E3: Slovakia Part 2

The E3 now makes a huge loop of almost 170 km along the Polish-Slovak border - that can be shortcutted by a trail of mere 2 km. And that is what I did because I wanted to have more time for the rest of my trip. But what I heard from other hikers this loop is definitely worth it if you have the time. Still I followed the borderline for quite a while but because Slovakia and Poland are both Schengen countries you only realise by these white markstone that there is an international border. I even camped right on the border line!

My next rest stop was Presov, a nice historical town from where I made a daytrip by bus to Bardejov, which is UNESCO world heritage. It was now end of July and freaking hot especially in my hotel room with no aircondition! But besides sightseeing I had another good reason to go to Bardejov: Anne and Ulli, two other German EB hikers had heard of my 50th birthday and had left me a little present in a pension in Bardejov. I was so excited when the hotel owner handed this little parcel over to me that Ulli had painted so nicely with a view of Bardejov town square. Inside was a bottle of Kofola, the Slovak version of Coke, chocolate, some candy bars and nuts. By that time I had not even met Anne and Ulli yet and still these total strangers had left me a present. I was so overwhelmed by gratitude!

In Presov I met up with Balazs, a Hungarian hiker whom I had met the previous year in Budapest. He had taken a day off work to hike with me for a couple of days and it was such a joy to have company again. We talked and talked - and hiked way too little! But it was so hot that hiking was very demanding and many water sources were dry or just a trickle. When we came across a well we each dumped a bucket of water over each others head to cool off a bit! Although the trail was not very difficult it was a constant up and down!

I took another rest day in historical Kosice where I was very happy about the air condition in my hotel! Kosice is a beautiful city and due to the summer heat the fountain in the main square was the biggest tourist attraction! The E3 now continues along the Slovak-Hungarian border on the Slovak side, but I crossed into Hungary as early as possible to continue on my beloved Kektura, a trail that circles around the entire country and which I had hiked the year before.

E3: Slovakia Part 1

Slovakia offered some real landscape highlights! It started already in the tiny mountain range of Súľovské vrchy or Sulower Berge in German where one view point came after the other - unfortunately linked by some steep trail!


Descending some more very steep trail I arrived in Rajece Teplice, a posh and tacky spa town. The spa complex is called Aphrodite and seems to be a Slovak version of Las Vegas! I arrived just before the local supermarket closed and sat down at the town square watching tourists who seemed to come from all over the world - even including some Muslim women with head scarves - a rare sight in this part of the world. I would have liked to stay one night and relax in the thermal pools but now in high season everything was booked solid - and would have been expensive anyways.

In Strecno I wanted to go shopping again because I was completely out of food and nearly got a heart attack when a billboard sign said that the supermarket had already closed for the afternoon ... Luckily the billboard was outdated and the supermarket still open! Strecno even had a small visitor centre where I could hang out in the shade but had to pay for the toilet - which I also needed in order to get water. What followed was a long and very steep ascent out of the valley of the river Waag with spectacular views and a problematic search for a campsite. On top of the mountain ridge there were plenty of scenic spots but all were in plain view from the trail where even shortly before sunset several hikers were still on their way to the next hut! But I was lucky and found a flat spot on an otherwise steep slope.

Next day brought some of the most spectacular hiking of the entire trip: I was traversing the Mala Fatra, a National Park. The entire day I was walking on top of the crest, mostly even on knife-edge - although the trail was really easy due to the amount of tourists! In the evening I had to rush to get out of the National Park for wild camping but other hikers did not seem to bother: Even briefly before sunset a bunch of Slovak hikers entered the park and it was apparent they were about to free camp, too!

A couple of nights later I was in for a big surprise with wild camping. Again I was hiking along the broad crest but could not find a hidden campsite because the whole ground was overgrown with blueberry bushes. I settled for a place underneath a tree right next to the track and figured that late at night or early in the morning no one would come along. I was completely wrong. At five in the morning a jeep came rumbling along the crest and stopped only one hundred metres away from me. Several people jumped out - and I was suddenly scared by a loud explosion. People came running along the trail and soon I was discovered. And then another explosion!

It took me a while to realise what was going on. This was a gang of blueberry pickers (legal or illegal) and they had fired a rocket to scare away any wild animals! I quickly packed up and had a very early start this morning. I had just walked a couple of hundred metres when the next surprise was waiting for me: an adder was lying right in the middle of the trail sunning itself. I quickly passed. My quick pace was stopped pretty soon by this mud desaster on the trail. Farmers were cutting down trees and their vehicles had turned the trail into a mud bath. They had to work with horses to get the downed trees out of the forest because the ground was destroyed so much.

Right at the border with Poland Slovakia had a nice surprise for me: the thermal bath of Oravice right on trail. Although it was almost 30 Celsius in the sun I enjoyed the hot water - at least as long as the sun was hidden behind the clouds ... This was holiday time and the pool was chock full with people which I found quite entertaining - although I was quite jealous of those bathers with an umbrella. I had not had that much foresight!