Stary Smokovec
- Comments: No Comments Yet
Well, anyone who may have thought we were experienced travelers who knew what we were doing would have laughed their heads off at us today. After waiting three hours in Zakopane for the bus to Stary Smokovic (Scary Son of a Bitch), we got on the wrong bus, then got off at the Polish / Slovak border, only to watch the bus take off on us as we stood and wondered what we were going to do about it. So, we walked through the border, after being checked out of Poland and into Slovakia. There we were in the woods in the middle of the Tatras mountains on a border crossing, when we were approached by a mini bus driver who demanded 15 Euro to take us the rest of the way to our destination – what choice did we have?
So, we got into the minibus and the driver immediately rolled up the windows, intoxicating us with the most amazing BO. It felt like we were being held hostage as he tore down the mountain pass roads like an Istanbul taxi driver, subjecting us to the 70′s tunes of Boney M (something we’ve come to expect in ex-communist countries). He then picked up two of his buddies on the side of the road who I’m pretty sure had been sentenced to two weeks hard labor on a farm, and had just completed their time served. The BO miasma in the minibus was peaking.
Our hotel is an ex-commie special – it’s like staying in a big concrete brick in the middle of the forest, and the rooms are like old university dorms (vinyl padded doors, radio from the 60′s, & an orange rotary phone). The bathrooms are like old high school gymnasium showers – it’s pretty funny. All this for 26 dollars a night (705 korunas).
Regardless, this place is beautiful, the hiking trails appear to be really well marked, and many of the locals speak excellent English. The town is so small that the streets have no names (did U2 visit here?), but there are sign posts everywhere directing you to anything that may be of interest (hotels, grocery stores, ski lifts, etc…). Everything in this town has a title that starts with the word “sport”, regardless of any connection to any kind of activity – it’s kind of confusing in an amusing kind of way (ie: Sport Grocery Store, Sport Massage(!?!), Sport Fine Glassware…). So – today has been an exercise in stupidity, but we’re here, and it’s beautiful, and we’ll make the most of it tomorrow.
As usual, we miss our families, friends & dogs – thanks for all the e-mail.
There are presently no comments for this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.