That's a lot of snow actually isn't it?: A night or two in Svidnik

December 15, 2013

When they make the movie of this trip, and I'm still sure that they will, what will happen is this: A pack of wolves will be seen circling the tent. Ryan Gosling will unzip the tent and be face to face with one of these beasts, its teeth bared and snarling. Gosling will leap out and wrestle with the wolf in the snow, just kick it off in time to see another come at him and he'll swing with his right hand and knock this one down and then in the next half second do a back flip out of the way of the next wolf and then scissor kick a fourth in the air and then when it seems like the final wolf is about to get him from behind Lassie will appear from side left and take him out with a flying rugby tackle. And then when Gosling retires back to his tent Jessica Alba will be there somehow.

(This is not important, but what actually happened was I opened the tent, gripping the scissors and shaking nervously and came face to face with some plants rustling in the wind)

The next morning I did, however, find some tracks in the snow quite near my tent, which I determined could have been made by a wolf. They were quite small though, so probably it was a fox or something. Ryan Gosling fighting a fox? Thats just not quite as dramatic somehow is it?

What was really dramatic was the scenery. All of the trees and plants were completely white by some sort of magical frozen dew thing which was clinging all over them. It was such an incredibly beautiful scene and, what with all my near death experiences recently, I felt very lucky and happy to be alive.

I cycled on and the further north I went the more wealthy the country seemed to become, with the buildings becoming better, the roads better, the bus-stops better. There were more cars and fewer people and also the further I went, the more snow there was at the side of the road. I reached the town of Bardejov, a very pretty town with a central square that would not have looked out of place in Austria. I planned to use wifi here and try and find a host for the night in the next town of Svidnik which I thought I would reach at dusk, but the wifi connection wouldn't work. It was getting really cold and I stopped to buy an extra pair of mittens to wear under my ski gloves and a flappy-eared hat to wear over my wooly hat. I was really starting to look the part now.

Thats really quite a lot of snow that isn't it?

Some of the smaller roads were not cleared at all so I stuck on the more main one (yes that does say minus three)

Beyond Bardejov the amount of snow on the ground just kept on increasing and it was even starting to snow more. I decided that camping was really going to be a pain in all the snow and I didn't have much enthusiasm for it. What I wanted more than anything was a nice warm comfortable night with no apparent risk to life.

I arrived in the small town of Svidnik as the light was fading and sat on the central pedestrian street to try and connect to the free wifi they have in all the town centres here. There were lots of people walking past as I was opposite the church and it was a Sunday so there were plenty coming and going in the light snow. It being a small town I found only a handful of people on the couchsurfing website and only one that had a proper profile with references. That profile belonged to Robert and his wife Anna, and it even said that he liked cycling. I wrote an emergency request stating my situation and prayed like mad that he would be online and see it. I was opposite a church after all. So then I prayed like mad that one of the peeple walking past would take pity on me and offer me a bed for the night. Then, realising that most people don't do stuff like that, I prayed like mad that Robert or Anna would walk past and see me and offer me a bed for the night.

Then a woman came up to me pushing a pram through the snowy street.

"Hello" she said "Do you have any place to stay tonight? Would you like to stay at our place?"

"Why yes I would! My name is Chris."

"Hi Chris, my name is Anna."

I never really believed in God until this moment.

So I had my nice warm and comfortable bed for the night. Anna took me back to her apartment where I met her mother, also called Anna. Then Robert came home, a big bearded man, and when he saw me he said "Who the hell is this guy and what is he doing in my house?!" No not really, he didn't say that at all, he shook my hand enthusiastically and said "Here's the shower, do you need to do some laundry, here is the washing machine, you must be hungry, have a shower and we'll put the laundry in and then we'll have some food ready for you."

I was frankly blown away by the wonderful kindness of these people. They did a bike trip themselves last year through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and the US of A. If you get bored of mine, and I will understand, feel free to check out their blog here. I guess there is a sense of comaradery amongst us cyclists that made them keen to help me. That, plus the fact that I must be one of the only tourists to ever visit Svindik, Slovakia, looking for a couch to surf.

I was made to feel so welcome by my hosts that I decided to stay a second night and the next day I took a walk around town with the younger Anna, her friend Eva, and baby Dashka. It felt like it was even colder than the day before outside and I was glad I wasn't cycling. I'm sure I won't be offending anyone when I say Svindik is not one of the world's greatest towns, comprised as it is almost entirely of tower blocks. But it does have a very nice and safe atmosphere and everyone walks everywhere, there were loads of people out and about despite the weather and there was a sense of real community.

The only real thing of note that we saw was a memorial and a collection of tanks and planes and things from the Second World War. This area was one of the settings of the worst fighting, the Russians and Germans fought a bloody battle nearby here in a place which is now known as Death Valley. I found it interesting that everyone I spoke to about it in Slovakia used the phrase "when Russia saved us" to talk about this. Intersting because people in the Baltic states (that obviously then became part of the Soviet Union after the war) never told me they considered Russia to be saviors. If only you had killed the Germans and then just gone home from everywhere Russia, you could have been the heroes and everyone would have loved you forever. The way the French love their saviors and are eternally grateful and in love with Britain and America.

Eva and Anna told me that when they were kids they used to be able to get inside the tanks and even move the gun around, one old man told Eva not to do it in case she blew up his house!

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 11,002 km (6,832 miles)

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