Slovakia

I eventually made it to Slovakia, after returning to Croatia to pick up my clothes. My goal was the "High Tatras" in northern Slovakia. Because of the delays caused by my own forgetfulness, I did not make it all the way to the Tatras on the first day. Instead I stopped in the city of Lucenec, only because it was a useful stopping off point. I stayed in a two star hotel, which was quite luxurious compared to camping and staying in hostels. The lift had an exterior door but no interior door, so I could see the exterior doors passing as I went up. I have never seen a lift like that before, except in my nightmares. I only used it once and after that walked to the 4th floor. In the morning I drove to the High Tatras. The Tatra mountains are the biggest mountain range in central Europe and the highest part is in Slovakia. The highest peeks are a bit over 2600m although they do not seem that high from a distance as the elevation is already about 900m. I camped but did not rough it, as the food in the camp restaurant was good and was very cheep. The High Tatras from the camp:

I spent two days walking in the Tatras. On each day I walked up to around 2000m. At that height it was pleasantly cool and the views were great. It is possible to take a cable car to one of the highest peeks, Lomnicky stit. There are no itermediate pylons holding the cable, simply one very long cable which takes the cable car from about 1600m to over 2600m. It looks incredible and absolutely terrifying. The chicken in me came out again and I did not use it. It was great getting out and about in the outdoors and getting some exercise.

Before leaving Slovakia I went to the Dobsinska ice cave, which is a world heritage site and, as the name suggets, a large cave filled with ice. Visitors are taken through in large groups with a guide. Unforunately the guide only gave his commentary in Slovak. However, the cave was amazing.