I was so ridiculously happy and chilled out when I left Romania on Thursday that my first experience of racism went completely over my head.
It took me about 15 minutes after the event to realise that a white van man was basically telling me to fuck off out of his country. Haha…I thought he either wanted to race me (not my thing) or ride Trinity but after thinking about what the women said that he had asked to translate for him, I realised that was not the case. He must have been so disappointed to get no reaction from me outside of my smiles and clear confusion about him wanting to ‘help me to the UK’.
After 36 counties I’m probably luck that’s my first negative experience but this just confirms my belief that most people are good. You’ll definitely see that when you disarm them with a great big smile! That’s my weapon of choice anyway – kindness! 🙂
Feeling amused by my own ‘innocence’ and slightly sad about the guys limiting beliefs; off to the border Trinity and I went. The border crossing took about 20 minutes so it wasn’t too bad. From there I was heading to Debrecen. I decided to stay just outside of the city because there was parking and the hotel looked great. I fancied something nice that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg. Staying just outside is the city helped!
The little hotel, Boutique Hotel Kristály, was fabulous; clearly very new. I felt so spoiled! They didn’t serve dinner so I walked about 600m down the road to a restaurant. I had a pork dish that the waitress recommended. It was good and with a beer just over 7 Euro. Result!
I was down for breakfast at 7am and asked the receptionist for advice on what to do that day. She confirmed the plans that I had already considered, partially because she was from one of the towns, so that firmed things up in my head.
My first stop would be Debrecen, which is lovely. The main street which passes the Parliament Buildings is particularly nice, so I kept within walking distance of that, partly because my phone was about to die and I needed to be able to retrace my steps if it did.
From Debrecen I went to Sarospatak, which has a fabulous old fortress. I didn’t go into the museum but I did walk around the fortress and it was quite impressive. From there I went to Hercegkút to what I thought was an eco village with grass roofs but having been there I think it’s a cemetery. Hmmm, I still need to investigate what it actually is. The little huts built into the side of the mountain with the grass roofs are pretty cool though!
I’ve included some photos of Hungary below.
As the day was ticking along I decided to head straight to the High Tatras; the mountains that separate Slovakia and Poland. This would give me the chance to have a quiet day in the mountains, which turned out to be a fantastic decision.
There was no border crossing between Hungary and Slovakia – YAY! The border was marked by a sign along a gorgeous country road – it didn’t take me long to realise that I was going to love Slovakia!
The towns that I passed are similar to Hungary; lovely but lacking the character of the Romanian towns (I really loved Romania). The countryside however is magnificent! It’s like Switzerland but with more lush, green farmland. It was jaw dropping from start to finish.
I had no idea where to stay in Slovakia so I went onto Bookings.com to find the most expensive hotel in the High Tatras and then choose one close to it. My thinking was that expensive hotels always have great locations.
It was too late to go hiking after settling into the hotel, so I went exploring and found a little restaurant to have dinner. I asked the waitress for a recommendation – I wanted a local dish and of course to try out a local beer. She suggested a cheese dumpling and pork dish so I went with that. It was delicious! I have definitely realised that they like pork in Eastern Europe.
Saturday was most definitely the highlight of my trip. After an early breakfast I headed to the visitor centre. My thinking was to catch the gondola up the mountain and have a little walk around before I had to check out of the hotel at 11:00. I wasn’t quite sure where I was meant to go so I just followed some hikers. I quickly realised that I was heading on a hike and not to the gondola. Okay, I thought, let’s see where this goes.
After a stunning 45 minute hike up the mountain I reached a gorgeous waterfall. It was such an amazing setting. My heart and soul were rejoicing and I couldn’t stop smiling!
I sat on a rock under the waterfall and just watch two little kids playing on the rocks. They looked so happy; it was beautiful. I captured the moment in my mind and on camera and with a new spring in my step started making my way down the mountain.
About a 10 minute walk from the waterfall I stopped to take a video, which I included below. It was a reminder to myself to spend more time in the mountains, I am at my happiest in the mountains, but I also wanted to share the moment with my friends and family. It’s my way of showing them the world through my eyes.
The hotel that I stayed in was okay but not great so I wanted to move somewhere else, ideally somewhere slightly closer to Wroclaw, which is where I needed to get to yesterday. I found a hotel on-line in a tiny village that had a great view of the High Tatras. The hotel was the cheapest on Hotels.com so I booked it through there (it’s always worth checking a few apps for the best deal).
The 34 room hotel, Hotel Montford, was a little dated but the view was spectacular! Everything faced the mountain. It was the perfect place to spend my last full day on my trip. I had arrived at the hotel at 2pm, the earliest I could check in, so I had time to shower and replace the GoPro mount on Trinity before spending the afternoon outside on the terrace overlooking the mountain. It was perfect!
I sat on the terrace for a few hours, enjoying two beers (Saris which I loved), before heading into the restaurant to have dinner. I was savouring every second of the experience!
For the first time on this trip I struggled to sleep, so I watched the sun starting to rise at 5am. I was ready to go back to work and my life in London but a part of me didn’t want the trip to finish – there’s was much more I want to see and explore. As I lay in bed overlooking the mountains I couldn’t help but think that this was only the start of my journey!
Mel & Trinity 