Polish pagans, once upon a time
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2006
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71
100
Trip End
Sep 08, 2008
Sobotka and Sleza,
Poland
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Being my last free day before I commenced my Masters degree, and one of brilliant sunshine, Ania and I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to go there. It was a short bus ride to Sobotka, a small town at the foot of Sleza, and from there about an hour and a half's hike at a slow pace to reach the summit. En route we saw some old statues, built when the mountain was used as a holy place by an ancient pagan tribe. It is thought that it was a centre of worship between the 5th and 11th centuries AD.
There was a nice view over the plains and south west towards the Sudety mountains from the summit, as well as a quaint 19th century church. We spent a while here, having some lunch and climbing a strange concrete watchtower before deciding to head back down. I didn't have a map with me, but I took a photo of a board showing some trails up the mountain as we left Sobotka. Unfortunately, this board didn't have a scale on it, and after an hours hiking down the far side of Sleza I realised we had a long way to go in order to make it back to Sobotka. We desperately wanted to make the 4.30pm bus back to Wroclaw, but upon reaching a carpark on the southern slope we realised we'd have to power walk without a break in order to make it in time. We did just that, and arrived at the bus station (if you can call it that) at 4.27pm, just three minutes before the last bus for four hours.
There was a slight incident on the way back which doesn't need a recount, but otherwise, under the bright February sun we had a great day. I knew I'd see the small peak from my living room window in a different light every day from then on.
