Fri 03– Fri 24 September 2004

Photo Gallery

General Remarks:

Slovakia as a cycling destination: Slovakia is a country with a great deal to offer the tourist. The northeastern corner, in particular, has spectacular mountain scenery and maps (see below) indicate which paths are open for MTBs. The higher slopes and other pathways through the Tatras are for walkers only and are closed during the winter months to allow fauna and flora to recuperate for the deluge of tourists. The Lower Tatras in the northern central part of the country are gentler but they still present a serious challenge to walkers. Both the Lower and Higher Tatras are accessible in places by cable car or ski lift. Walkers and cyclists are NOT allowed to leave the designated paths and face heavy on the spot fines if they do so. Other areas of Slovakia are relatively flat, especially the South, which borders on Hungary, and the West around the capital, Bratislava. A three-week tour was enough to gain no more than a superficial impression of a country, which will surely become a popular holiday resort in coming years after Slovakia’s entry in the EU in May 2004.

Travel: Travel to Slovakia is easy, thought there is no direct flight from Heathrow to Košice. It is necessary to change planes in Prague and transfer to an internal flight from Prague to Košice. Flights are with Czech airlines, which is partnered with Air France, and they took respectively 1hr30mins and 1hr. There were, however, waits of up to four hours on the outward and homeward journeys.

Roads: The quality of Slovak roads is variable. On minor roads cracks and potholes were frequent. Particularly on descents, it is prudent to keep a sharp look out for road damage. Traffic is much lighter than in the UK and it is perfectly feasible to cycle on main roads, especially in hilly terrain or when time is an issue.

Spares & Repairs: Most larger towns have at least one good cycle shop, selling a wide range of accessories and spares. The whole range of Shimano equipment was readily available in most places.

Maps & Books: Larger towns have excellent tourist offices with staff able to speak a range of languages including English. It is easy to find out information about buses, trains and places to visit. Tourist Offices also stock a wide range of maps covering the whole of Slovakia in a variety of scales down to 1:25 000. Maps 2,3 and 5 in the Podrobna Cycloturisticka Mapa series (1: 100 000), costing about £3 each, were ideal for planning most routes. In the Higher Tatra Map 113 (Vysoké Tatry) was useful for planning detailed walking routes. All maps contain a wealth of very useful information and even state whether routes are easy, medium or hard.

Accommodation: We stayed in one or two star hostels and hotels and the standard of accommodation and service was impressive with the exception of the Hotel Pyrimida in Revuca, which seemed rather the worse for wear and tear. We were charged about £12 per double room with two singles or one double including breakfast in most places. Towels and soap were provided in all hotels and there was plentiful hot water. The main tourist season is in July/August and December/January (skiing). Most hotels were almost empty in September.

Climate: In 21 days were had only two wet days. Otherwise we were greeted by brilliant blue skies and sunshine. This fine weather is typical of September and stretches into October, though mornings and evenings can be very cold. The lowest temperatures were experienced were 10/11ºC on just one or two days. Otherwise the temperature during the day was around 20ºC.

Clothing: It might be risky to leave your ‘longs’ at home, but I did not use them at all throughout the trip. Short-sleeved shirts were normally all I required for cycling together with a long-sleeved top with sleeves rolled up in the hotter part of the day. For evening wear it was useful to have a pair of long trousers, a pullover and a long-sleeved shirt, because temperatures were decidedly cooler in the evening after sunset, which was about 7.30pm. Hotels did not have drying facilities, though it was possible to dry synthetic materials by hanging them on hangers in the shower. Again, disposable briefs (from Boots) were a good investment – light, easy to wash and dry.

The Food: Beer, mineral water and fruit teas were the most popular drinks, costing no more than about 50p. Pilsener Urquell and the local Šariš beers are excellent and available in a dark variety or without alcohol. It proved very difficult to get anything like a ‘good’ cup of tea with fresh milk, though. Slovaks do not drink their tea with milk and provide a single pot of artificial whitener if pressed very hard. If you want fresh milk, you’d better bring a cow with you. (Certainly preferable to causing an international incident). Much confusion also arose over coffee, which exists in a variety of forms but not, so it would seem, as coffee with hot milk like we drink in the UK. Language was often a barrier, of course, and getting your drink was often a pleasant or sometimes unpleasant surprise. Bread is measured and charged by the slice in many places, as is sugar and butter. Beware when asking for steaks and fish – it may cost you considerably more than the price stated on the menu, because meat is sold by weight. Slovaks seem not to be used to eating large quantities of food and you may have to work very hard in some places to get exactly what you want to eat at breakfast and put up with some rather strange looks. Apart from these frustrations which cropped up regularly along the route, food is excellent and very inexpensive in comparison to the UK. We enjoyed many delicious evening meals with excellent service.

Shops: The different between the UK and Slovakia was very obvious in department stores. Presentation of goods was unsophisticated. Although some goods from Western Europe were on sale, they were very expensive in local terms and the choice of foods was sparse. Food halls were well stocked and fruit, vegetables, meats and things to nibble along the way were in plentiful supply. The general grocer’s store is called a ‘potraviny’ and was adequate for most purposes. Prices for locally produced goods were much lower than in Britain.
Route Summary:

3.9 Departure from Heathrow. Hotel Alessandria, Košice   
4.9 Hotel Alessandria, Košice  25 miles
5.9 Hotel Cierny Orol, Rožnava  58 miles
6.9 Hotel Cierny Orol, Rožnava    
7.9 Hotel Pyrimida, Revuca 30 miles
8.9 Hotel Zeleny Dom, Cierny Balog  38 miles 
9.9 Hotel Zeleny Dom, Cierny Balog   
10.9 Hoetl Stupka, Tale 30 miles 
11.9 Hotel Squash, Liptovski Mikulaš  33 miles
12.9 Hotel Squash, Liptovski Mikulaš    
13.9 Penzion Slalom, Tatranska Lomnica  45 miles
14.9 Penzion Slalom, Tatranska Lomnica   
15.9 Penzion Janošik, Ždiar  11 miles
16.9 Penzion Janošik, Ždiar    
17.9 Hotel Sorea, L’ubovnianske Kúpele 70 miles
18.9 Hotel Texon, Levoca 43 miles
19.9 Hotel Texon, Levoca  
20.9 Hotel Preveza, Spišska Nova Ves  8 miles
21.9 Hotel Preveza, Spišska Nova Ves  
22.9 Hotel Skinautique, Jaklovce 41 miles
23.9 Hotel Skinautique, Jaklovce    
24.9 Departure from Košice  
 
TOTAL DISTANCE: 432miles

Detailed Description

Friday 3 September
Transport to Heathrow was by Flightlink (£380), leaving Plymouth eight hours before the flight departure. Bikes were boxed and our travel agent had made arrangements in Košice for us to be met at the airport, taken to our hotel by minibus and for boxes to be stored for the return flight. Everything went according to plan and we reached out hotel in Košice at 11.30pm on Friday evening. Since it was our first experience of hotel accommodation in Slovakia we were wondering what to expect. But we were very pleasantly surprised and the Hotel Alessandria set the pattern for the high standard of accommodation we were to expect throughout our tour.

Saturday 4 September
Martin Schwarz came to collect and store our bike boxes at 10.30am. our first task before breakfast was, therefore, to reassemble our boxes. Charge for this service – 40 Euros. Still somewhat dazed after the abrupt change of scenery, we spent most of the day looking around Košice, sorting out money and buying the relevant maps. Our first encounter with gypsies was during our lunch outside a restaurant in the main street of Košice. The adults do not seem to beg but send their children instead while standing at a safe distance but close enough to ensure that their children are not harmed. Having parted with a generous slice of my pizza, waitresses appeared an drove the children away. The children moved away, squabbling over possession of the food. We decided after debate that begging was not an answer to their problems. It encouraged dependency and laziness and was unfair because it would be impossible to give to everyone. Hard as it may seem, we decided the best approach was to ignore further approaches.

After lunch we thought a short ride was long overdue. Košice turned out to be very badly signed but we managed to make our way east up the main road towards Košicka N. Ves on the E50. We turned right at the top of the hill and descended through Zdoba, Byster to Olšovany where we stopped for a coffee. In Olšovany we turned right and continued descending through Vyš Caj and picked up the road back to Košica. Just past Krasna n. Hornadom, we crossed the River Hornad. This quite badly polluted river rises in the Slovensky Raj and wends its way through Slovakia into Hungary.

Our evening meal was in the town centre. We could not eat at the hotel because of a wedding reception. All of us were delighted at our first taste of Slovak cuisine. On our way out we noticed the gypsy children again, this time pestering guests drinking beer in the pavilion in front of our restaurant. Before going to bed Colin counted his money and discovered he had managed to spend something like £150, which hardly seemed possible. He finally decided there had been some confusion in paying Martin and needed to sort it out with Sue in the morning.

Sunday 5 September
After a copious breakfast with at least five different breakfast menus we set off for Roznava. The first day would be experimental in the sense that we had no idea yet as to how challenging the terrain would be. I decided on a scenic route through the hills, but we were badly delayed trying to find our way out of Košice because of the lack of road signs. It must have been 11.30am before we were well and truly on our way. The route took us through Myslava where we turned left to Bukovec (drinks stop). The road petered out when we got to the dam at the end of the road and we then climbed steeply till we rejoined the main road before Niz. Klativ. The going was a bit tougher than we had anticipated and we reached Jasov about 1.30pm ready for lunch. Our bikes were stored safely out of reach of the many gypsies in the town. The meal in the restaurant took just ages. Sue had ordered an omelette and then waited over an hour for it to be served. When we finally hit the road it was about 4.00pm. We began to worry about the distance ahead of us. The route was scenic – wooded on either side and interspersed with quaint villages., We admired the size of houses. It seemed strange that people living in an emergent country should own should big houses. In a sense they were already better off than most British people even if they did not own new cars or have every modern convenience in their homes. Closer to Roznava the going got tougher with monstrous hills after Stos and Uhorna. By the time we struggled to the top of the last descent it was already getting dark. Not everyone had lights, and Grace preferred to push her bike almost 4 miles down the hill because of the pot holes in the road. It was certainly not one of Slovakia’s best kept roads. Not too far from the top of the hill a helpful motorist stopped and offered to light our way with her headlights. I breathed a sigh of relief. But by the time everyone had understood, the car had pulled away and I was already being shunted ahead by the car. I reached the bottom of the hill at 8.20pm but had to wait another hour before I saw the lights of the other members of the group. We reached the Hotel Cierny Oral at 10.20pm. much relieved to find ourselves in excellent, warm quarters and still able to order a warming drink.

Monday 6 September
Day in Roznava. Shopping in the morning. Lunch in restaurant in main square opposite our hotel. In hot sunshine we climber the town’s tower. Excellent views over town and surrounding area. Church was closed or, rather, we had missed the opening time. However, there was an exhibition of ecclesiastic paraphernalia in commemoration of the Pope’s visit to the area in the previous year. Excellent evening meal in hotel.

Tuesday 7 September
On to Revuca. We had decided that it would be safer to keep to the main road. It would be flatter, more direct and there was not really a lot of traffic on it. The road began climbing almost as soon as we left Rozna and just before the long descent into Jelšava (12.30pm) we turned right to visit Ochtinska Aragonitova, a cave with unusual spider-like formations and a part of the Unesco World Heritage. Entrance 200 SK with a further 200SK for a permit to take photos. This I unfortunately overlooked and was firmly reprimanded for using my camera in the cave. Descent through Jelsova, a rather unimposing town at the head of a long flat valley leading past Revuca to Muran some 20 miles away. All our bookings had been made in advance and till now all had gone smoothly. In Revuca, however, with the shabbiest hotel of the trip, they seemed quite mystified by our arrival and were finally happy to let us in only after they had contacted the booking agency in Pezinok.

Wednesday 8 September
On to Cierny Balog. Road out of Revuca as far as Muran very flat but then hilly with excellent views down steep open valleys. 11s in Tisovec. Brief stop in Pohronska Polhora outside Potraviny. Arrived in Brezno about 4pm and then trekked the 9 kilometres to Cirny Balog moistly up hill. We missed Zeleny Dom on first entering the village. In fact it was a fairly conspicuous dark green building close to the scenic railway station. Our host was Pavol Pancik. Only breakfast had been booked, but Pavol provided us with an impromptu meal on our first evening. He introduced some of the group to ‘malinovice’, a high percentage drink distilled from raspberries. He also had a good wine cellar, much to the delight of the ladies in the group. We learned that he had bought the house, which had originally belonged to Jews living in area, some five years previously in a very run down state. Since then he had invested every penny he could in improvements. The accommodation was of a very high standard with wood cladding almost everywhere. When he left he was putting the finishing touches to a spacious sauna. He was also working on his wine cellar and had about 20 mountain bikes neatly stacked in an adjacent storeroom. On the morning of our departure he briefly introduced us to his wife, who was working as an anaesthetist at a local hospital. His two children were exceptional. Both his son and daughter were in national sports teams – ice hockey, skiing and shooting. Filip, who was 19, had managed to learn English on his own in one year. We were the first English people he had met and was able to converse in depth on almost anything. He was also a computer whiz kid with advanced coding skills. No room for mediocrity or second best in this family. Pavol was a dab hand at chess and much to Mike Hocking’s chagrin even managed to beat him at pool. Pavol also distinguished himself by presenting us with the highest bill at the end of out stay – over 4000 SK which by local standard must have been a small fortune. In some ways Pavol represented for me with his dynamic and determined approach to life a model for the new Slovakia which will surely soon emerge from the rubble of its communist past.

Thursday 9 September
Pavol drove us into Brezno and we spent the day exploring the shops and little alleyways with the recondite cafés. Brezno had an excellent cycle shop selling cycle lights with diodes at a good price. The ‘obchodny dom’ was the most imposing shop on Brezno’s very modern square, but the contents were modest indeed. We made out way back to the hostel fairly early and then explored the woods for a short while above Cierny Balog. The train was not running late in the afternoon. On our return we visited the railway museum at the station. Much of the work done in re-building the single gauge railway had been undertaken some years before by young volunteers.

Friday 10 September
It was a glorious day – cloudless blue sky and brilliant sunshine but very cool in the shade. Rather than approach Tale from Brezno along the main road, I decided to take another scenic route to cover the 20 miles between Cierny Balog and Tale. We followed the railway back along the road towards Brezno and then crossed the main road to follow a road/track through Hronec to the E66. Drinks at café across the road and then a descent for a few kilometres to Lopej where right onto a minor road and up into the hills via Dolna Lehota. Many place names contain the word ‘Lehota’ which apparently corresponds to ‘toll road’. The views were magnificent, looking up to the Lower Tatra. The ascent to Tale was slow and part way up we stopped for drinks at Krpacovo. It was still relatively early when we arrived at Tale. We deposited our gear and all of us except Grace decided to carry on to the base of Chopok, the second highest peak in the Low Tatra. Without panniers we thought the going would be easy, but it was a slog all the way to the top. The last chairlift to Chopek had left at 5 o’clock. We stopped for coffee and to warm up at the Hotel Srdjecko. It had taken a good hour or more to reach the top but the freezing cold descent lasted no more than 15 minutes

The evening meal was something of a disaster. The quality was excellent. Colin finally found something he liked – pancakes the like of which he had never eaten before. He talked about them for days. But our overzealous waiter made a massive miscalculation with the final bill and spent a good half hour tapping away at his calculator, sweating, mopping his brow, excusing himself for being such a ‘bad waiter’, scribbling away with his pencil and producing numerous drafts of the final bill for our perusal. When he was clearly near to a nervous breakdown or worse, we took matters in our own hands, told him to relax and calculated the bill for him. After that experience, which caused us no small embarrassment, we decided to keep a careful tally of what we individually ate and drank to avoid paying fictitiously high bills.

Saturday 11 September
And on to Liptovsky Mikulaš via Myto and probably the longest, steepest hill of the whole trip. We stopped briefly at the top (sedlo Certovica) and then began the rapid descent to the point where the E72 joined the E18, arriving in Liptovsky Mikulaš at about 4.00pm. The Hotel Squash was a modern building close to the main road out of the town. The restaurant in which we ate our evening meal was hosting another wedding party and we shared a large round table in an adjoining room with several other families.

Sunday 12 September
Since Chopek was equidistant between Brezno and Liptovsky Mikulaš and therefore not too far from where we were staying, we decided to take a bus to the Grand Hotel and then a chairlift to top. Some lifts were closed, so we retraced to Zahradky. Christine was terrified of heights and decided that the first chairlift was enough for her. Only Grace and I made it to the top and had superb views over the Low Tatras and the High Tatras in the east. At this height there were now trees and we could clearly see paths leading along the ridges between the peaks. An excellent walking area, I thought, looking over to Dzumbier, the highest peak, not all too distant from where we were. After lunch on rocks at the top (2000m) and a quick drink in the café just below the peak, we made our way down, rejoining the others at about 4.oopm.

A young Christian band was entertaining the public on the terrace of cafés on the main square of Liptovski Mikulaš. Children paid no attention but played with water in the modern fountains in the centre of the square.

Monday 13 September
We retraced out of Liptovsky to Liptovsky Hradok and then continued a further four kilometres to the E18 and then through Hybe, Vychodna and Vazec to Tatranska Strba. The climb to Strbske Pleso was arduous. The views over the lake was well worth the effort, though the ‘town’ itself is insignificant and spoilt by tourism. To our delight the rest of the journey was entirely down hill for miles. We had been booked in at the Hotel Panda in Stary Smokovec, but when we arrived there the place was shut. A military looking man in his late twenties with a crew cut came to the door when we knocked. He opened the door cautiously. I noticed he was carrying a black-butted revolver on his hip and he looked as though he had never smiled in his life. We explained our purpose at the hotel and he disappeared mysteriously into the depths of the deserted hotel, left us waiting for a while, and finally returned with a note in English. The Hotel had changed hands and we were to be accommodated further down the road in the Penzion Slalom. “Have a good day”, it said rather incongruously, and there was a smiley on the bottom of the note. We burst out laughing and even the stern guard lost his composure for a moment and favoured us with a brief, reticent smile.

The change of hotel was worth it. The Penzion Slalom was a beautifully decorated building, clad again with enormous amounts of wood. The bedrooms and room facilities were first rate.

Tuesday 14 September
Although the previous evening had been dull, we wokr to brilliant sunshine and a staggering view of Lomnicky štit towering 2633.9m above us. Access to the top of the mountain was by cable car in three stages, each costing about 200 SK or £4. Three of us chose to brace the heights and made our way by cable car to Skalnate Pleso (Lake). Rather than go to the very top we decided to make for Velka Svištovka. Grace, Sue and I had lunch at the foot of the mountain. Afterwards they returned to Lomnice by cable car while I soldiered on, descending steeply on the other side of the mountain for about a mile to Chata pro Zelenom, a mountain hut situated by a lake. The views of the mountains from the top of Svištovka were outstanding, though the descent was punishing on the knees. I limped my way back along a forest path to Tatranska Metliare, about one kilometre up from our hotel. The effort had been worth it, though I dreaded think how I would cope with the next day’s ride.

Wednesday 15 September
In fact the rider to Zdiar was very easy, only 11 miles and most of it was downhill. On the side of the road we saw gypsies trying to sell yellow toadstools from buckets. From Tatranska Kotlina the road rose gently to Zdiar. We reached the Penzion Jonašik at about 11am. The weather had taken a turn for the worse. After lunch in the Reštauracia Zdiar and some shopping in the local potraviny, we returned to the hotel.

Thursday 16 September
We made our way down to breakfast, expecting the same high standard of service we had received elsewhere. With the best will in the worthy lady who served us could not comprehend our requests even with the help of a couple at the next table who were bilingual in German and Slovak. The good lady simply could not understand that anyone could want more than half a slice of bread for breakfast, drink mild with their tea or ask for two pats of butter and some extra sugar. Everything was served in such miserly helpings that most of the breakfast period was spent asking for more of the things missing from the table. It struck me that there is a genuine cultural difference in British and Slovak attitudes to food. It is not just a linguistic problem. The whole business of getting an adequate breakfast proved so exhausting that we decided to forego our evening meal in the Pension Janosik and breakfast at the Reštauracia Zdiar the next morning.

Being so close to the border of Poland we though a trip to Zakopané would be in order. It was necessary to change buses at the border in Lysa Polana. We changed 1000 SK, think that it would suffice for our needs. We received 107 Zlotys in return and were horrified at how quickly the money went. The trip to the boarder had cost only 18 SK – about 30p each. From Lysa Polana to Zakopané cost 35 Zlotys, the equivalent of about £7 per person. The distance was approximately the same on either side of the border. Zakopané was a disappointment. It was a rather ugly town, devoted solely to tourism and particularly drab in the damp weather that day. Both Slovakia and Poland are very poor countries. We could not imagine how Poles managed to live with prices sky-high even for western tourists. Walking equipment, jackets, boots were all at least as dear as in England and probably more expensive. We had coffee and cakes in a café as much to shelter from the cold (10ºC) as anything else. This at least was easily affordable, costing only £1 per person. After a brief look at the main street, which consisted of food shops, banks and sports shops, we decided to take refuge back in Slovakia. We boarded the bus and gratefully made our way back to Zdiar and the Reštauracia Zdiar. Shortly past the border I noticed shops with signs aimed at Polish tourists, offering free beer for every £20 of purchases. The discrepancy in the relative value of currencies is not just a source of discontentment for many people living in former eastern block countries but a means of profiteering for others, if you can get hold of pounds, dollars, euros or even over-inflated Zlotys.

Friday 17 September
Another fine day. The hills which had been masked by low cloud on the previous two days were in full view. The brightly decorated houses which constitute the charm of Zdiar stood out all the more against the sunny banks. On leaving the Reštauracia Zdiar where we had breakfast, we spoke to a former inhabitant of Slovakia who left the country when she was eighteen. Now vice president of an American company in Colorado she had the advantage of speaking excellent English as well as her native tongue. She told us that inflation was rampant. Gas, electricity and petrol prices (now 50p/liter) were due to rise by about 70% in January 2005. Employment was generally high – about 5% in the extreme west but reaching 50% in eastern Slovakia. In former years she and her husband had simply booked a ticket and come to Slovakia, but now, she said, they would have to budget for further trips, since they anticipated massive price increases. We had already heard than many young people wished to leave the country for more money elsewhere – qualified doctors who drove lorries in Western Europe and nurses who worked au pair. Inflation is inevitable if Slovakia is to adopt the Euro in a few years time. Some say that this will be in 2007 but a more realistic estimation according to another sours=ce said that 2009 was a more realistic date if Slovakia is to survive the stresses and strains of economic adjustment to Western European standards over the next few years.

We left Zdiar following the road through the length of the village to the main road. In Tatranske Kolina we turned left to Lendak along a charming, deserted country road. Everywhere we had a glorious view of the High Tatras and enjoyed the picturesque villages along the way. In Krasna Luka we stopped for coffee and then decided to lengthen the route by taking in Poprad. This town, which was not described in our Blue Planet Guide as one of the most attractive towns in Slovakia, turned out to be well worth while. The centre had been recently restored and we ate our lunch in an enclosed area in the centre of the town by a fountain. The plan was to make for Stara Lubovnia over land via Zakovce and Vrbo, but without a compass we got hopelessly lost on the tracks leading across fields. We ended up just south east of Poprad in Hoselec and then followed a minor road through Zakovce, Vrbo and Lubica, where we stopped to ask the way. The object of the exercise was to avoid the busy and rather narrow main road between Poprad and Spišska Bela, but it turned out to be impossible to take the back roads since they lead through a military training zone (Vojensky obvod). It was just as well to continue through Kezmarok and along the main road to Stara Lubovnia, since it was beginning to get late. We eventually arrived in Stara Lubovna at 7.00pm only to discover that our hotel was not directly in the town but another 5 kms down the road in L’ubovnianske Kúpele. The last 2 kilometres uphill in the cold and dark were most unwelcome.

Saturday 18 September
Early morning mist cleared to another fine day. After the best breakfast of all the places we stayed, we made for Levoca. After a rapid descent we reached the main road and headed east to Plavnica, turning right at the hairpin bend at the entrance of the village. We found ourselves on a deserted country road which led gently into the hills via Sambron and Sarisske Dravce. Another right turn at the T-junction took us to Brezovica where we took an alternative route through the village and past a derelict house. After Nizny Slavkov the road begin to rise and a very strenuous climb took us to Brutovce where we had magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. We were grateful for the long descent which followed all the way to Nizne Repase. After Vyšne Repaše the road started rising again for 5kms through conifer woods. To the left we caught a glimpse of the Spišske Hrad (Castle) and then followed a steep descent to the main road where we took a right turn up our last hill into Levoca. We were given directions to the Hotel Texon which I understood fairly well, but we hard to ask again at the bottom of the hill just outside the town. Two young girls accompanied us on their bikes to the Hotel. A note was stuck on the door telling us to pick up the key from the bar below. The hotel was situated amid high-rise flats; the nearest we had come to the inhabitants of the country throughout our tour.

The evening meal was in the Reštauracia Slovakia, which can be recommended for its good cuisine. The ascent back into Levoca was up a winding path, past a church and through narrow streets leading into the centre of this quaint old town.

Sunday 19 September
Bus journey to the Spišske Hrad. On getting out of the bus in Spišske Podhradie and trying to interpret the bus timetable, a young man called Maros spoke to us. He was working at one of the finer hotels in Levoca and was apparently returning to Krompachy, his home town, to see his girlfriend. He guided us to the castle and arranged to meet us the next day for a trip through the Slovenski Raj. The castle itself was impressive with an excellent view over the town below. The had been a castle in that area for the past 5000 years of so, the last one being burning down about 200 years ago. Four hours are recommended to visit the castle. In three hours we had seen the main features without pouring over the detailed explanations which were writing only in Slovak.

Monday 20 September
And so to Spišske Nova Ves where we were to meet Maros at the Hotel Preveza at 10.30. Maros was punctual and kitted out in good walking boots. He arranged taxis to take us to Hrabušice at a cost of about £1 per person. To enter the Slovenski Raj (Slovak Paradise) a day fee of 20 SK had to be paid. Our route was down the River Hornard to Cingov. At places the path disappeared to be replaced by a system of chains, ladders and metal steps along the cliff side over the river. This rather exciting route culminated in a visit to Tomašovsky Vyhl’ad, a high, unprotected cliff overlooking the River Hornad. We arrived in Cingov at about 7pm and then took a taxi back to our hotel. We were pleased to invite Maros to dine with us as a small token of our appreciation for what had turned out to be an outstandingly enjoyable and interesting day. The waiter explained to us that for £5 per head we could have a special roast goose diner, if we cared to order in advance for the next evening. This we did in high anticipation of an excellent meal the next evening.

Tuesday 21 September
Spišske is not a very attractive town, though it has a wide range of shops. After changing money and buying a few presents, we made our way to the market and then by bus (12 SK each way) back to Levoca to see the church of St Jacob with is myriad of medieval paintings and sculptures. The main attraction of the church is the 18.6 metre high altar piece made by Master Pavol of Levoca and reputedly the highest altar piece of its type in the world. Visiting times are by appointment and it is important to find out when these are from a guide book or tourist information centre.

The evening meal was amazing. Our table had been decked with a long wreath of holly and decorated with candles. The goose when it was carved proved to be delicious and was served with its own juice, cooked red cabbage and sauerkraut, dumplings and pancakes which had more the consistency of chapattis.

This two-star hotel had fairly modest rooms but had an excellent restaurant with a barbecue area outside and two swimming pools. Situated outside of Spišske itself it was an ideal starting point for excursion into the Slovenski Raj and other sporting activities.

Wednesday 22 September
The warn weather at the start of our holiday had gradually given way to cooler, cloudier weather. The first leg of our ride to Jaklovce was a 6 mile slog up hill followed by about 35 miles down hill through a long wide valley flanked by high hills and conifer forest. We took 11s in Mnišek and then continued our descent to Gelenica where se lunched in a bus shelter. The Penzion Skinautique was situated by a lake. We reached it at about 4pm. Although the hostel was given only one star, the service and standard of accommodation was of a very high standard. We were, however, the only guest staying there at this time of the year.

After freshening up and sorting out our gear, we made our way into Margecany to the main railway station to find out about train times to Brezno. This involved walking alongside a single-gauge railway line. As fat would have it, a train came along just as we were in the middle of the bridge across the lake. There was, however, plenty of room to the side and the train was travelling relatively slowly. We decided that for the following evening when we crossed the bridge, we would make sure that we had lights with us when crossing the bridge.

Thursday 23 September
Dull weather again. In spite of early morning rain we continued with our plan to travel by train to Brezno. This had been recommended by Maros who said that the views over the Low Tatra near Brezno were outstanding. Because of the weather there was not much to see, though we noticed through the low cloud that the Low Tatras had received their first fall of snow. The return journey cost 306 SK (about £6 per person). The train journey was slow (Dep 9.30am) and we had to change at Cervena Skala, where we waited in the café there for one hour (12.57pm – 13.50pm). We arrived in Brezno at 13.46pm and had only two hours in Brezno. We made our way from the railway station through a large housing estate into the centre of town. With little time to do a great deal, we made our way back to the station after stocking up with food for the next day.

We arrived in Margecany late – 7.45pm and it was already dark. When we arrived at the Penzion we expected no food, but the table had been beautifully decorated. Once we were sitting down, the cook arrived with a red rose of each of the ladies in the party and handed then over with a kiss. We were overwhelmed by such a display of hospitality. Not only did we eat like kinds, but we were treated like kings, too.

Friday 24 September
Again dull weather and an anxious wait for the minibus to arrive to transport us and our bikes back to Košice. At about 9.30am the minibus arrived with two cars. The cost of this service: 80 Euros or £10 each. We would never have covered the distance between Jaklovce and Košice in the time we had at our disposal. We dismantled out bikes and packed them back in their boxes, making sure this time that all potentially dangerous objects were not packed in out hand luggage. We had a fairly long wait at Košice airport since the flight did not leave till 2.40pm. The flight to Prague took one hour and then there was another long wait till 6.55. The plain was delayed and we did not in fact leave until about 7.30pm.

We contacted Flightlink once we had retrieved our boxes and waited to be picked up outside Terminal 2. The tour was over. All that remained was the long trek back to Plymouth. We arrived in Plymouth at about 1.45am,said farewells and looked back at three weeks very varied weeks packed with interesting people and places and above all good memories.