Day 10 - Oswiecim to Zakopane

 It had rained pretty hard overnight. Typical after I gave Ginny a clean during her maintenance session! Anyway, it was dry this morning and stayed that way all day.  We have been really lucky on our riding days. I've now covered 1,450 dry miles. Long may it continue.

Back on the road again. Our first stop, just 90 minutes away, was the Wieliczka Salt Mine. We had an English speaking tour booked for 11:00. God this tour guide is good! We arrived around 10:00 and made our way to the queuing spot. At around 10:30 the queue started to move. I suspected we were too early and sure enough we were asked to wait. One guy presented his tickets for 10:30 but was turned away, he'd booked for tomorrow! 😏 We were now at the front of the queue for 11:00 though. 😉

After a brief introduction, we were led down 55 flights (385 steps) of stairs. Over the entire tour, we would climb up or down 720 steps and get to a maximum depth of 130 metres. There are tunnels everywhere, supported by tons and tons of timber. It's all very impressive. Dotted around the trail are various caverns, many with carvings from salt, or scenes of how things would have been, like where the horses were stabled. Occasionally we would break out from the tunnels into these massive caverns but there are also a chapel, a church and ballroom. Almost everything is made from salt, even massive chandeliers! It's very hard to describe, you really need to see it for yourselves to appreciate it. I was surprised to learn that the statues, etc, were carved by miners themselves and not artists. Remarkable given the quality.

Salt Sign

Salt Carvings

The Church

I have no idea how far we walked but there's a short break after an hour or so, where you can go to toilet, have a drink or buy some salt products, at 110 metres underground, so there is some respite. Even when you think the tour has ended, getting to the lift to bring you back to the surface takes about 10 minutes. The scale of the place is hard to comprehend, as this was just a small portion we visited. We were on the tourist route but there is another, the Miner's route, which takes 6 hours to complete and goes much deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels.

The tour lasted about 90 odd minutes, which meant it was lunchtime, when we emerged into the sunshine. We had some of our snacks from yesterday's visit to the supermarket and then hit the road again. We had a a little over 60 miles to get to the hotel. As this meant we would arrive before check-in time, we decided to make a stop at McDs for coffee and ice cream.

We got to our hotel in Zakopane about 16:20. It seems this is quite a tourist resort, based as it is on the edge of the Tatra mountains, so ideal for walking, mountain biking, etc in summer and obviously, skiing in winter. I must say it looks a very nice town and the same must be said for out hotel. Another very clean, very smart and well spec'd place. Let down only by having no lift.

When I booked, I recieved an email saying I could claim 10% off in the restaurant, so there was no question where we were eating. We again went for traditional Polish dishes. For example, I went for Oscypek, smoked sheeps milk cheese, which seems to be made exclusively in the Tatra region. Both our meals, both courses, were excellent in, quality, quantity and presentation, yet the cost, even without the 10% was well worth it. Up there with the best meals we've ever had on tour. I couldn't grumble, 2 courses, 2 beers, for under £19.

I think it is fair to say, we have really enjoyed our time in Poland and I for one would consider coming back.

Tomorrow though, we have a short hop, before crossing the border into Slovakia, where we shall head almost to the western edge and the capital, Bratislava. It promises to be a long day, of nearly 300 miles but the forecast looks good again, so should be an enjoyable ride. No POI stops, just fuel and coffee. Check back to see how we got on.