The Wooden Road
The Wooden Road, Snina, Slovakia
His Lordship said that he wanted to get out to the wildest, lesser known parts of Slovakia. Well, he hit the spot nicely here. We’re staying in the most north eastern campsite in the country, just outside Snina, close to the Polish and Ukrainian borders. In fact, the Ukraine is less than 20km away. Snina itself is decent sized town with a population of 20,000, but the campsite is located in the middle of a birch forest so it is very easy to forget that we are so close to civilization.
The camp is geared more towards hikers, bikers and cyclists, the majority equipped with tiny tents. Some with none at all. I’ve seen a trio of bikers string up hammocks between the trees with a tarpaulin stretched above them to keep off the rain. Hardy bunch! This is real old-fashioned camping. Wood is plentiful and there is no restriction on campfires, so the majority spear a few sausages on a stick or set up their cauldron and settle by the fire for the evening.
My two wimpy owners are living in the lap of luxury in comparison, although Her Ladyship doesn’t quite see it that way. She’s put a stop to His Lordship using every pot, pan, dish and utensil that they’d brought with them while he’s doing the cooking. ‘You’re not at home now, you know. We don’t have a bleedin’ dishwasher on board. I am the dishwasher!’ It turns out that the campsite doesn’t have any hot water in the washing up area. God love her, it’s a hard life!
I just cannot believe how gorgeous the countryside is here. Thanks to the fact that most people here seem to only live in villages and towns, there are practically no individual houses out in the country. This leaves mile after mile of unspoilt nature and, not far outside Snina, we find ourselves in the Poloniny National Park. As we drive along the country roads, there are banks of wild flowers, soft rolling hills and dense mixed forests. Those forests must be teeming with wildlife. Sure enough, His Lordship has just announced that there’s lynx, bison, brown bears, wild cats and even wolves in these hills. Gulp! I think I’ll be staying well tucked up in Her Ladyship’s rucksack from now on…
I did just that when the Dynamic Duo went on a hike up to the Sninsky kamen (Snina Stones), two rocky plateaus formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago. Her Ladyship pointed out that, at 1006m, it is almost as high as the highest mountain in Ireland. But for His Lordship, our Man of the Mountains, this is a mere bump. Or so he thought. As our campsite is at an altitude of a mere 350m, it turned out to be quite a climb. In fact, it nearly killed me! If I weren’t a seagull I could have drowned in Her Ladyship’s sweat.
Six hours later, after they’d staggered back down the hill, even His Lordship was quite happy to put his feet up and watch the next World Cup match back at the campsite bar.
The Dynamic Duo also set out on the ‘Wooden Road’, a trail of wooden Greek Catholic churches, built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Sadly, many of them have been destroyed, mainly in the first and second World Wars. Wouldn’t you know it! In spite of man’s destructive tendencies, there are still several of these beautiful wooden churches left in the Snina area, many in very remote locations. They are all quite small, some, like the one at Jalova, downright tiny. What a little gem!
Hilltop locations are apparently typical and another common feature is the wooden belfry next to the church. I just love those roofs, the interlocking and overlapping shingles reaching almost to the ground. This looks to me like an ideal design, perfectly suited to cope with the harsh winters in the region. No wonder these wonderfully crafted buildings have stood the test of time.
My favourite wooden church has to be the one at Inovce. Apart from the beautifully proportioned church itself, the location is just lovely. This is a small village, just a stone’s throw from the Ukrainian border. In fact, from the village I could easily make out the border strip running through the lush forest in the nearby hills. I know us birds can be territorial, but you humans really take the biscuit!
Anyway, the church is just gorgeous and its setting just added to the effect. I reckon the Oldies felt much the same as I did. They spent ages there, taking photos from all angles, of course, but eventually they just sat down on a bench and simply drank it all in. The beautiful church, the quiet graveyard, the pretty village below, the gentle hills… What a peaceful spot!
While on the Wooden Road, we found another wooden building in which His lordship took a keen interest. Unfortunately, as he was driving he wasn’t able to take advantage of these unbeatable prices. In fact, he was quite cheesed off because his drink cost the same as Her Ladyship’s.
Remember what I was saying about those hardy campers? Well, one bunch of lads just proved me wrong this evening. I noticed them in particular because, unlike other campers, they were in no hurry to light a fire. One by one they sauntered over to the bar, returned with a beer and sat down on the wooden benches around one of the fire pits. A short while later, one of them got up again, this time to meet a pizza van that had pulled into the campsite. He took delivery of four boxes and returned to join his mates. The boxes were carefully laid out on the benches and the lads were soon happily digging into their pizzas around the unlit fire.
If Her Ladyship should ever, for whatever reason, need to take charge of the camping catering, I think I’ve just found the perfect recipe for her.
