Wacko Zako

This morning came soooooo fast.  The guy sleeping above me in the bunk kept tossing and turning. Each time he twisted the bed would squeek so loudly.  I didn't get to sleep until around 0230.  I had to wake up at 0645 to meet Jeremy at thebus station at 0730 as we agreed the night before.  I woke up and groggily got around to doing my morning routine of getting ready.  I finally headedout and got the station about 5 minuites late.  I didn't see jeremy so I waited for 45 minuites before catching the next bus out to Zakopane alone.

I was so glad that I showed my student ID because the price went from 50 zloty to 13 zloty...or $20 to <$6.  I slept for hte first hour of the ride but immediately woke up because I didn't want to miss my stop like I had at Cape of Sounion in Greece.  Turns out that Zakopane was the last stop.

On the way up, I was getting really worried because we started hitting snowy areas.  I knew Zakopane was in a ski resort area but I had figured that by April most of hte snow would clear out.  I suppose it snows more here than in Southern California huh?  Hahaha, of course it does stupid tourist.  Okay...got off at Zakopane and it was coooold.  I walked quickly to the tourist information booth and asked for directions to the nearest hiking trail.  The lady looked at me like..."hmmm, where can you possibly go hiking at this time of the year?!".  She pointed me out to a road, not a trail, that led up to Morskie Oko Lake.  She mentioned another trail but it sounded like I would have to walk through unplowed snow to do it.  I was wearing my running shoes, long pants, runners shirt, and snowboarding jacket.  I had a bag of some cereal, toilet paper, medicine, and a 1.5L water.  I was not prepared to walk through the weather here!

"Oh well" I said to myself, I'm only in Poland once!  So I headed for theb us to take me to Morskie Oko road.  The bus ride was 45 minutes out of Zakopane and briefly went through the Slovakia border..wooh hoo!  That's one more for the country count hahahaha.

The bus was a 15 passenger van that rattled more than a piggy bank!  The driver drove like it was a sportscar and it scared the crap out of me.  I almost told him to slow down.  THe roads were wet and icy in some parts.

After the more-interesting-than-need-be ride, I started my walk along a road to the Morskie Oko Lake.  It had been plowed of snow for horse-drawn carriages to travel up and down, taking tourists to the lake at the top.  I decided to go on my own because (1) I didn't want to pay and (2) I figured I would see more if I do it by foot.  Notice $ came first.  I definitely enjoyed the walk up.  They said it would take 2 hrs, and judging by previous experiences with time-estimates and my actual times, I figured I would be there within 1.25 hrs.  No go, it took me the full 2 hrs to get there.  Maybe even more.  It was a beautiful area.  No wildlife to be seen unfortunately.  I think it was still too cold.  Snow everywhere.  In fact, it was snowing while I was going up.  The snow got heavier as I got higher.  It was never a "I should turn back" situation though.  I was cold, but walking warmed me up.  I took some nice scenic photos here and there but it was tough because many areas were fogged in and hard to see anything.  I only saw three people coming down the hill as I was going up.

I reached a place on the side of the road near a huge clearing.  I asked if this was the lake and they said that I had 2 more kilmoeters to go.  Ahhh!  Okay, fine.

By now, the snowflakes were large.  But it was never windy so that was good.  My jacket did a good job keeping me warm.  I kept my bag of stuff within my jacket so that my water wouldn't freeze.  I finally reached the lake as indicated by a huge sign.  There was a house there that was serving food and offering hikers/walkesr some sheleter to rest before heading back down.  The horse-drawn carriages only brought them up to the first clearing.  I managed to step in a puddle on my way up so my left shoe and sock were soaked.  Soooo cold.  I tried to dry it out a bit up at the top without any luck.  A frenchman came up to me and started speaking French, I understood nothing.  Then he spoke English ad told me to put my food in a plastic bag, then put on the sock, and then put the shoe back on.  Voila, it worked! My foot stayed dry and warm while my things were still wet.  Gotta love those backpackers, they really know all the tricks of the trade.  I was back in shape and ready to head back down.  THe lake was completely frozen over and was just white from the snow.  The mountains surrounding it were also white with some black rocks peeking out.

The walk back down took only 1.5 hrs and was just as uneventful in terms of wildlife as the way up.  I was really sad to not see anything because I had hoped to see a bear.  There were many signs warning of them.

I took a few pictures here and there and will post them later...probably at pere's house (april 7).

I waited for the bus to take me back to Zakopane.  IT was actually already there but the bus driver told me to wait for 20 minutes.  I waited for 45 and we finally left.  This guy was just as "sporty"as the other driver and I was just as scared hahaha.  As soon as we got back to Zakopane I saw a bus getting ready to leave for Krakow.  I ran over and it stopped for me to get in.  That's a huge difference from Eastern vs. Western Europe.  In Eastern Europe, the busses will wait for you where as in westerneurope you're on your own.

I stayed up the way back and it was a nice ride.  A lady asked to use my cell phone.  I didn't want her to use it because it would cost me an arm and a leg.  I think she was trying to tell me not to worry because it would be a local call, but I was trying to explain that I was not local.  It should have been easy to see since I didn't speak Polish.  She took my phone anyway and started dialing.  Luckily it was turned off and she didn't know how to turn it on so I was saved!

I went into a mall near the bus station in Krakow.  There I saw many people who were more trendy and hip than those in the streets.  I guess this is where the developed area is.  I looked at digital SLRs and it looks like i should expect to spend $1500.  I had dinner at Subway and walked back to the hostel.  I was really cold so I took a nice hot shower.  I met a couple of girls from Brazil here int he hostel and chatted for a bit.  I have been blogging since.  people are waiting to use computer so talk to you all later!  Cheers