Slovakia: Alps without crowds

Ahoj!

Have you heard of the country, Slovakia? No? You would have definitely heard of Czechoslovakia.

Slovakia and Czech Republic

Slovakia was ruled by Hungary for a long time, and was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. After World War I ended, Slovakia and Czech Republic joined together to form Czechoslovakia. They dissolved into two different countries after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Slovakia and Czech Republic

Slovakia and Czech Republic share common history, but they are different from each other. People of Slovakia are generally more religious and conservative than the Czech people. Today, Slovakia has a thriving automobile industry, and is one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. They also adopted the Euro, giving them greater access to the European market, unlike their neighbours,the Czech Republic, which still uses its own currency, Czech Korunas.

We have been wanting to explore the mountains of Slovakia for a long time. We decided to spend a few days in the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, to get to know the country better.

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and is a very important city historically. When the Ottomon Turks occupied Hungary between 1563 to 1830, the Hungarian kings had to move their capital from Budapest(in Hungary) to Bratislava.

Bratislava

It is the only capital city in the world that shares borders with two countries, Austria and Hungary. Some of the older shops in Bratislava have the shop name written in German, Slovak, Hungarian and Czech, due to the proximity to the neighbouring countries.

Bratislava is a fun city, with a lot of interesting statues, history and a vibrant nightlife. Many tourists travel to Bratislava for a one-day or two-day trip, as it is just 80 km from Vienna.

After Bratislava, we took a train to reach Poprad, a small but well-connected town as our base to explore the High Tatras.

High Tatras

Slovakia is a highly mountainous country and is most famous for the High Tatras mountain range. Since tourism in Slovakia is fairly nascent for Westerners, the Tatras mountain range is often dubbed the “Alps without the crowds”.

From our base in Poprad, we could reach many of the mountain villages via a well-connected and super cheap electric mountain railway, including popular villages like Strebsko Pleso and Stary Smokovec.

A well-timed trek

Since we were exploring High Tatras during the off-season, most of the hiking routes were closed and the temperature was hovering around zero degrees.

Pictures from the hike

We started our hike to reach Zamkovsheho Chata. The hiking trail was rocky, much like all the other trails in the High Tatras mountain region. As we started hiking to Zamkovsheho Chata (mountain hut), it started snowing lightly. We continued walking and were amazed to see a beautiful waterfall. As we stood on a bridge admiring the waterfall, it started snowing heavily.

Standing there, snow gathering on our shirts and the waterfall thundering ahead, we looked at each other with delighted smiles! A magical moment, indeed!

We again started hiking to reach Zamkovsheho Chata. The trail became extremely rocky with a lot of boulders to navigate around as we climbed up. We saw many different views of the Tatras mountain range. While coming down, as we navigated the differently shaped and sized boulders, the hike was like a Tetris game, deciding where to place your foot next without slipping or falling.

Meeting a Slovakian

We often go to the tourist information office, whenever we go to a new place. At Strebsko Pleso, we met the lady working at the office, Ruzena, a woman of over 70 years. As she gave us really helpful details on the trails, she was also curious to know where we were from. When we mentioned that we were from India, she was super happy and told us about her daughter-in-law who studied Homeopathy in Kerala, India.

We spent more than two hours talking to her. She even invited us to stay at her place the next time we go to Slovakia. Something we love about travelling is connecting with new people and keeping in touch.

Confusion between Slovakia & Slovenia

Slovakia and Slovenia, have very similar names and people often get confused between them. Slovakia is a country that was formed after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and borders Poland on the north. Slovenia, on the other hand, was formed after Yugoslavia dissolved and borders Italy on its west side.

This confusion has led to various mix-ups, including incorrect flag or anthem presentations, even at many international events. There is an urban myth that the postal departments of both countries (Slovakia and Slovenia) meet every month and exchange letters that are addressed to the wrong country.

That’s all from Slovakia. In the next mail, we will share stories from the sibling country of Slovakia, the Czech Republic.

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