THOUGHTS TO COUNT
.............hopefully counted since april 25, 05 ...........
8.28.2005
  A quick one.
Not too much in the way of creativity these days...I barely get the time and energy to run the whole update...Something with this blog may have to change soon, there seems to be growing risk of routine posting.

I left Budapest on Wednesday morning to head to Slovakia to hike the High Tatras. The plan here was to get to the mountain town of Stary Smokovec from where I would stash the pack, grab my hiking gear and head into the mountains for a few days. There are mountain 'Chatas' all throughout the Tatras at different points along the trail. They are small chalets with bunk beds and restaurants. You can use them as jump-off spots to continue hiking or mountain climing or whatever you're into. My agenda had me reaching Teryho chata, a four hour hike to 2000m for the first night on Wednesday, then hiking for the whole day Thursday, sleeping again in Teryho and then coming back to Stary Smokovec friday morning where I would take the bus into Poland and onto Krakow. Agenda got tossed though because I decided to hike with a guy I met from NYC and it was also a bit rainy in the mountains. We took our time and made it about one third of the way to Teryho chata before it got dark, so we ended up staying the night at another chata.

I had been getting a bit sick in Budapest (probally from exposure to some exotic germs, dancing in the rain, etc....Barna..:) and now after eating a questionable meal in the Chata and drinking some liquor with petrolesque qualities, the symptoms fully manifested themselves. As I've already told people, and if you've heard you'd recognize the expression that I'm killing through overuse, I had to 'give up the ghost' at some point during the night, forcing exit to my not well appreciated Slovakian Ghoulash. Next day the plan was to continue up to Teryho chata in the morning and do some hiking in the area all day. Made it up to Teryho through a difficult 2.5 hour hike, needing a toilet most of the way, and once finally there all I could do was rest in bed, try to fend of the fever and such. I felt better Friday morning after about 18 hours in bed, so I got an early start and made it back down to civilization by 10:30. Friday was really the only day I was able to enjoy in the mountains. The other days were cloudy with little visibility and I had the sickness. Friday everything had cleared up and I even saw a few mountain deer?? and other wildlife. The idea of these little chatas is great though, and I think I would like to take another chance at the mountains sometime in the future...you can really live well. They are well supplied, with everything liquor, beer and all types of food..It is actually someones' job to carry kegs of beer on their back for 2.5 hours from the base to these chatas at 2000m...

I picked up the bus (extremely crowded) in Stary Smokovec and heading to the border town of Lysa Polana where I crossed into Poland on foot. From there, a minibus to Zakopane in Poland and then again, another bus into Krakow. Journey time 4hrs. Cost: $5.

In Krakow, I didn't have any clue. This officially began the vauge part of my trip. I bought a map at a gas station which to now I've used once. I took the tram to the center and found an internet cafe and called Tim, who I was staying with friday night. Another couchsurfer. Rendezvous'ed with T at a bar and scurried to the apartment to drop off the bags, take a shower, etc. Tim made us both dinner: good. I met Tim's dog, which is not really his because he is dog sitting, but the owner, from what I hear isn't coming back, so it kind of is now...Lobster is frantic. Lots of jumping and arm biting. We left the place to meet up with some of Tims friends in the Jewish neighborhood. Very trendy place, like the Montreal Plateau. Disregarding the orgy of tourism in Krakow that accounts for much of the english you hear, there are a number of ex-pats living here which bring in a whole other section of the english. This is good because a polish word like 'Rzesow' is pronounced 'Jeshov'...not quite easy to pick up. I know the ex-pat story because Tim is from the NE USA and many of his acquaintances are ex-pats. From the Jewish neighborhood, we move onto a club where the DJ plays laughable sequences. Try Micheal Jackson's Bad followed by Land Down Under by some Lionel Richie tune. Try watching people dance emphatically to this and then try to join in. I don't even know why Lionel Richie was popular 25 years ago....why now?...I was tired so I took off to Tims place with his keys. This caused a small confusion the next day cause I didn't know how to locate Tim and had to stash his keys somewhere outside and let him know by email...one couchsurfing problem.

This is getting long...phew...

Yesterday, Pawel came in from up north where he is working, just like I did in Italy. We spent the day checking out the area (Pawels been here like 10 times, so I didn't feel lost), had a dinner of about 50 perogis, and went out bar hopping to have some beers. A calm night. It was great to see someone familiar and get the chance to BS like we were back in MTL.

Today we headed out and did some more lazy cruising around Krakow. Went to Wawel Castle and also had some more good food. Krakow is terrific because it is a small little intimite place, it is all original (the whole city survived bombing in WWII), there are a lot of shops and restaurants and clubs, it has good cosmopolitan culture and everything is dirt cheap. Dinner for instance: a big plate of food at a sit down restaurant and a .5 L beer cost $6 CN. This is in the center. Really cheap..

So, I'm taking it easy in the hostel now. Tonight I'll just read and go to bed early. Tomorrow, I think I'll head out to Auschwitz and do the depressing but interesting tour before heading back to Krakow for the day. Maybe some shopping and bumming around before heading to Prague on the overnight train. That may be the last stop before Munich, I'm not sure...I'm getting a bit fed up from moving around so much.

Yeah, it wasn't too much of a quick update...It was actually pretty tasking to produce...I'll have to share some more once I get the pictures going though...

P
 
Comments:
wow, it's been a while since I peeked at your blog... I just cruised through your last few posts. Fantastic. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself... see you in a few weeks!
 
Hard to believe the journey's about to end. Can't wait to read about Prague. Be safe.
Love
M :)
 
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