Poland/Slovakia Photographs
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Another summer comes and yet again our ragtag adventurers from Imperial College join together for another trek in some remote area of the planet. Our numbers steadily seem to grow, with our merry band numbering fifteen this year - four of whom joined us from Edinburgh University. We all met in Krakow and continued on by bus to the countryside with the intent of trekking from Poland to the border of Slovakia in the Tatra Mountains. This photo was taken just outside of the Polish town of Zakopane as we were beginning out first day of hiking.

Day one proved to be a very reasonable trail, so reasonable infact that it was swarming with Poles on hiking holiday - we couldn't believe how many Polish tourists there actually were. As we approached the first hut the group was all smiles. Linda and Jens seemed particularly ecstatic.

After reaching our first hut most of the group still had itchy feet, so we made the decision to drop our kit and climb a nearby peak. I wrote the name down in my notes but later in the trip my notes got rained on and I can no longer read the name. Anyway, this peak, like the trail below, was heaving with tourists in sneakers and t-shirts. Effie and Lizzie seemed very happy as we neared the top.

We got some great views from the top but didn't really get to enjoy the peace that the wilderness so often affords as there were mobile phone converstations and clouds of cigarette smoke floating past us from the tourist horde on top. It was a stunning peak though.

We made our way back down the slope to the hut where we got out our books and spent the late afternoon chilling out. This was the first time my infamous deck of cards made their way out... hearts followed and then we started a few hands of bridge. Supper was simple but filling. We had a choice of bean soup or pickled cabbage mixed with meat, odd options but fine.

Day two on the trail was gorgeous, very few clouds, moderate temperatures, and a brilliant saphire sky. We set off early and for the first time reached a section of the mountains where there were very few other people.

Because we were a group of fifteen we ran into the chronic problem of having lots of people who walked at different speeds. On the first slope of the day the group divided in two with the understanding that group one would wait at the top for group two. At the top we realised we were going to wait for quite some time so Alex decided to "catch some rays" - needless to say we were blinded by the white.

Once group two arrived we climbed a short section and saw the trail ahead. We had reached Slovakia and could see that the trail would literally follow the border through the rest of the day. We amused ourselves for a short while by hopping back and forth from Poland and Slovakia... I should add that some of us amused ourselves with this inanity for longer than others.

We had a lot of interesting experiences on the border between Poland and Slovakia, however by the far the most surprising were the mountain nuns. I know this picture shows them sitting, but let me tell you these sisters made a habit of hiking... often with full packs! I've never seen anything like it (although I do vaguely remember knowing a nun who used to surf in California).

Our next hut proved to be an enormous structure made of stone... very different to our earlier accomodation. It was a pleasant place with reasonable food and some decent rooms for us to sleep in, but all this aside there was something that seemed unusual about it. After supper most of the group went to bed and I stayed up with Alex who was merrily drinking himself into oblivion. He asked me to practice some of my aikido moves on him in the hallway on the way to bed (he was very drunk) and in his state he threw himself at my legs and pulled me to the ground (so much for my aikido). As I was on the floor I looked up and noticed what had been bothering me while in the building. An eagle of the Nazi Third Reich adorned the moudling in every courner of the central hall. Furthermore swastikas were built into the railing of the staircase. I have no idea what role that hut played in the second world war, but I suspect that with its strategic position in a pass between Poland and Slovakia it was of significant interest to the Nazi armies.

With nazis and nuns in my mind the following morning I half expected to run into the Von Trap family as we were leaving. However, the hills we were climbing into were not even remotely alive with the sound of music. If anything they were alive with the music of Alice Cooper and Metallica. There were several possible routes of differing lengths and difficulties. There was an easy climb up past the nearby lakes and over the nearest peak, there was a longer, nastier climb up and over a nearby series of mountains, and then there was the trail of doom. Alex, Beccy, Effie, and Lizzie went up the nice trail. Andy Roberts, Mark, and I went up the nasty yet not suicidal route. Everyone else, well, let's just say they had a lot of excitement in their day. This is a photo of them climbing down some evil cliff.

Ah yes, and here's another photo from suicide ridge... glad I didn't go.

Our route had its fair share of steep climbs and descents, but it wasn't nearly as bad. This is a photo of Mark and Andy climbing down from our first peak of the day

The real heroes (fools?) were the folks who went up suicide ridge, but I don't have a "hero" photo of them... so here's ours. We had a great time.

Unfortunately we were struck by a truly foul storm on the rest of the trek and as a result I have only this photo of Pete and Estelle wandering along next to a lake towards the end of the trip. While they may look very merry, our travel beforehand had been a long miserable slog through pouring rain - even my brand new goretex coat had failed to keep me dry! We traveled out of the mountains and back to Zakopane and eventually to Krakow for our flights back to the UK. Along the way the group engaged in a number of activities ranging from horseback riding to visiting concentration camps. All in all it was very good and very interesting adventure.
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