Krakow

Krakow is such a great city. It bustles bust isn't overpoweringly busy as I think I have caught it just before the season really kicks off. Very lucky with the hostel again, it is very reasonable, clean and 10 minutes walk from the Old Town Square.


That's not my hostel, by the way, but old town square which is huge. I'm hoping they have s market while I'm here.

I missed the Krakow film festival by 2 days. Knickers! It looked pretty good:

http://www.kff.com.pl/en/filmy/in_competition

I had forgotten that Pope John Paul the Second was from round here. You can on tours to visit the flat where he was born and I kid you not "walk in his footsteps and taste his favorite cream puff."

Here he his, surrounded by adoring fans:


Just one more miracle and the fast track pope will be a Saint! Go....go...JP II......

Zakopane back to Krakow

Back on the bus to Krakow and a 4 night stop. I have had a slight change of plan and rather than heading over to the far East of Poland I'm just heading up to Warsaw for three nights.

The hostel on Zakopane has been great and I've met loads of people. Probably for the first time I've understood what staying in hostels is all about. Meeting other travelers, talking, swapping tips and planning and doing days out with complete strangers.

I'm going to be sad to leave the mountains behind and a great hostel too. Having spent a week in the mountains I'll need to be prepared for the shock of big city life again! Looking forward to the hustle and bustle and all that brutal communist inspired architecture.

Kasprowy Wierch

This was probably one of the toughest days hiking I've ever done. Technically the hike was pretty straightforward but just really grueling. The summit is 1987m above sea level and from Zakopane the climb is about 1200m.

I thought I could walk to the start point but when that took an hour I realised I would pay for that later. This is the view after an hour of climbing and the direction sign said that there was another two and a half hours to the summit:



These are a couple of shots on the way up back to the climb I tried yesterday:






So after about 4 hours of wheezing and swearing with rest breaks and taking other people's photos on the way up I reached the summit:



I seam to have lost something on the way......oh yes.....the beard. It's just too hot here for a beard....

Some caves tomorrow for a lighter day.

First pukka hike

With a deep blue sky and not a cloud in sight I headed out for the first hike of this trip. The aim was to get to the top of Maly Giewont which is the peak on the right of the photo:



The first couple of hours were on a path through the woods following a river gorge. Lots of waterfalls and crystal clear ice cold snow melt water.



The gradient kicked up for the next couple of hours and popped out above the tree line and turned into a tiny path clinging to the side of the rock. I turned back at a really technical section that required and unprotected descent of about 15m on footholds cut into the rock.

I found a lower loop to get back home and will have a bash another day following another path up the back that I checked out with some people at the hostel. It was still a great hike with about 1000m of ascent.

In need of food and beer now. A kindly couple took my photo half way up so I returned the favour and arranged them with their son and took a pic. Slightly confused smiles and thanks.....turns out it wasn't their son but a complete stranger! Ho hum!

Warm up on Gubalowka and Butorowy

After a quiet orientation day on arrival the first warm up hike was to the small hills of Gubalowka and Butorowy. The peaks are just over 1000m high but only a 300m climb from Zakopane. On the map it looked like there was a great saddle ridge linking the two peaks. Indeed there was but rather than being an alpine path it was a market selling Tatra Tat to the tourist spewing from the fenicular railway every 20 minutes. Had I wanted slippers, wooden axes or hair extensions I was in the right place.

This is the view from Gubalowka towards the peak of Giewont that is stubotnly covered in cloud.


Tatra Tat on the 'ridge' path:




This the view I had from my lunch stop on the way down:



This is me, just about to eat said lunch:

Prague to Krakow

My first over night on the train was from Prague to Krakow. Czech railways do a great line in sleeper wagons and due to some booking confusion I was in First Class. So my bed for the night is below:



and me nearly in it:



One last view if Prague:



This took me by surprise, just in case I was thinking of disposing of coke cans, toothpaste or what looks like a duster down the toilet on the train:



I was that close to chucking all three but this great graphic stopped me in my tracks!

Following the usual sort of nights sleep I get on board trains I headed for the bus station with my usual drunken sailors roll as it usually takes me a day to get over the motion of the train when I get off. A two and half hour bus ride through the foot hills of the Tatra mountains saw me safely to the mountain town of Zakopane.

Last day in Prague

Well I rounded of my trip to Prague with a trip to a market that had been recommended in all the guides. Turns out it was World of Tat! Bit of a let down but undetered, there was another tower that needed scaling. It was on the top of a hill accessed by a fenicular railway. It looked like a grey Blackpool tower. Built about 1890 and it had a disconcerting sway in the wind. Great view from the top and a clever double helix stair case so you went up one and came down the other flight. Unless that is you are a particularly dim English tourist and you go down the wrong one telling everyone coming up towards you that they are on the wrong stair! Grins sheepishly. I got a very weary shake of the head from the attendant at the bottom. Luckily he didn't send me back up to do it properly!

Pics below:
View from the top


Long way down



Tiny stair, not ideal for passing people coming up!



Lastly I found an intriguing dot on my Prague map. "Prague metronome". So here it is, the worlds biggest metronome in a derelict park and over grown with bushes so not visible from anywhere but still keeping time!




Right I'm off to wait for my bed to arrive.