Slovakia September 2016

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September

Going out a few days in advance of the group gave me the chance to explore the first tour location, Banská Stiavnica - where the group only spend one night, more extensively. And what a discovery! Not only is the town in the middle of an eroded multi-facetted volcano (OK, 16 - 6 million years old...), but it is riddled with mine workings which must make the ground under the town resemble Swiss cheese. Just beside the hotel is the entrance to an adit that passes right under the town and served as a drainage channel to the workings. There is even a shaft (fenced off) at the side of a central square in the town.

I arrived as the main annual town festival, the Salamander, was packing up - just a few stalls remained, and I saw only one person dressed up - apparently the previous night was the climax, with students dressed up in old miners' clothes. A giant wooden Salamander (symbol of the 'ancient origin' of the miners) is also paraded around.

Banská Stiavnica main street

Tiled design on the side of a house - the salamander and mining tools
Not surprisingly the area is a Geo Park, and on Sunday afternoon I followed one of the signed trails. Unfortunately the trail is in need of  renovation as some of the panels were missing, and the vegetation is beginning to obscure others. Nevertheless with the help of a booklet which contained information from the panels I was able to fill in the gaps - the panels had English translations, but the booklet had German translations - of what seemed to me to be degree-level information about the volcanic geology and subsequent injection of mineral ores i.e. I could only understand half of it. Almost.

The other delight of the town, apart from the variety of fine buildings, is the range of interesting coffee shops, bars and restaurants.

Disused mine winding gear above Banská Stiavnica

Monday September 12

In my quest to prepare for the tour I drove the 2˝ hour journey to our next stopping point, Levoca. The journey was scenic - winding roads through forested valleys (behind the inevitable lorry, tractor etc.) - until I reached the motorway near Poprad where the High Tatras made their first appearance & the sight was stunning. Because of their limited extent they seem to rise vertically from the plain, like some overgrown crazy castle; but no time to stop - that will come later.

Levoca still has its 13th century layout in the centre, and the city walls are almost intact. Intact they may be, but they are difficult to see in places due to the amount of building or fencing off that has occurred outside the walls in the centuries since. 

Historic Town Hall, Levoca

Kosice Gate, Levoca
However, one gate still stands intact & proud, and a section of wall can be seen from the main road that now runs along outside this part of the town. Inside the old walls there are some fine buildings constructed after a 16th century fire had destroyed the centre.
Levoca is very proud of the tower of St James Basilica, even though it was only constructed in the 19th century. The whole church was covered in scaffolding, but it was still possible to go up the tower with a guide, entering via a low plywood covered walkway as protection (from falling masonry?). From a photographer's viewpoint the fact that all the windows at the top were glazed, and covered with chicken wire, was a bit of a disappointment. The haze also meant that the distant mountains of the High and Low Tatras and the Slovensky Raj (Slovakian Paradise) were hardly visible.

Caged view from the tower of St James Basilica, Levoca
 


Tuesday September 13

Adit entrance in Banská Hodruša, the only working gold mine in the area (re-opened 1990's)
Time to drive back to Vienna airport and meet the group, and, sadly, to give back the BMW hire car that I had (instead of the VW Polo I had booked!). En route I passed more evidence of the Banska area's mining past with several imposing adit entrances tucked into the hillside beside the road.  

I met our local guide, Miro, at the airport and then the 14 (happy) walkers ready for the journey back to Banská Stiavnica. The contrast between the flat plains around Vienna & Bratislava (never seen so many wind turbines as in the area before the border) with fields of ripened (i.e black) sunflowers and corn, and the rolling wooded hills as we approached Banská Stiavnica was great. Unfortunately it looks as though Japanese Knotweed has found a happy home alongside the rivers and streams here too.

The sky became very black, and for a short while heavy rain fell, but as we climbed the volcanic hills of Banská Stiavnica it dried up and the world looked lovely again!
 

Wednesday  September 14

Another fine, sunny day dawned and Miro led us on a tour through the historic mining town centre, and then out on the walk I had tried out on the previous Sunday, but in reverse. He told us all the significant things, and more, so I didn't need to say anything at all! We passed two reservoirs, or 'Tajchs', mainly built to provide a power source for the mines - they used hydraulic power to pump water out of the mine, for example. People were swimming in both pools, and very tempting it looked (but of course we were unprepared......).

Miro explaining the local history to the group in Banská Stiavnica

Salamanders again, this time with gold nuggets, on some wall art in the town
After lunch back in the hotel it was time to board the coach for the transfer to Levoca. The views were spoilt a) by falling asleep in the coach, and b) by the High Tatras being enveloped in black storm clouds. However it remained dry all evening - just the visibility remained poor.
 

Thursday September 15

Today's walk took us into the Slovensky Raj, the Slovakian Paradise, a limestone massif with spectacular gorges and caves. The walk up the Sucha Bela Gorge was very short on the map - maybe 4 km to the far end. However it took almost 3 hours to do this distance as the narrow stream bed was rocky and strewn with fallen trees, and the 'impassable' sections were furnished with wooden walkways (in effect horizontal ladders, where good balance was definitely required), chains over (wet) rocky sections, and a variety of wooden and metal ladders of varying degrees of length and verticality. Fast movement was not an option!

  

Sucha Bela Gorge - stream crossings, fallen trees and wooden walkways - and queues

Sucha Bela Gorge - some impressive ladders
Due to the popularity of this National Park, and this walk in particular, even though it was out of the main season there were still queues before the difficult sections, and always faster groups of people wanting to overtake. As the walk is one-way going back was not an option! Still, we all made it to the top for a welcome picnic lunch, and then a more relaxing trail back down to the car park.

Friday September 16

Friday dawned bright (again) with mist hanging in the valley below the town. We headed back out in the coach to the Slovakian Paradise area to tackle another river gorge, this time with a significant river, the Hornad River, in it. This meant no walking in the river bed, but using walkways constructed out of 'grill-pan trays' bolted into the cliffs. But first we climbed up to a viewpoint at the top of the gorge, with great views over the forested hillsides, and down into the gorge. 

Stepping out (1) above the Hornad River

Stepping out (2) above the Hornad River
The main objective of the day was lunch in a forest restaurant located high on the forested hills and adjacent to a ruined abbey - the group split three-ways depending on the individuals' penchant for balancing on metal trays, holding floppy chains and climbing (more) ladders. All routes eventually led to lunch, however! It was surprising how many people were tackling these challenging ways, and dismaying how many people were in the queue for drinks ahead of us at lunchtime!

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