carry us at its pace. The oars were only used to maintain our direction. The guides liked to try to frighten us with tales of how many people were lost to the water when settlers first tried to use the river to ship materials, but after having been seriously altered by dynamite, the river is quite tame and only splashed us a bit.
It is safe to say that I was quite exhausted after such a full day and happy to go to
Vrátna dolina
View of the Fatra Mountains our hostel after the raft ride. The hostel restaurant closes at 8, so we all rushed in to have the first actual meal of our day, which was again bryndzové halušky and, of course, pivo (beer). Mmmmm! As we were in the mountains, there was again not much entertainment for the evening, which again elicited a few grumbles, but I think everyone fell asleep pretty early after such a busy day!
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