EUROPE’S OTHER LAKE DISTRICT!
Tucked away in northeastern Poland, Masuria is a wilderness like no other
THE WAY ahead looked impenetrable, like a remote tributary of the Amazon. Tall, tangled reeds filled the lazy-flowing river: a great green barrier blocking the way beneath a canopy of trees and vines.
Sun broke through in long, thin shards. Kingfishers flickered. A heron took flight. Was that a boa constrictor slipping into the shallows? Could those be the glinting eyes of a crocodile by those old logs? No, they couldn’t, as this was far from the tropical depths of Colombia or Brazil. This was the decidedly un- tropical region of Masuria in Northeast Poland.
Welcome to Poland’s Lake District, tucked away to the north of Warsaw and close to the borders of Kaliningrad (the Russian enclave), Lithuania and Belarus.
Masuria is known as the ‘land of a thousand lakes’ (in fact, the region is believed to have more than 2,000 lakes, despite the nickname) and a great many of them were formed 15,000 years ago after the most recent Ice Age.
The region is sparsely populated, and filled mainly with pine and birch forests alive with wild boar and deer, which made it a popular hunting ground for the high command during the communist days.
Many little rivers flow between the lakes, such as the River Omulew, with sections almost impossible to pass.
However, enthusiasts ensure the waterways are navigable, which was how we found ourselves many miles from anywhere, and yet just a cheap Ryanair hop away from the UK.
You fly — when it’s ’s possible to go — to o the pleasant city of Olsztyn, where e the astronomer r Nicolaus Copernicus, s, who deduced that t the planets revolved d around the sun, , once lived.
Masuria has long g been a Polish secret, with little lakeside resorts, some based around communistera hotels. A few were built by factories for workers.
The allure is the great outdoors: cycling, hiking, fishing and taking ki t to th the water. t
It is also home to wonderful fish restaurants, unsurprisingly.
Then there is the intriguing history of the medieval Teutonic Knights to investigate in plentiful old castles (the order was finally subdued in the 16th century), as well as Nazi involvement in World War II.
Those so inclined can visit Wolf’s Lair, the eerie compound from where the Nazis ran the Eastern Front.
MUCH better, though, simply to enjoy the sense of escape in this Polish wilderness — kayaking being the best way of all. For four hours, starting from the village of Jablonka, we paddled across a choppy lake, just a fisherman or two and the odd stork or crane for company, before locating the River Omulew and floating off into the forest amid butterflies and dragonflies. Not another soul in sight.
At the village of Kot, we stopped to be picked up by Piotr Ziemski, owner of the Frajda Watersports in Jablonka. This is how day trips work, though you could go further and stay overnight.
Piotr was a mine of information about the communist days, when former president Wojciech Jaruzelski had a nearby forest hideaway.
He also explained why the region is so unpopulated. ‘My daughter has gone to live in Glasgow,’ he said. ‘She says she’s not coming back as there is nothing to do here. This is common among the young.’
He swept his hand in the direction of the forest and shrugged. The isolation is magnificent, but you can understand her instincts. For tourists, though, it’s different. The joy of Masuria is that nothing much is going on.
Just nature. Just villages with a single sklep (shop) and a church. Just the occasional simple little restaurant… serving first-rate fish.
Close to our log cabin by the woods in Nowy Dwor, seven miles west of the medieval town of Szczytno, we were soon tucking into trout with garlic, fries and steaming vegetables. Topped off with vodkas, of course.
They have a saying in Masuria that ‘the fish like to swim’. Spoken when eating fish, this is the cue for the pouring of shots of Poland’s favourite drink, saying ‘ Twoje zdrowie’ (cheers!) and downing the liquor so the fish inside you has something in which to ‘swim’. The cost of a knees-up in the Polish Lakes? No more than £20 a head, if you are really going for it.
Hiking offered a different thrill to kayaking.
It involved getting up early and heading down tracks with wild boar marks as red squirrels gambolle gambolled about.
On one morning in we disrupted t two cranes that h honked with g great disgruntlement m and flapped h heavily away.
Down the dark tr tracks by the la lakes, you really ar are in the middle of nowhere — it’s ju just you and the wi wildlife. Some pe people come here for fishing trips in the most isolated spo spots: equipment ca can be hired loc locally, and trout are t to b be hd had, if you’re ’ lucky.
Other trails follow the shorelines of lakes with pleasant beaches you can head to for a dip, such as Lake Swietajno. This was a great place to while away the day. Either take a picnic or go to one of the little barbecue bars up the escarpment (a meal for a fiver and beer for less than a pound).
Pedalos are for hire, perfect for exploring the quieter corners of the lake — and with 2,000- plus lakes there are plenty of those here.
Just remember to take sun cream. Even though it may sound unlikely to get sunburned in a far corner of Poland near Belarus and Russian enclaves, the daily maximum temperature is 20c from around the beginning of June to September.
In Szczytno — dominated by a pair of lakes — the ruins of a Teutonic Knights castle lay by the main square.
A stroll around the waterfronts builds up an appetite. Then, pick up some fresh fish at the main fishmongers.
Next, head back to your log cabin, light the fire, enjoy the silence of the forest and tuck in… deep in the Polish Lakes.