September 20 A Day in Slovakia
We awoke yet again to the sound of rain on the roof. In fact, it had rained all night. This forced us to cancel our hiking and rafting plans and thus to say goodbye to Poland. We ate in the campground restaurant (complimentary buffet breakfast consisting of deviled eggs, tomato, lots of bread and cheese, sardines, coffee and tea. After breakfast we readied Gracie for departure. This involves some or all of the following: emptying the CH (chemical toilet), unplugging and coiling the electrical cord, taking on water, if needed and dumping gray water, if necessary. Today we merely emptied the CH, unplugged and left. Of course we paid first; 34 zloty, which is a good deal.
I do believe that one can't believe everything they read and today I confirmed that belief. Our very reputable guide book, a 2008 edition, told us that we might have to show passports when crossing into Slovakia and that we had better be prepared to show proof of insurance for the vehicle. Three kimometers from the campground we found ourselves passing a sign that said Slovakia. There were no gates or guards or anyone else for that matter. In fact, no one was interested in seeing our passport. We stopped at the first gas station and filled Gracie with diesel. The total cost 1,945. 54 SK for approximately 50 litres. That translates into about 200 Polish zloty or about 60 Euro. It felt so strange to be giving a store clerk a bill with 100 on it for some chocolate and gum.
Slovakia is a beautiful country....very little traffic on the roads and amazing scenery. We drove up and down mountains for hours, shifting gears as I slowed down to navigate the many switchbacks. The GPS image of the road ahead often looked like a very long slithering snake. Having the GPS makes it so easy to see what is coming up. We saw snow on the mountain tops, stopped and visited a 13th century castle and oohed and aahed our way through the mountain range. The rain stopped and we even saw a hint of sunshine for about 30 minutes.
When it was time to stop we discovered that the site where we planned to stay was closed. Digging out the map, we scanned the road we were on for a red triangle that indicates camp site. Seeing two we quickly reprogrammed Lori and asked her to take us a little further along. Unfortunately the next two sites were closed too. By this time I was getting rather weary. After having driven about six hours, my eyes were dry, my back was getting sore and it was getting dark. Eventually, we ended up in Kocice, where the man at the reception spoke some English and quickly pointed us to our site. We plugged in and heaved a hugh sigh of relief as the sun set for the day and darkness surrounded us.
During the drive today we commented on the extremes we saw in this country. We saw affluence and we saw extreme poverty, we saw mountains with snow and we saw valleys, we saw a young person talking on her cell phone at a bus stops and an old women with a scarf tie
d around her head wearing rubber boots, picking potatoes in a field, we traveled on very rough roads and on new highways, we saw very old delipated factories and a new, huge American Steel Factory. I am so glad that we drove through Slovakia today.
Just one more thing before we leave Slovakia...the Roma or the Gypsies as they are sometimes called live in both Slovakia and Hungary. It is thought that they migrated from India and have been living in Europe for centuries. This minority has suffered and continues to suffer discrimination...inadequate housing, and lack of access to jobs and education. While taking a wrong road in Slovakia we came upon an old cluster of apartment buildings, far away from the town, almost in the middle of nowhere. (These old high rises are leftovers from communist days.) The cement was falling off, there was evidence of recent fires and we could not see any lights on or power lines of any kind going to any of the buildings. There were a few old cars in the area and a dump. As we drove by, looking for a place to turn around, we saw a woman heading for one of the buildings carrying one log, cradling it like it was a child. I am assuming that it was her heat for the night. We also saw very raggedy children and a police presence in the area. I read that the plight of the Roma is beginning to generate a Europe wide outcry. There was a large conference to adderss the situation in Budapest some years ago and some say that the Roma are slowly on the path to an improved socioeconomic status. It all sounds too familiar.
Tomorrow we head for Budapest.
Distance traveled today: 338 kilometers in 7 hours.
We awoke yet again to the sound of rain on the roof. In fact, it had rained all night. This forced us to cancel our hiking and rafting plans and thus to say goodbye to Poland. We ate in the campground restaurant (complimentary buffet breakfast consisting of deviled eggs, tomato, lots of bread and cheese, sardines, coffee and tea. After breakfast we readied Gracie for departure. This involves some or all of the following: emptying the CH (chemical toilet), unplugging and coiling the electrical cord, taking on water, if needed and dumping gray water, if necessary. Today we merely emptied the CH, unplugged and left. Of course we paid first; 34 zloty, which is a good deal.
I do believe that one can't believe everything they read and today I confirmed that belief. Our very reputable guide book, a 2008 edition, told us that we might have to show passports when crossing into Slovakia and that we had better be prepared to show proof of insurance for the vehicle. Three kimometers from the campground we found ourselves passing a sign that said Slovakia. There were no gates or guards or anyone else for that matter. In fact, no one was interested in seeing our passport. We stopped at the first gas station and filled Gracie with diesel. The total cost 1,945. 54 SK for approximately 50 litres. That translates into about 200 Polish zloty or about 60 Euro. It felt so strange to be giving a store clerk a bill with 100 on it for some chocolate and gum.
Slovakia is a beautiful country....very little traffic on the roads and amazing scenery. We drove up and down mountains for hours, shifting gears as I slowed down to navigate the many switchbacks. The GPS image of the road ahead often looked like a very long slithering snake. Having the GPS makes it so easy to see what is coming up. We saw snow on the mountain tops, stopped and visited a 13th century castle and oohed and aahed our way through the mountain range. The rain stopped and we even saw a hint of sunshine for about 30 minutes.
When it was time to stop we discovered that the site where we planned to stay was closed. Digging out the map, we scanned the road we were on for a red triangle that indicates camp site. Seeing two we quickly reprogrammed Lori and asked her to take us a little further along. Unfortunately the next two sites were closed too. By this time I was getting rather weary. After having driven about six hours, my eyes were dry, my back was getting sore and it was getting dark. Eventually, we ended up in Kocice, where the man at the reception spoke some English and quickly pointed us to our site. We plugged in and heaved a hugh sigh of relief as the sun set for the day and darkness surrounded us.
During the drive today we commented on the extremes we saw in this country. We saw affluence and we saw extreme poverty, we saw mountains with snow and we saw valleys, we saw a young person talking on her cell phone at a bus stops and an old women with a scarf tie
d around her head wearing rubber boots, picking potatoes in a field, we traveled on very rough roads and on new highways, we saw very old delipated factories and a new, huge American Steel Factory. I am so glad that we drove through Slovakia today.Just one more thing before we leave Slovakia...the Roma or the Gypsies as they are sometimes called live in both Slovakia and Hungary. It is thought that they migrated from India and have been living in Europe for centuries. This minority has suffered and continues to suffer discrimination...inadequate housing, and lack of access to jobs and education. While taking a wrong road in Slovakia we came upon an old cluster of apartment buildings, far away from the town, almost in the middle of nowhere. (These old high rises are leftovers from communist days.) The cement was falling off, there was evidence of recent fires and we could not see any lights on or power lines of any kind going to any of the buildings. There were a few old cars in the area and a dump. As we drove by, looking for a place to turn around, we saw a woman heading for one of the buildings carrying one log, cradling it like it was a child. I am assuming that it was her heat for the night. We also saw very raggedy children and a police presence in the area. I read that the plight of the Roma is beginning to generate a Europe wide outcry. There was a large conference to adderss the situation in Budapest some years ago and some say that the Roma are slowly on the path to an improved socioeconomic status. It all sounds too familiar.
Tomorrow we head for Budapest.
Distance traveled today: 338 kilometers in 7 hours.
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