Two important insertions right at the beginning:
Shortly before Krems we had cracked the 1,000 kilometer mark 😃🥳!
Nicole’s 5 minutes success dance we have unfortunately not filmed 😆…
Again and again the wild boar greets 😂:
We have now cycled halfway across Slovakia and are very happy to be surrounded by hilly landscapes again.
This is also reflected in our altitude meter readings. Once on top, the country shows its most beautiful side with fragrant rape fields, forests shining in all shades of green and many small villages.
Slovakia makes everything more exciting, but also more demanding:
- Almost only young people speak English – we try to translate the menu with the smartphone (it results in exciting dishes such as “grilled gentian” 😂) and then order with hands and feet
- The marked bike paths turn out to be partly difficult to ride (rather with a mountain bike)
- Partly missing connecting roads, which are marked on the maps (Tip: Most people use https://de.mapy.cz, but with Komoot we had more luck so far).
- In general, it is difficult to get information regarding excursion destinations / accommodation in the tourist regions, as an example, we are currently planning a hike in the national park “Slovak Paradise”. Only through various mails we could find out that a cable car has not been in operation for 7 years. We also have to write to huts individually to see if a multi-day hike is possible.
Once when we couldn’t find a wild camping spot in a valley, we had to ask several locals for help with the translation app. When we finally found 3 helpful women in a small grocery store, they called a hostel owner for us and thus secured us a place to stay. It turned out that a phone number for the booking was pinned on the door – which we could not read on the one hand and on the other hand the hostel owner would not have understood us on the phone anyway. Fortunately, we can count on people’s willingness to help.
One special stop was the town of Banská Štiavnica, recommended by Henryk (our first Warmshowers host in Slovakia).
In the 18th century, Banská Štiavnica became the largest center for the mining of precious metals in the entire Habsburg Monarchy.
Beautifully situated above the city is the Calvary hill. The Baroque ensemble, laid out as a pilgrimage route on a mountain, consists of 25 stations, including 24 chapels, 2 churches and the Holy Staircase. Together with the historical old town and technical mining facilities in the surrounding area, it is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Slovakia.
After Banská Štiavnica, we drove on to Zvolen, where we took a day off due to the bad weather.
Now we’re continuing on toward the Slovak Paradise National Park 😃.
More impressions:
Drone shot between Malá Lehota and Horné Hámre