Weather: ☀️🌤️🌤️⛈️⛅
Lunch: 🥪🥪🥪 (3 out 5, basic hearty meal in a restaurant in Myjava)
Track: 🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰 (4 out of 5, pretty forest trail up in the Slovakian hills, along the Czech-Slovak border, great views from the top of Vel’ka Javorina)
Hotel: 🛌🛌 (2 out of 5, basic room with shared bathroom in mountain hut)
Name of followed trail: SNP trail (heroes of the Slovak national uprising)
We leave in time today, because it’s a long one (32 km) again, with 1200m of elevation going up.
First we walk through Brezová pod Bradlom up Bradlo hill, to the cairn of Milan Rastislav Stefanik, a monumentimmiil that honours the Slovakian independence.
From this impressive monument we walk down and up again through the fields and forest. We’re happy that it’s mostly in the forest, because the sun shines bright today! On our way, we find some ripe plums to eat. Great that nature keeps on giving these treats 😋.
Halfway our day, we walk towards Myjama where we have lunch. In Myjava, like in other places we’ve seen in Slovakia, there are many reminders of the Sovjet influence on the country. Many monuments and buildings are designed in the period of communist reign.
We find a restaurant that has 2 options (chicken or pork), so we have one of each. With the help of our translate app. we get a decent meal with a bowl of soup.
From Myjava, the trail goes up the hills. Sometimes steep, but mostly gradual so we make good progress.
The sky darkens and at some point the rain pours down. Again, without any of this being visible on the weather app…
Under the trees it’s ok, but in the end, our raincoat is necessary. Too bad, because walking uphill is, we are feeling warm enough already…🥵
The rain stops long before the hill is done though, so we can take the coats off again. 😁 The forest smells nice and fresh, and when we get to the top, the views are amazing. On our way, we pass several border stones, marking the Czech-Slovak border. These countries that were once one country, now share a friendly border in the forest. We walk the road between the stones, so I guess we are now technically in Chechoslovakia 🙃.
This border gives me hope (or perhaps more correct: wish) that all borders can be like this.🙏
At the top we pass an old radar station and walk to the hut where we will sleep tonight. A friendly young man helps us at the hut in fluent English, so this makes our live easier once again.
After a shower we get something to eat. The kitchen is closed, but the soup, sausages and brownies are more than enough for a satisfying meal.
After that, its hikers bed time 😁😴