Vacation to Poland - Mountain Road

Close to the Polish-Czech border on top of a mountain there lies the tiny village of Lasowka, our destination for the coming three days. We're going to visit a couple we know, they own a wooden house with rooms they often rent out to people mainly during winter for skying, and in high summer for people that like to walk in the mountains. As it's spring now and at this height the last snow is still melting we were going to be the only visitors.

After my first Polish lesson this vacation we started to pack and got ready to go. Again the weather was great, blue skies all round and 20 degrees. We both dressed light for the trip but were sure to pack a sweater for the off change we might have a cold day during our stay.

With the cat in her new vacation transporter, which is basically a crossover between a standard transporter and a tent big enough to fit two Main Coons, we were on our way. The cat was going completely berserk in the beginning as it was used to walk freely in the car. After a little while I asked my wife to give her some attention and to put her at ease. Much to our surprise this resulted in a pretty serious bite in her hand. As she was trying to stop the bleeding with napkins I could see on her face she was in a lot of pain. Not a good start of the trip to say the least.

For the most part I know the road to the Czech border as I drove it before. That time with my cousin and his girlfriend joining us on route to Budapest.

So with the GPS helping out we had no issues reaching the region of our destination. Pretty soon the GPS was telling us to leave the main road and go up a small two way mountain road just big enough to fit one car. Nothing to get to worried about you get used to them pretty fast they're nothing out of the ordinary.

We drove higher and higher and were enjoying the pretty scenery surrounding us.

After about six kilometers the asphalt ended and we needed to turn right on a road made of rocks and dirt. A flash of doubt crept in but we were told that the village was remote and there was only a dirt road leading up to the house, so we pressed on.

Slowly and mostly with out my feet on the paddel I gently navigated the path, at first worried but then worries turned into excitement. Pretty soon I was amazed again by the sights, beautiful wooden houses traditional to the region and people going about there business in front of them. I did see some surprised and prying eyes but hey I'm pretty sure there are not a lot of Dutch cars with their obnoxious yellow license plates creeping over this here path.

Progress became slower as the road deteriorated, but the GPS told me we were about 1 kilometer away from our destination and the road was dry so not risk of getting stuck, we went on. About 2 minutes later I stopped the car and asked my wife for a translation of the text right underneath the big round sign with the red border, "Nature reserve access prohibited". Right I guess my Garmin GPS isn't the all knowing road guru I thought it would be.

I switched of the engine and got out of the car to relieve my self against one of the many tries while my wife made a phone call to the people that we were going to visit. The forest and the mountain were beautiful, the only thing that was to be heard was de gentle breeze playing with the fresh green growth of the trees.

When I got back to the car my wife already spoke with one of our hosts, "we need to turn back", was the clear and not unexpected message from my wife. We turned the car on the narrow path and we drove of with the sound of the GPS throwing a fit about making a U turn. It wouldn't be the last time we would hear that sentence coming from the GPS.

About an hour later we finally drove up the right side of the mountain on a beautiful and smooth road. As we were nearing the top we passed patches of snow beside the road, which inspired my wife to confess she only brought her slippers. Would it really still be a vacation without these little dents in the road?

So how did we get there in the end? The trick, it turned out, was following the signs. A bit obvious to my taste but we got there.