Litwor Zakopane

... turning back.

While in the Polish part of the Tatry you can hike any time of the year, in the Slovakian one there are more restrictions. Between October and May, entering the Slovakian Tatra National Park is prohibited. As far as tthe Polish Tatra National Park, the rescue team always displays a note both in each mountain hostel and at every entrance to the park about the level of the avalanche danger.

... up the mountain! There was also the option of riding a horse drawn cart up to the lake (or down) if you so wished (given the changability of the weather while I was there it was a contingency incase it decided to belt down with rain!)

The path concluded at the side of the lake next to a large wooden hut (restaurant/bar) - this is the only structure one the lake and certainly the ...

... any of these 5 languages.

Oravsky Podzamok is built on a huge rock over a vast plain, thus the view is really stunning. Moreover, most of the chambers are well-preserved. The castle has several levels, and the highest ones are not always available. It's because the passages between them are narrow and slippery, and it's not recommended to walk them in the rain or frost, and also the tour guides will ...

... Bukowina is mid August. Around the 15th, a famous festival takes place here. It's called 'Sabałowe Bajania' and it's all about the traditional music of the mountains. People wear traditional clothes and the weather is really nice: it's warm and it's not pouring with rain. The best way to access the region is by plane (Krakow Balice KRK international airport), and then you can take a bus or a minibus (approximately 100 km).

... down through the wide valley and the frozen lakes, with the silence deafening. It was stunning, and unlike anything I'd seen in the Tatras before. The surrounding mountains weren't as imposing as those I'd seen in Slovakia a few weeks earlier, but the scale of the valley was quite something. After checking in at the hostel and discovering how little there was on offer in the way of vegetarian food, we decided to make the most of the remaining few hours of daylight and continue on up ...

... y dejar que se subiera el resto. Plan A fallido: cruzar la frontera en este autobus y desde el otro lado ir a un pueblecito de Eslovaquia. El plan B fue coger un autobus hasta la frontera y pasarla a pie. En el otro lado podriamos coger otro autobus. Esto funciono a medias. No cambiamos dinero eslovaco y no habia ningun cajero ni nada, asi que Andy tuvo que cruzar a Polonia de nuevo y alli cambiar nuestros zlotis. Nos encontramos con una pareja ...

Ahoj! Just a quick one! I§ve arrived in Nová Lesná and I§m using a very strange Keyboard, so apologies if half of this doesn§t make sense... what the hell kind of a symbol is§??? This is too complicated fo rme at the moment at the moment! It§s peeing with rain today so I§ve been chilling out with two English guys at the Petra Guest House in Nová Lesná - they are called John and Hannah and they§re really top ...

... carriages carting lazy people up the hill. It does somewhat take away your sense of achievement when the hairy, fat, smelly beasts (and the horses), go whizzing by you. However, any frustration melted away when we got to the lake. The water was crystal clear, full of trout and the reflection from the surrounding mountains just gorgeous. We hiked halfway around the lake, then climbed upwards for another few hundred vertical metres to Czarny Staw ...

... a summer favourite here. In the evening, Bryan's mom took us for an authentic Polish meal of pork chop, kapusta and potatoes. Our meal would not have been complete without the goraly (literally 'mountain people') singing and playing traditional Polish folk songs - they were our entertainment during the meal! I think all the sightseeing is catching up with me as I feel quite worn out already - and it has only been a week!

... During the ride here yesterday, we drove past fields of sunflowers, straining toward the cloud-shrouded sun. The low mountains are covered with fields, pastures or fields of wildflowers that become pine and fir forests nearer the top; lower down, there are lots of trees that look like some kind of willow, and always the flowers. The bus to Spissky Podhradie, which is at the foot of Spisska hrad's hill, took 20 minutes. After ...