Slovakia

The czechs and the slovaks ARE BIG on cheese and meat and we have hit overload.

The last week has seen us hiking in the Mala Fatra Natrional Park in the western Tatra mountains and in the last few days in the eastern Tatras. I think we have all been a bit dissapointed with the Slovenski Raj Ńational Park in the East. This park appears to be a mishmash of pristine areas and logging coups and most of the hiking yesterday was on logging trails. The Mala Fatra NP on the other hand was well worth while, the highlight for us was stumbling upon fields full of fruiting alpine blueberry on the last hike from the top of the chata vratna chairlift.

We shed 5kg of gear in the Czech Republic and our packs are somewhat more mangeable. Due to poor public transport access we hired a small Skoda in Kosice and are now touring on four wheels. Its much easier to get around to the campsites and I am happy with the decision. So far, we are roughly travelling on about AU$100-day which is what I had planned.

The scars of socialism are clearly evident in the towns, with concrete apartmentblocks commonplace. The older people seem somewhat stern and watchful and poverty is hard to ignore.