East meets west?

27th April - Borova Sihot Camping, Liptovsky Hradok, Slovakia

So its goodbye to Austria for now and on to the more eastern of the western Europe countries again. It was a quick drive along the freeway into Bratislava which is also set along the Danube river. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia (and use to be the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary) however quite small.

We found some parking along the river and checked out the old town which took us about 1 1/2 hours and before you know it we were in BB having lunch. It was a nice little town with quite a few bars and restaurants considering the size.

Smallest tour bus we have seen so far

 

We checked out the castle on the hill which gave us a view of the town.

After receiving some advice from the tourist place on possible places within Slovakia we again headed for the freeway and ended up at Liptovsky Hradok. It was a three hour drive with some really nice scenery and an amazing number of Kamakazi bugs. Felt like we were driving through the plague with bugs smashing into the windscreen and into poor old BB's forehead. It was quite something. The windscreen looked like BB was parked in the Collingwood's cheer squad carpark with Carlton flags on him, looked like massive lugies everywhere!

The caravan park is nice with the adjacent river and surrounded my mountains full of trees. We were close to the Tatra mountains.

Our spot

The toilets/bathrooms though were interesting. They were situated in the basement which of coarse had automatic lighting that lasted about 2 min. Once they shut off it was pitch black, I mean you cant see your hand in front of you. I had to finish my business using the light from the mobile to stop me from groping the walls to find my way around. Then onto the showers with the same problem, automatic lighting that gave you enough time to undress, hop in the shower, wash your pinky toe and hop out. Even then I think you would still be getting dressed in the dark.

This was however due to the location of the only private cubical which was too far from the sensor. If I chose to shower in the open, gym locker room type, showers with the chance of sharing my washing routine with a hairy Slovak then I may have been ok. This intimate moment could have then been enhanced with perhaps a nude chit chat and cup of coffee at the provided garden table and chairs in the shower room as well.

So it looked like a quick shower in the only private cubical in the dark was my  best option, and yes as it turns out no one entered the room so at one point there was a shivering naked aussie hurtling across the room waving his arms trying to get the lights back on so I could at least put my clothes on the correct way around. Thank god I didn't slip and knock myself out to be found slumped over the garden chair.

28th to 29th April, Camping Harenda, Zalopane, Poland

The intention today was to check out as much of Slovakia as we could before heading just over the border into Poland. There was a Spis Castle in Spisske Podhradie which is apparently one of Slovakia's main attractions.

Some driving shots for the day...

Bit of a rainy day but we were lucky to see some sunshine once we reached the castle and we walked up to check it out. Nice setting with a view of the small town and distant areas from the top. This location would be as far east as we would go on this trip (about 180km drive to the Ukraine border).

 

On the drive we started to notice the difference in the way people looked and immediately said it was ...more...eastern. Not with the intention of labelling someone purely because of where they come from but they did have a certain look that was hard to describe. They looked...... hard, like they have been through a dryer a few times, in the end we decided it was also the shape of the head, it was more square with sunken features, probably make good rugby players.

After lunch we headed towards Kezmarok to check out the wooden churches (which are another Slovakian and Poland tourist attraction). On the way we stopped in a little town called Levoca, to check out the largest wooden Gothic altar in the world. Ordinarily this wouldn't mean much to me but having been in many churches throughout the trip I thought it would be worth the stop. It was the church of St Jacobs and the alter was 18.6m high with of coarse scaffolding in front of it!! But you could still get the idea, it was big.

We drove through some terrible weather and reached Kezmarok to check out the wooden church, we first had to hibernate in the Lidl carpark until it eased and then went to check out the church. Which of coarse was closed on Mondays and actually only opened two days a week, something they could have put in the brochure.

After a semi irritating day we drove into Poland through the rain and the base of the Tatra mountains which would have been a nice drive if not for the rain. We checked into the caravan park with the intention on seeing Lake Morskie Oko (AKA lake yoko ono until we could remember the actual name) the next day which would take most of the day.



Lake Morskie Oko

The next day we hoped on the bus into the centre of town to find a ride to the lake, it was about a 45min bus ride up to the carpark and then we walked from there to the lake. The recommended time to walk up there was 2 hours and 25min. Not for Nat and Ben though, we set a quick pace and were up there (and back) in an hour and a half each way, not bad for 18kms.

Once we arrived we took some snaps of the lake, which to our surprise was still partly frozen over, and then started the walk around the lake which was highly recommended. We are glad we did! It was like a winter wonderland, well for travellers who are following the sun anyway. The track around the lake was covered in snow and with the ice on the lake and trees up the mountain it was really really pretty.

 

 

Once on the opposite side of the lake there is another steep climb up to a smaller lake that again everyone recommended. Unfortunately the path was mostly covered in snow and ice and not suitable for everyone. Luckily I had my waterproof shoes because most of the climb was through snow. It was a tough climb for an unfit traveller like myself but the view from the top was well worth it. The lake itself was just a smaller version of the bigger one but the view of lake Morskie Oko was awesome.

Some people had abandoned the climb with the possibility of rain coming and also seeing other people struggle the decent, one poor girl was in tears coming down. Nat was watching from the base which lead to some interesting text messages.

Nat: "U can see people from here that are sliding up and down the path. Be careful"
Nat: " "I can see you. Its starting to rain. Is it smart to keep going up?"
Ben: "Nearly there"  I had plenty of time to write back as I stopped on many occasions to catch my breath and my lungs as they leaped out of me and also take some progress shots
Nat: "U r not. Ur only halfway, just be careful"
Ben: "made it!"
Nat: "I saw. Come down. i'm watching avalanches. Not good...." Not really what I wanted to hear  

The ride down was fun too, just put one foot out and sit on the other one and slide until you can stop yourself on a rock or a tree. The plan worked well however stabilising yourself using your bare hands on the snow turned the initial cry of "yipppeeeeeee" to "yipppeeeeee....ah...ahhh..ahhhhhhhhhhhh f&%$k that hurts!" My hands were still tingly on the walk back to the car park.

 

We rewarded ourselves for the big day with a cheese burger on the way home, on the same day my sister was being waterboarded by her boot camp instructor as part of her "hell week"and rewarded herself with some celery with an oxygen dip but there you go. I like my system better.

One thing I must say (and Nat agrees) is that the Polish ladies are quite attractive, well the ones we saw were anyway. The rumours are true, although I wouldn't get caught looking too long cause they are usually accompanied by a scary, buff, shaven head bloke.

30th April to 1st May - Camping Clepardia, Krakow, Poland

Another beautiful drive from Zakopane into Krakow although the entrance in and through Krakow wasn't so nice. As the long weekend was approaching we managed to get caught up in the traffic as everyone was leaving for the day. We then wondered if the town would be dead on a public holiday but it was packed.

This wasn't the packed city......just another driving shot along the way

The next day we took the bus into the city, we bought the bus tickets from the driver and sat down. We then see three plane clothed "bus police" hop on the bus and they started to check the tickets. As soon as I saw them I knew that we were meant to validate it right away but for some reason we didn't this time. The mean looking dude said in broken English that we should have validated the ticket, which we then apologised and said we will do it now. But that wasn't satisfactory for this guy who then called over another meat head who could speak a little better English. He then repeated what the guy said and we again said "well we can validate it now". He then asked where we were from and that we would have to pay a fine. I then stated that I'm not paying a fine, the bus driver saw us take the tickets and sit down, this is our first day in Poland......"it says there in English" the skin head says.

Which was true, on some poster behind the crowd at the bottom in small writing (although it also says it on the back of the ticket he he he). He then suggests to get the police involved! Nat and I just sat there and said fine but we bought the ticket and didn't think we had to do anything with it. Eventually, with the thought of more trouble than its worth (for a 1euro ticket) he validated the tickets and they hopped off at the next station. If this is the security for bus tickets I don't want to be breaking any laws here that's for sure.

After our brush with the law we checked out the town and it was absolutely packed with locals and tourists. It was nice to see actually. There were some markets and stalls at the base of the castle and we tried some sour kraut and kebabs. We also checked the old Jewish part of the town but wasn't overly interesting.

 

We then headed for the bus, and again it was annoying. We were told the cost for the bus ticket by the caravan site and although we paid more for the trip on the way in (we thought the bus driver made a mistake) we had just enough cash. Once on the bus the driver insisted it was the next grade up and we fell an agonising 80 Zloti cents short for the bus ticket but he wouldn't budge and told us there was a ticket machine at the next station, so we hopped off and walked to the next station to then find out it didn't accept large notes and the credit card wasn't working. So we had to purchase a mars bar and a coke, for about 1 euro equivalent, got some change and finally made it home.

2nd May - Osweicim (Auschwitz parking), Poland

We tried to get up early and head off for Auschwitz but it didn't really happen. We took to the secondary roads and were restricted to 50 and 70km/hour which further delayed our arrival. We made it eventually and saw the HUGE line up.

Our spot, the weather suiting the occasion

Apparently between 10am and about 3pm you cant go into the Auschwitz camp without a guide. We decided to wait until 3pm, walk through (for free by the way) and check it out and then do the tour first thing in the morning to avoid the line up which worked pretty well in the end.

 

We have heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp but there are some interesting facts that we learnt from both the tour we did and our own walk through the next day. (This might be a bit long for those who are not interested but I need to document so I can remember later on)

 

 

 

Auschwitz is the German name for the town Osweicim, where the concentration camps were located. The camp location was chosen due to its railway network (for ease of transportation), its relatively obscurity to the rest of the world and the existing army barracks which could be used and renovated for the new camp.

The Auschwitz camp actually refers to three different camps in the one area. Auschwitz 1,2 and 3. Auschwitz 1 was the first camp originally built for 10,000 men. At its conception it was not an extermination camp but a prison for polish political prisoners, as the war raged on it was used for all "Enemies of the state". It received its first prisoners on June 14, 1940. The number of prisoners swelled to almost 20,000 by 1942 and hence the requirement for a larger camp.

 

Many prisoners were shot, hung or starved to death in Auschwitz I, they then experimented with Cyclone B (used in the camp to kill vermon) on 600 POWs and 250 of the sick from camp hospital. They needed to find a method that was quick and "less bloody",they found it and used it in the larger gas chambers of Birkenau. They did build a "small" temporary gas chamber at Auschwitz I to I think further perfect the method, it was not used once that larger Birkenau was built.

The wall (reconstructed) where many executions took place before the gas technique was used. The first gassing was in the building to the right which they called the "death block"

In some of the exhibitions you got to see certain belongings of the prisoners such as suitcases, glasses, prayer rugs, shoes, cooking pots and pans. You also saw piles of hair that the Germans used to make cloth and clothing and empty Cyclone B canisters (used for gassing). All eye popping to say the least.

 

In 1941 construction of Auschwitz II Birkenau (and Auschwitz III which is the smallest of the two) commenced with the purpose of mass extermination which was in full swing in 1942. Auschwitz II - Birkenau is only about 3km from the main camp and about 20 times bigger with over 300 buildings.

View from the watch tower at the entrance of the camp

The number of prisoners grew to 100,000 in August 1944. We got to see the accommodation buildings and the sanitary block. A cool story about the resistance involved the cleaners of the sanitary block (literally scooping the waste from the "seats" into buckets) as the SS commanders and officers would not touch them or be near them (fear of catching something) and they wouldn't supervise the sanitary block so they were pretty much on their own which allowed them to receive and deliver information between prisoners.

 

Female living quarters, the guide asked which layer would be best to sleep. The Answer is the top, although you may get the water from the rain, you don't get the faeces from the people above dripping on you. Their diets were very poor and food such as their morning soup was made with a mix of faeces which of course made everyone very ill.

The amenities block, the concrete "toilets" are literally just hollow containers that require emptying

 

 

The tour guide was great and had some stories that we didn't pick up from the day before. The Jews (and other prisoners) were told that they could start a new life here and so they brought pots and pans to cook and timber to build their houses. As soon as they got off the train (which travelled right into the Birkeanu camp) they were told to drop all their belongings and the healthy went to one side for work and the sick, old and young went to the other side for extermination. Around 80% were exterminated and had no clue until they were locked in the gas chamber. It was unbelievable to be standing on the platform that we have seen in so many photos.

Typical cart used for transport, some journeys were for days on end. Some mothers smothered their child to death cause they new they would not survive the trip. Many adults also perished before they arrived.

In between the platforms looking back at the entrance

They were told they were going for bath and asked to strip naked but to keep their shoes together with their clothes and use the hooks so they could easily get them when they got out. Once naked the officers left the room and they were gassed. The crazy thing we learnt was that the SS employed certain prisoners to work for them, called Capo from the "special detachment" group. Basically Jews that had to comfort their fellow man into the gas chambers and then drag the bodies into the crematoria, sometimes their family members all with the knowledge that they will face the same fate the next week.

One of the remains of the gas chambers, entrance to the left and the main room in the middle of the picture.

Before the crematoria's were used, they used to burn the bodies in the open air (due to the stench and smoke they opted for the crematoria to further conceal and protect the secret) which is why they told the Jews to bring timber, they used it to stack on top of the bodies when burning it. They used the ashes for agricultural purposes as well.

The tour guide got angry at one tourist for smiling when getting a photo taken, I guess its not really the place for a smile. We even saw one lady take a selfi in front of the camp which we thought was kind of odd.

All in all nearly 6 million Jews were murdered during the war (just under 3 million were from Poland with the next biggest being Holland with just over 1 million) and over 1.3 million jews, poles, gypsies, soviet prisoners and other prisoners were deported to this site and 1.1 million were killed, 90% of these were Jews.

"Unknowingly I was a cog in the wheel of the great extermination machine created by the Third Reich. The machine has been smashed to pieces, the engine broken and I, too, must now be destroyed. The world demands it"

"..But whenever use is made of what I have written, I beg that all those passages relating to my wife and my family, and all my tender emotions and secret doubts, shall not be made public. Let the public continue to regard me as the blood-thirsty beast, the cruel sadist and the mass murderer; for the masses could never imagine the commandant of Auschwitz in any other light. They could never understand that he, too, had a heart and that he was not evil"

Rudolf Hoess - Commandant of Auschwitz. (Taken from his autobiography I purchased at the site)

3rd to 4th May - Camping Olimpijska, Wroclaw, Poland

I don't think Poland got the message that it was spring, it was damn cold last night. I had a clingy koala on my back for most of the night.

We made our way to Wroclaw, which is sort of pronounced "vrotzlav", it wasn't all that big and didn't take us long to park up BB and check out the town.

Our spot

The main square was really nice and similar to Krakow. We walked through the island of churches, had some sushi (recommended on trip advisor) and then headed back to BB where we would meed Dave and Michelle.

When the travelling family arrived Dave and I went to check out the speedway which is apparently big here in Poland. Nats dad actually went to a similar event when he was travelling last year. What looks like a football match, sounds like a football match isn't necessarily a football match. Although you wouldn't know it with security checks at every door (security that you don't mess with by the way), fans with supporter shirts and flags and singing their songs across to the rival fans, who of coarse are allocated a caged section far removed from the home team. You know your approaching the East when the common form of crowd control is this......

Dave's photo of the typical crowd control, no one seemed too shocked by it

We then headed back to BB to find the girls on their merry way to a merry night, had some awesome grub (prepared by the one and only Michelle) and had another fun night in Frosty. We'll miss these little catch ups with only one more planned catch up to go.

The toilets in the camp site were interesting, I think some of the gang chose for a bush toilet instead of going in as it looked like a scene out of the latest Saw movie. Add some flickering light with the faint buzzing sound, some old doctors utensils and a trail of blood and you've got yourself a thriller. As Dave pointed out, it was something about the hat rack....

Tomorrow we would head to Berlin and finally start to explore Germany. I think if I was to stay here any longer I would be forced to shave my head, look scary and head to the gym.