Fancy feeling like Indiana Jones?

We are very happy going back to trekking. Our route for today is called Sucha Bela gorge. It is the first of our three treks we have planned to do in Slovakia, and also the one which sounds more exciting. Why?

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This route has been described as challenging. It consists of climbing up the gorge on a series of ladders with technical aid. Technical aid? What do they mean by that? Do we need special equipment? Would this be an introduction to Via Ferrata? Later on we found out that, as long as, you have good, waterproof hiking boots you would be okay.

We arrived last night at the car park of Podlesock, where the walk starts. The place is quite popular. There are a few restaurants, bars, and a campsite, They were all pretty busy. A party went on until late, it must have been around midnight when the music stopped. But we didn’t join them, we had a serious hike to attempt the next day (or most likely, we are just too old for that sort of thing).

It is 9.00am. It is already bright and sunny, but also very sticky, it promises to be a hot day. Luckily, the route runs through the woods, so it should be quite shady.

A few groups of people have already kicked off. It is Saturday and Slovaks love walking. Perhaps this walk will not be as isolated or strenuous as we thought.

After ten minutes up the road, we get to the bottom of the gorge and we are presented with these timber ladders. They are quite wet and slippery, so pretty dodgy.

We also encounter the first bottleneck of people. They seem to be intimidated by the look of the ladders, and they are taking their time to work out their strategy to attempt them. Some people are wearing trainers, others jeans. Have they read anything about this walk? Trainers are likely to get wet. Ditto the jeans. Moreover, jeans are the worst possible gear you can choose when going for a walk. They are not comfortable and they take ages to dry.

Finally, they realise we are waiting for them and let us pass.

We continue at a brisk pace, we continue to pass people.

In places, the ladders look quite worn out, some steps are missing. Is this because of rain, because the ladders are too old, badly maintained or, have they supported too much weight? Whatever it is, I find these gaps quite challenging. Jumping is the best way to negotiate them with my short legs.

The fun is now starting. We are facing a vertical wall which we have to climb on metal ladders screwed to the rocks. How secure are they? No idea, we just hope they are. No extra technical aid is provided. We let the people who are ahead of us finish first. We are not interested in finding out how much weight these ladders can support.

And finally my turn. This is more intimidating than I expected. I have to concentrate hard not to lose my balance and always keep three points of contact.

Gosh, the path is getting narrower, the left rock is pushing me off balance. I am not liking this.

On the other hand, Gary quite cocky, is taking a picture of me between his legs.

Panic over. Time for a sip of water to help recover.

But the resting period didn’t last long. I have now to face another steep climb. This time, I have an extra chain to hold on.

Although, half way up, the chain disappears. A bit too soon if you ask me.

A timber ladder now turns into a metal one which is a bit more secure. Do I look now a bit cocky or what? Who needs technical aid, eh?

I have spoken to soon. We continue to climb but nothing is provided here. I am now glad to have my poles. I wonder how the people in trainers and jeans will cope when they get here.

And a few more ladders. I am getting good at this.

Keep going up. Don’t step in the middle, step on each side where the screws are, there it will be less likely to break. Gary keeps reminding me.

We are gradually getting closer to the top, steep climbs get rare, we walk more on flatter paths.

We have passed quite a few people and have maintained a brisk pace, so we can now enjoy the solitude and peacefulness of the woods.

Before we start climbing again.

And this time, the steepest climb. This is where most people get held up. This is when many may think, ‘was this really such a good idea?’ Now more than ever, it is wise to wait for other people to get off the ladder. If it fails, you have no chance.

It may be the most intimidating climb, but nonetheless the most beautiful. We are climbing up following a long, powerful, noisy waterfall. Amazing

It is now my turn. By now, I have become more confident in going up these ladders, but I am also quite tired. We have been climbing for two hours.

I get splashed as I get closer to the waterfall, which I welcome, as it is so hot.

And the climbing and the ladders are over, for now.

We take our time to recover whilst we walk to the top of the gorge. Such an amazing experience.

To our surprise, the top consists of a large car park. Dozens of teenagers are hanging around, having some lunch. Have they been driven to here or have they climbed Sucha Bela?

We continue along the top, going through endless agricultural fields,

enjoying the views of the valley

Such a stunning landscape. We are falling in love with the Slovak countryside, or is it because we have not been outdoors for a while?

The fun has not ended just yet. Through the woods, we are dropping to another valley, which runs along another river, back to where we parked. More ladders and bridges are waiting for us.

But before that, we have stop for a quick lunch. Thousands of flies are after our food or rather, our blood. They are so annoying. We finish lunch quicker than we planned.

And there it is, another amazing valley.

Soothing and refreshing.

And the ladders reappear.

Although this time, they are much flatter as we are not climbing anything but just following the river.

To cross the river, we have to use wobbly bridges, like Indiana Jones’ style. A sign warns ‘no more than three people at the time, please’.

It is quite intimidating as you look down.

A metal extension to the rock has been provided to negotiate this vertical wall.

From time to time, I relax and I admire the landscape. The bright and colourful vegetation is fantastic.

Are you having fun? Gary keeps asking. Of course I am.

Although it was a shorter way back in distance, it has taken longer than going up the gorge, as we have come across lots of people coming from the other direction. It has felt like being back at Piccadilly Circus.

And going through the final bit, it is like walking on air.

It is a bit trick when getting off.

And back down. It is 16.00. We have been walking 6 hours. Another 15 more minutes and we will be back at Dora.

As it is quite early, we will drive up to Levoca, a cute little town 10 kms drive, where we will spend the night. It is also near to Spis castle, one of the largest castles in Central Europe. But we will leave this one for tomorrow. I think we have done enough for the day.

We drive through Levoca, but it is absolutely impossible to park. There must be a festival going on this weekend. The town is packed with people, most cars are parked on each side of the road, as most of the streets are closed to traffic. So, we change our plans, we will go to the castle this afternoon and visit Levoca tomorrow morning when we hope the town may have calmed down a bit.

The castle is only five minutes drive, but it is noticeable  from a very far distance.

It looks spectacular.

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The closer you get, the more impressive it looks.

We get to the ticket office at 17.00, we have one hour to explore before they close. There are some people around but not that many, as it is nearly the end of the day.

We go to the top first and leave the courtyard and the walls to the end.

Something smells nice. The kitchen is around the corner. It has been redecorated with furniture and utensils of the time.

A woman has dressed up in traditional clothes and she is cooking pancakes for the guests. We get one each. The spread choice: garlic or honey. We go for the latter. They are not bad, a bit crispy and slightly overdone, but then it is a freebie!

As we go up, the views look promising. There are still quite a few people at the entrance, they seem to be hesitating whether to come up or stay outside the bar having an ice cold drink.

The climb up to the tower is a bit tricky but we get once again technical aid to make the climb easy.

The green, clean, smooth Slovak landscape is what we are going to remember most.

And finally we get to the top, the breath-taking views don’t disappoint us.

The agricultural fields look they have been perfectly drawn from here.

On the left hand side, a bit of woods. In the horizon, the national park where we have been playing at Indiana Jones today.

The layout of the castle is absolutely fantastic. The main building sits on the top of the hill.

The courtyard extends down the hillside.

Time to go for a wander around the walls.

In the courtyard are many little mammals, Souslik we think, a little bit like a chipmunk. Very cute, they stand up like Meer cats and then run fast to their burrows. They are everywhere, foraging amongst the grass. GDR

Apparently you can get to see snakes here (of course, not dangerous). Gary has also spotted one earlier. I get quite annoying with him as has not bothered to tell me. He knows how much I like reptiles.

Well I think I did, swimming in a lake, but it was one before I could tell. GDR

Anyway, our time is up. Let’s go back to the entrance before they lock us up for the night.

From the castle we have made out a football pitch with an empty car park. That would be a great place for our stopover.

The perfect spot, nice and quiet. Tomorrow is Sunday. We are only hoping there won’t be a football match early in the morning.

SM