Slovakia! New country! My first new country since hitting Iceland as the first stop!

I left Olomouc on another rainy day and made my way across Slovakia. A train to Zilnia... then another train to Poprad, from there a small local bus up into the Tatras mountains and the little village of Zdiar, fifteen km south of the Polish border. I had a half hour to kill, so I did a quick stroll around Poprad, before catching the bus... not missing too much here. Lonely Planet referred to Poprad as ‘rather unremarkable’... which is pretty remarkable, as they always try to find something to gush about. So if the LP didn’t have anything good to say, you’ve got to imagine there isn’t much going on, and there wasn’t... so after my quick jaunt into town, I hung out with the gypsies at the bus station, and headed north.

As we churned further and further up the mountain, it got darker and darker. A rainbow appeared to the east, then we lost it as we passed up into the cloud cover. Rain gave way to sleet, and sleet gave way to snow. Not familiar with Zdiar, I got off at the first bus stop in town, worried that I might just fly by and wind up in Poland. As I came to learn, the village stretches about three km along the road, and I was two km down in the wrong direction, standing in the snow... so I spent the next half hour walking up the main drag, looking for the hostel. I finally got in at about 4:30.

I planned on staying in Zdiar for three nights... six nights later I left. A great little place, with a great communal atmosphere, made by the kind people at the Ginger Monkey hostel. I hope to get back there again sometime, perhaps in the summer/ spring when there is more hiking to do, or the winter for skiing.

This time of year is their brief three week shoulder season. The mountain passes have become too dangerous to hike (or so they thought...) and the ski season hadn’t started yet. But even though a lot of the restaurants were closed, there was still plenty of fun and rest to be had. The rain and snow typically rolled in around 3:00. Somedays it was bad, and others it was good... I got to see a whole range of weather while there.

This region of northern mountain Slovakia is defined by the Goral culture... Goral is literally translated to ‘Highlander’... not the type who has to have their head cut off to die, but the kind who live in the mountains. To be Goral is more territorial than ethnic, as the highlanders come from a few different countries, notably the Czech Republic, Poland and here in northern Slovakia. In Zdiar the dialect is a funny mix between Polish and Slovak, not that I could tell... I was just told... The architecture is marked by an almost log cabin like construction, and for festivals the locals dress up in colorful peasant outfits...

I had a lot of fun during my stay (obviously, from my extended time there...). I met some great people, namely my friends from my Slovenska Raj tour (you’ll hear more about that later): Dan, Leisa, Lisa and Jordan. I sampled a little too much Tatras Tea, a deadly local liquor, during a onesie (there happened to be many onesie ski suits available at the hostel) party. I went on some great runs and an amazing hike into the High Tatras (more on those as well). And I really got to slow down the pace and call somewhere home fore about a week...