I never got around to doing yesterdays blog, so I’ll put it in this one. 

Yesterday we headed off to find a walk to some glacial lakes. But we didn’t get far. The direction Google was taking us took us to to a forest road which was closed off to traffic. So we backtracked as far as our camping spot, and decided to stay another day. It was a nice spot, with a toilet, so we thought why not. So we basically did nothing all day.

But today it was time to move on. We tried to find the walk to the glacial lakes, but again, it took us to a forestry road. Apparently you can drive down them, but there are huge fines if you get caught. We decided not to take the chance. So we the turned around and back tracked to go a different way. 

Then we turned off onto a rutted and pot-holed road. Not gravel, just really bad tarmac. This was a very uncomfortable drive for about ten minutes when we finally arrived at the parking for the walk.

Even though it was hot, I put my longs on and a long sleeved top, not wanting to get attacked by mozzies or ticks. Mike did not. About ten minutes into the walk it became overgrown with stinging nettles, so Mike decided to go back to the car to put on his longs. I waited for him in a shelter. It was quite neat. They had free wood to use, and a fireplace which looked like a pizza oven. And even a smaller oven and hob. It would be a great spot for hikers travelling through.

When Mike came back, we ate our sandwiches there and continued on our walk. But it got even more overgrown and muddy. It was not enjoyable. Abort. Abort. I said. It’s becoming a saying. So we turned around and aborted the walk. It was supposed to be a 3 hour walk, and I wasn’t going to be bush bashing it all the way. We are the worst tourists!

So we headed on, not sure where to go. We decided Slovakia might be a good idea for a change of scene. We crossed the border, took some photos, and realised the scenery hadn’t changed much at all. But it was weird how all the signs were now in Russian. And we saw a Russian tank.

We stopped off and had a look at a UNESCO-listed church, which was pretty fancy, wooden and old. In fact, it’s the oldest and best-preserved wooden church in Slovakia, crafted entirely from red spruce, with no metal nails used in its construction. The interior has early 19th century wall paintings and Gothic panel art. It was quaint, but fancy.

Then we visited another UNESCO-listed old town called Bardejov. It also had a fancy church, the type you might see on the cover of a fantasy book, and coloured buildings around the square. We wanted to have dinner in town, but the choices were pizza or burgers, and we didn’t fancy either, so we opted for a beer overlooking the old town. We thought about staying in the carpark for the night, but didn’t really fancy it. So we headed off to look for a parking spot for the night. 

It was then I realised I was heading the wrong way and back towards Poland. I know we don’t really have a plan, but the vague plan is to head west towards the Czech republic on our way back to England. So we turned around and started our hunt for our camping spot for the night. We no longer have the safety net of the midnight sun to look for spots as it now gets dark at 8.45pm. And it was now 6.30pm.

So we didn’t muck around. We checked out a few spots heading west but they were no good. Finally, about 8pm, we found a nice spot by an abandoned castle ruins. We stopped and watched the sun set over the river from the castle. It was pretty surreal.