We had a quiet nights sleep in the city carpark, and this morning we went for a walk into the old town to have a look around.

Banská Bystrica is actually a really nice town nestled in the mountains. The Old Town was all cobblestones and colourful buildings. Fountains splashed in the square, and people sat in cafes, enjoying their morning coffee. A fancy church with twin towers rose at the end of the plaza, clearly thinking he was the star. We took a photo with a rubbish truck in front of it, just to bring it down a notch.

There was also a museum here about the Slovak National Uprising which I think would have been interesting but it wasn’t in English, so we didn’t bother. But there were some old tanks to look at and this was good enough for me.

It was lunchtime by the time we moved on. Where to? No idea. It was going to be a hot day, and I just wanted to find somewhere in the shade to stay. But it’s impossible. 

We drove a windy road through a gorge and forest, and while it was very beautiful, the car and motorbike drivers were crazy. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog how drivers overtake without caring if it’s a blind corner, a solid white line, or if a car is coming the other way. The same applies to motorbikes. We were on edge for most of the drive. One motorbike overtook us on a blind corner just as a car came around it causing a near miss. How they didn’t collide is beyond me. And the whole drive was like that.

Fun fact: Slovakia has a slightly higher population than NZ, and a lower road toll. How? I have no idea. Maybe their drivers are just more switched on.

And the impatience isn’t limited to the roads. At the supermarket, a woman came barrelling toward me with her trolley, clearly expecting me to leap out of the way. I didn’t as I was looking at something, and she huffed as she swerved past. 

Then we continued our drive up towards another castle. But this was no ordinary castle. It was a proper fairytale one. Okay, some of the others were fairytale too, but this looked more like it belonged in a Disney film than the middle of Slovakia.

The place has been rebuilt a few times over the centuries, but the current look is due to a rich Count in the 1800s, clearly going for a theatrical vibe. It might have been nice to look around, but it was a Saturday and the streets were crawling with people, so we just looked at it from the outside and headed on, along another windy road.

I am having so much trouble finding suitable camping spots in Slovakia. The last two nights have been in city carparks and we really wanted somewhere we can just sit in the shade, maybe do some washing and chill out. I  keep reminiscing of that beautiful river spot in Poland, with the friendly Polish people and their campfires and sausages. But nope, there was nowhere like that to be found, not even a camping ground.

At 6.30 I found a place overlooking a lake in a city, which was quite picturesque and we sat and chilled out in the shade for a while. But with the motorway on one side, and a train line on the other, it was quite noisy. So we packed up and drove to the Czech Republic!

Not much changed as we crossed the border. We stopped at a service station for one of their sausages (they call them hotdogs here) and considered that dinner. And we drove and drove, finally finding a carpark up on a hill with beautiful views over the countryside. It wasn’t ideal, there would be no shade in the morning, but for now, at 9pm, we considered it home.

We had a great nights sleep in the carpark in Levoca, and left around 9am, to go and visit a massive castle on the hill. Spiš Castle is one of the largest castle complexes in Central Europe, with roots dating back to the 12th century.

We were thankful to arrive early as the day was already heating up. It was a pretty cool castle, and huge!. We climbed up the narrow stairs to the tower, but thankfully these were well lit, no candle required! We spent a good 1.5 hours wandering around the castle and the walls and as we were leaving, hoards of people were coming in. In Europe, you gotta get up early (or arrive late) to avoid the crowds.

We then headed into the national park looking for shade. But all the parking spots were pay parking  and chocka block. We didn’t feel the need to go hiking with hundreds of other people, so we continued driving until we found a lovely pull off on the side of a quiet road, in the shade and overlooking the mountains. This was more like it. So we had our lunch and a little nap.

A little way up the road, past all the paid parking spots, we found another little parking spot at the start of a walk. And this one was free, and not too many people. So we went for a short hike until it looked like it was going to rain. We made it back to the car just as it pelted down.

Then we continued through the national park. The road got steeper and steeper and windier and narrower. The rain hammered down and bounced off the road like it was on a trampoline. It was a little scary, winding our way up this forest path, a steep drop off to our left and barely enough room for two cars. The road was rutted and pot-holed, with little rivers running across it. And it just went on forever with nowhere to turn even if we wanted to!

When we finally reached the top and came out of the trees it felt like a relief. Thankfully the road down was much smoother. We’ve been having a lot of trouble finding decent places to stop for the night in Slovakia. I  saw there was one at a castle carpark that had good reviews, so we headed up there. An extremely narrow and windy goat track that anything bigger than our van would struggle with. At the top, there were a whole lot of people setting up for some kind of medieval thing at the castle. They told us we couldn’t stay there. 

By 7pm, we were both getting tired. The drivers here are somehow worse than the ones in Poland. They overtake whenever they feel like it, even if someone’s coming the other way. I’ve seen a couple of near head-ons where I was sure there’d be a crash. But people just seem to accept it and get out of the way. Like today, someone overtook us with a car coming straight at them. The other driver had to brake, and Mike had to pull right off the road. They don’t care. It’s crazy. And dangerous.

Anyway, as a result of mad drivers on a Friday night, we decided to take the back roads. I can see why nobody does that now. The road was a mess, ruts, potholes, and washouts everywhere. We could have walked faster. We thought about backtracking, but there was no where to turn around. Did I mention the road was also narrow? It was pretty painful, but after a few kms we make it to a little village, and the road smoothed out and we were able to continue.

It was about 8pm when we finally found a place to camp in a carpark in a town. Neither of us felt like cooking, so we walked about 20 minutes into town and found a kebab shop.

By the time we were walking back, it was dark. I felt a bit uneasy. I didn’t know the town, and everything felt a bit too quiet. We took the path along the river, where a few homeless people were drinking and hanging around. Nothing happened, but the atmosphere felt off, so we cut back to the main roads. Thankfully, all was fine in the end, but in a new place after dark, you just never really know.

We snuck back into Bertie and settled in for the night, happy to be home.

We had a wonderful nights sleep at the castle ruins, and awoke to heavy rain. We wanted to find a canyon walk not far from here, but it turned out to be tricky.

First, we got distracted by a city which had a library. It was pissing down, so we thought it would be a good idea and use the library’s free internet to upload a video. But finding the library was a mission. Mike sent me out in the pouring lane to look. Where the library was supposed to be was a Vietnamese restaurant. Inside a sad old Soviet building were a few shops and a musty odour.

I asked a few people until someone eventually spoke English and told me where the library was. I walked up some metal steps, the sound echo-ing around me like I was in a cold-war prison. On the next floor was an electrical shop, and some really old-fashioned clothes shops. I felt like I’d stepped back in time. The only other place was what looked like an art-gallery. I stepped through the metal detector at the entrance, wondering how safe this place actually was to need them. At the end of the gallery was the library. I asked if they had internet and could we use it. Thankfully the kind lady said yes, so I went back out in the pouring rain to fetch Mike and our laptops.

After uploading the video, the rain stopped and we headed on to find our canyon walk. But when we got to the turn off, it was down a very narrow path with a steep drop. I know Bertie is an adventure van, but we weren’t taking him down there. So we went back to a parking spot we saw earlier with a beautiful view over the mountains, and had a little nap.

Afterwards, we tried to find the canyon walk a different way, but I got distracted by the storks. I’ve been obsessed with these guys. We’ve been seeing them a lot, high up in their giant nests, raising their little families. But now it’s time for the babies to leave the nest, and I really want to see them take their first practice flights. I saw one today, he’d just left the nest and was sitting on a nearby power pole. But he was just sitting there, looking worn out. I keep having little stork conversations in my head. I think there might be a story in it.

Anyway, to get to the canyon walk was impossible, so we gave up and moved on. We were navigating to another UNESCO-listed town, when I decided to take the back roads. I’m not sure this was such a good idea. As we drove through little villages in the middle of nowhere, there were a lot of people just hanging around in the road, drinking, staring, not waving back when we waved. The houses had rubbish lying around and  looked unkempt. It was a different vibe to the rest of Eastern Europe so far where everyone has been friendly, or busy working in the fields. But these people seemed to have nothing to do except stand and stare. I didn’t feel particularly safe driving through these towns, so we might keep to the main roads in future.

We eventually arrived at the unesco city we were heading for. We saw the first campervans we’d seen in weeks, so thought perhaps we were back on the tourist trail. They were from Italy, and there were two couples travelling together. We had a fun chat with them using google translate. Then we went and explored the old-town. One thing we have noticed is the lack of tourists in Slovakia. Elsewhere, a place like this would be crawling with tourists. Maybe they don’t bother to leave Bratislava.

It’s pretty much like any other town in Europe. The basilica was impressive from the outside, but was closed for the day. I think you might have to pay to look around so we probably won’t do that. Then we saw an impressive church up on the hill. It turns out it is also a free place to camp. So off we drove, up the steep and narrow road. There was a beautiful view of the city down below. But the carpark for camping, while nice, didn’t have the vibe for us. As we headed down, we passed the Italians on their way up. It would be the perfect place for them to camp as a group.

We headed back into the city, where we parked in a carpark in town (free parking). We went out for dinner, but it was pretty average food. When we got back to the car park, the Italians were camped next to us again!

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.

We sadly left our wonderful river spot. It was the perfect place to sit and relax for a few days. We even thought about staying another day, but thought we had better move on.

We headed to the Bieszczady Mountains, which border with Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia. We’d also heard they can be very touristy. We didn’t really know where to go, so we navigated to the town of Solina. As we were driving in there were many parking places, with people sat outside waiting to collect money. Then we saw the gondola. Then we saw a street with 1000’s of people, like ants crawling all over the place. Abort. Abort.

So I asked the internet where to go instead. He told us which popular spots to avoid and where to go. So we kept driving. But it was hot. Really hot. Driving in a car with no A/C and the sun blazing through the window was not fun. All I wanted was a shady place to sit and have lunch. Easier said than done.

We tried three different spots before we found one that was just acceptable. The car wasn’t in the shade, but there were picnic tables and chairs under the trees, and a nice river running through. That was enough.

We stopped for lunch, then took a walk alongside the river. It was shady and cooler than being in the car. We hiked up a hill with a view over a quarry, then had to backtrack. By that stage, we were ready for our afternoon nap. We woke around 4:30pm and decided to camp there for the night.

It turned out to be a lovely spot, right beside a small river, with swimming holes if it got too hot. Then it rained and cooled everything down. There was also a huge shelter with a wood stove in the middle and a pile of free firewood. We didn’t use it, but it was good to know it was there.

We’re both feeling a bit weary at the moment. Might be time to slow things down a little.

It was too nice a day to leave our river camp, so we stayed another night. It was 26 degrees today, so we ventured into the river for a swim, and it was so nice. It was flowing quite fast, but only knee deep, so we sat down and just let the water flow over us. It was a nice way to cool down.

All the other weekend campers left today, so we were all alone. Nobody to light a fire and invite us to join. 

Nothing else happened. I suppose we should move on tomorrow.

We stayed another day at our riverside camp. We got some laundry done and basically spent the day chilling out. The weather was perfect, sunny and about 21 degrees. A few people swam in the river, but it wasn’t hot enough for me. Maybe tomorrow. Apparently there is a bear near here that was seen about 3km away. I keep forgetting they have bears in Europe. 

We played chess. Mike keeps trying to figure out my strategy but I don’t have one. He said I must do because I keep winning, but I honestly don’t.

Our neighbours invited us over to join their bonfire again. They were cooking sausages on sticks over the flames, and this seemed a fun way to have dinner. It’s weird, not understanding a single word of Polish. With French or German, you at least catch fragments. Enough to pretend you’re following along. But Polish? Nie! Not a chance! I need some of those smart glasses that automatically translate in real time. Maybe for the next trip.

That was about it for the day.

It was time to leave to lovely old town of Zamosc, but first we had to visit the church. We’d been past it many times, but always decided to visit it later, but never did.

It was pretty much like any other church except for one difference. Squeaky floors. Although they only seemed to squeak with my trainers. It was terrible. A couple of people were in there trying to pray, and my shoes were squeaking all over the place. I tried walking on tippie-toes but this just made it worse. By this stage I was quite a way in and decided to retreat. But for some reason the squeaking got louder. I was stifling giggles as I made my way to the exit, and burst into laughter when I got outside.  I felt like a naughty kid, not an almost (I’m not saying it) year old.

Then we drove. It was a two hour drive to the town I was navigating to, but you guessed it. Ten hours later and we are still not there. We thought we had poisoned Bertie today. It was a real panic for a while. At the service station there were two diesel pumps, a black one and a blue one. We asked two different people and they both said to use the blue pump. This was against Mike’s better judgement because he said black is standard all over the world.

Anyway, after googling and getting no information, we decided to fill up with the blue. Then I started having doubts. Then I texted Kasia and asked if she knew what the difference was. She said the blue one had AdBlue added to it. Shit! Our van doesn’t use AdBlue.

So I googled it. What happens when you put AdBlue in a normal van. And the answer wasn’t what we wanted to hear. It said it will cause serious damage to the engine. So we navigated to a diesel mechanic about 10 kms away. I tried to explain the problem using Google translate. He said they would have to drain the tank, and clean all the jets. It wasn’t going to be cheap, or quick.

But I think something was lost in translation. We went on to explain there was a choice of two diesel pumps. One was black and one was blue. Turns out the blue is just a better quality of diesel, not AdBlue. So panic over and crisis averted.

After that, our stress levels were high and we didn’t have much energy for doing anything, so we stopped at a lake for an afternoon nap.

We are fairly close to Ukraine here and saw the road signs going to Lviv. We could cross in if we wanted as no visa is required, but there might be a queue getting back out. Plus, I’m not sure our travel insurance would cover us going to a country that’s at war.

We eventually found a nice spot to stop for the night overlooking a river. As it’s Friday night, there are a few locals camping here, all with caravans.

There was a fire pit next door to us with some seating around it. Our neighbours got a fire going and invited us to join. The girl spoke good English and told us how during WW2 the Russians annexed this part of Poland and controlled the other side of the San river from where we are camping. But Poland got it back after WW2. So we’re camping on a bit of history that we didn’t even know about.

It’s such a nice spot here, we might just stay another night.

Today was a lazy, lazy day. As our cafetiere was broken, we went into town for coffee. The temperature has dropped dramatically. It’s gone from being hot in the 30s to a high of 16 today. So we found a cosy and warm cafe for a coffee.

Then we went to the tourist office to upload tomorrow’s video (free wifi). Then we hiked into the retail park to look for a new cafetiere. Thankfully we found one, and will be able to have a nice coffee in the morning.

For some reason we are both feeling exhausted, so we spent the afternoon napping and hanging out in the van listening to the rain tinkling on the roof. We’ve decided to stay another night in Zamosc old town. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so we’ll head to a national park not far from here.

Today we visited the Majdanek concentration camp. I didn’t really want to go, but Mike did, and since it was free, I figured why not. It’s one of the best-preserved camps, as the retreating Nazis didn’t have time to destroy the evidence before the Soviet Red Army arrived.

The sleeping quarters are still standing, and thousands of the prisoners’ shoes are on display, over 56,000 pairs. There was also a room filled with photos and short stories of some of the victims, many of whom survived. It was a disturbing place to walk through. To be honest, I kind of wished I’d stayed in the van.

After that, we drove to the UNESCO-listed town of Zamość. We parked right next to the old town (for free!) and wandered around. It’s a picturesque place, full of colourful buildings. The main square is large and open, lined with restaurants, and in the centre stands the town hall, with its tall clock tower and wide staircase. Rain started to fall, so we headed back to the van for an afternoon nap.

In the evening, we ventured out again and had dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the square. Mike had the duck, and I had the pork and both were delicious.

And… we now have a big problem. I’d left the cafetière on the counter, and as we went around a corner, it slid off and shattered. So now we’re officially out of coffee until we can find a replacement!