// Trip Reports  

Report name	Soham and Witchford Colleges - Slovakia 2007
Date submitted	Aug-07

An early start was had by all as we congregated in Stanstead airport waiting for our flight to Slovakia at 6.30am. A couple of hours later we were meeting our guide Miro in Bratislava and Michal who was joining the expedition from Poland, we were now a group of ten.

Travelling by mini-bus we journeyed to the village of Terchova in the Mala Fatra and stayed at a Pension painted bright yellow!! We stayed here for three nights while the group undertook a familiarisation walk and put the finishing touches to their route cards and shopped for their supplies for the expedition.

Four days of expedition followed where the group walked high up on ridges, exploring the beautiful countryside which consisted of pine covered hill tops, open meadows, limestone outcrops, lots of up, some down, but always with fantastic views. Each night brought a different wild camping spot where we enjoyed our well-earned food under the stars. We finished our expedition in Cicmany where we met our driver and were taken to Rajecke Teplice and our next Pension.

With the expedition under their belt the group could then relax in the thermal pools of Rajecke Teplice which were a hit and eased everyone’s tired muscles. We also tried and enjoyed the local food; the fried cheese was very popular!!

We were now on day nine of our trip and travelling to Poland in our mini bus which marked the start of the residential experience. We stayed just outside Krakow in the Hotel Bona. We went into the centre to enjoy the lively city square and take in the atmosphere, whilst also visiting Auschwitz the German World War 2 Death Camp which was a sobering experience, Wawel Royal Castle which sits high on a hill overlooking the city of Krakow and Wieliczka Salt Mines where we ended up 130m underground at our lowest point.

After being underground for most of the morning we emerged into bright sunlight and started our journey back to Slovakia and our final pension in the town of Zuberec in the Western Tatra. From our base here we visited the Open Air Museum of Orava where we experienced the atmosphere and authentic way of life as it was in days gone by. We spent an evening with some local school children and their teacher chatting, playing guitar and football and also making Goulash together from scratch – which was very tasty. We also walked to the canyons in the Juranova valley visiting a traditional sheep farm on the way. We all tried the cheesy sheep’s milk presented to us, not all of us liked it but Miro our guide helped us out by drinking two cups full!! We were able to see the milk being turned into cheese in the very smoky shepherds hut. That afternoon we visited the thermal pool resort in Oravice, one of the best in Slovakia and relaxed in the warm water with a beautiful view of the mountains.

All too soon our last day came and we had to transfer back to Bratislava in 33-degree heat – phew!! We had a few hours before our flight and were able to experience the old part of the city. We had one last meal of fried cheese and soup presented in a bowl of bread. We said goodbye to Michal who was travelling back to Poland by train and made our way to the airport. We were sad to say goodbye to Miro but we left with some fantastic memories of being together on our trip to Slovakia and Poland.

Jayne Smith