A Tense and Long Day Crossing the Tatras!

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014--Krakow to Zakapane to Poprad to Bardejov

As I wrote yesterday, the forecast for the Tatra Mountains was for rain for 2-3 days, so I altered my travel plans.  I decided to try to make it all the way to Bardejov today--a town I had cancelled from my original travel plans due to time constraints, but one that I really wanted to see.  I had already done the research for connections earlier, I just hadn't planned to make them all in one day.

When I bought my ticket for Zakapane two days ago, I was told it was a 2-hour trip.  I bought the ticket for an 8:45 departure figuring that would give me about 30 minutes to make the connection to the 11:17 bus (the last one until late in the afternoon) from there to Poprad.  Well, who knew that ALL of Krakow seems to go to Zakapane for the weekend even when rain is in the forecast?  The first hour of the trip went fine, but then we were in LONG traffic lines that were sometimes stop-and-go.  As more and more time passed, I became aware that it was likely I would not make the bus connection.  I knew of an alternative of taking a different bus to the border in the mountains, crossing the border by foot, and taking a Slovakian bus to Poprad, but I had no Euros to pay for that second bus and would have to try exchange my remaining Zlotys in that remote area.

It was so frustrating as the bus would pull out of the long lines of traffic to make stops in small towns and then would have to wait in line to turn back into the long lines on the main road.  It was 11:20 as we entered Zakapane.  I figured I had missed my bus, but I looked out the window for it.  As we turned a corner at a circle to drive in front of the bus station, I saw the Strama bus to Poprad ALSO pulling up!!  It stops in front of the station, and I had no idea how long it would be there.  I grabbed my backpack and rushed to the front of our bus to be among the first to get off.  Then I rushed to the side of the bus to open the compartment to get my suitcase.  We were in back of the building, so I RAN to the front as fast as I could with a backpack and a suitcase.  The Poprad bus was loading its last 2 passengers as I got there.  I became the last, and we pulled out of the station at 11:25.  Whew!!!

When that bus arrived at the station in Poprad, I had no idea when the next bus would leave for Bardejov, but I knew I would need Euros to pay for it.  I went down the street searching for a bank with an ATM.  I had to go about 6 blocks.  I got my money, and I hid in the bushes on the side of the bank to pee.  I hadn't used a toilet in 5 1/2 hours!

I rushed back to the bus station and checked the schedule.  There was a bus scheduled in 1 minute for Bardejov, but I couldn't see it!!  Had it left early?  I asked a man about it, and he said it hadn't arrived yet.  Whew, again!  In fact, it came 20 minutes late probably because it was coming all the way from Bratislava and also faced Saturday traffic problems.

The Tatra Mountains are beautiful.  I think they are nicer on the Slovakian side.  There are just fewer people, and the villages are quaint and small.  It would have been so nice to stop in Tatranska Lominica or in Stary Smokovec.  By the time we were in Poprad around 13:20, however, I could see that the mountains were already overcast and that showers were falling there.

The rain caught up with us on the Bardejov bus, but when we turned northward, we left them behind.  When I arrived here at 16:00, it was sunny and remained so for the rest of the day.

My troubles weren't over yet, however.  I had decided on possible places to stay.  Well, I couldn't find my first choice; the street wasn't where Google showed it to be.  My second choice was a small guest house, and no one answered the door.  My third choice was full.  My fourth choice was the most expense and does not have wi-fi in the rooms, but it did have rooms available.  And the young lady put me in a room close to the lobby so I could use wi-fi in the room rather than having to be in the lobby (which smells of smoke).  The Hotel Saris is a communist-period box hotel.  It's nothing special, but it is fine.  And it has the benefit of a free breakfast.

By 16:30, I was on my way to explore Bardejov.  It's a walled city with a HUGE square surrounded by high-pitched roofed buildings from the 14th and 15th centuries.  That square is perfect.  There isn't a modern building to be seen.  And in the middle of the square is the old Town Hall (now a museum) and the huge St. Egidius Cathedral.

I walked around the square admiring all the wonderful buildings.  I walked down all the small side streets within the walls.  I walked outside the walls to see them from there and to see the old gated main entrance to the city.  I sat outside the cathedral listening to the organ music as a wedding was taking place.  I went inside the cathedral briefly as they changed it from the wedding venue into a baptismal venue.

As a small town, Bardejov seems mostly dead tonight.  But it is a very beautiful small town as are others I passed in this park of Slovakia on the way to here, especially Levoca (another walled city) and Spisske Podhradie (with a wonderful castle on the hill above it).  I wrote earlier about Bratislava being a rather horrible place.  Well, the Tatra Mountains and the towns of eastern Slovakia (including my next stop Kovice) seem to be the places to visit in this country.

I will leave here tomorrow, so I need to get online and try to make a reservation for a place to stay in Kovice.  It's a more expensive city due to being the second largest in the country.  I found somewhat of a bargain last night for a place, so I need to see if it is still available.