THE UNFAMILIAR EUROPEAN TRIANGLE
Getting lost is part of the adventure called Europe. But it can get a lot better when you walk through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland and experience the humbling feeling of being human
On the 12km hike to High Tatras, a mountain range in Slovakia in central Europe, there comes a point when you stop, look around and wonder whether you’d ever have the power to make time stand still. There are a few places in the world where you’d want to do it — the High Tatras range is one of those.
Nestled in the High Tatras is a picturesque resort town called Štrbské Pleso — named after a glacial lake — that is mostly used for adventure activities, including skiing. Our guide Erik Sevcik told us that the town is a popular skiing destination and has hosted several world junior skiing championships. It was summer when we took the train from Prague in the Czech Republic (more on that later) to Štrba and then the funicular to Štrbské Pleso and it was quite evident that the central European population seemed to be attracted to this place like bees to a flower.
Admittedly, Štrbské Pleso is not a well-known destination among Indian tourists; in fact, my wife and I were practically the only Indians there when we visited around Independence Day this year. One of the reasons we chose Štrbské Pleso, to be honest, was to avoid the heat wave that swept Europe this year. At a pleasant 18 degrees Celsius, the town seemed ideal for a quiet European holiday. Yet, it was not so simple. There were times, when the temperatures crossed 25 degrees Celsius, and life in the mountain did not seem so ideal all of a sudden. The heat wave was real. But despite the heat wave, we were desperate to visit Europe this year, and we planned our central European holiday to traverse the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, a kind of a tourism triangle that encompasses little known areas of the continent.
When we landed in Prague, our aim was to understand the public transport, especially the supremely efficient and famed tram network. It did not take long, and our bed-andbreakfast host was kind enough to give us tips. Also, mobile apps have made buying tickets and understanding the transport system pretty easy. The entire town is within reach, and Old Town Prague was the place we went to every day for the four days we were there.
In Prague, like in most European cities, all you need to do is walk and soak in the atmosphere. We did just that in the Czech capital, then at Štrbské Pleso in Slovakia and later in Kraków in Poland. Getting lost is part of the adventure called Europe, and there is immense joy in finding your way back. Not just because you reach home, but because you discover things that you’d never find otherwise.
One way to do this is to take walking tours of the cities. What’s the point of going to Europe and not hearing scores of interesting anecdotes about the city. Prague and Kraków are so rich in history and culture, and both played such an important role in shaping the continent, that it is a mystery as to why they are not counted as among the most influential cities in the world. Politics and military power cannot be the only two reasons for a country to be viewed in awe, can they?
In Poland, we set up base in Kraków for the reason that we wanted to visit AuschwitzBirkenau, two of the worst concentration camps Hitler’s Nazis set up during World War II. Both the camps are next to each other, and there is not a dry eye when people come out of the camps. If not for anything else, we visited the place to make us realise what human beings are capable of inflicting upon our kind.
It is not just a sobering lesson in history, it is also a stern warning for the rest of us to avoid repeating it.