Day 7. Saturday, 27th June, 2026. From our campsite near Ostrava, Czechia to camping on the outskirts of Kosice, Slovakia.

Leaving Chechia

We were on the road around 10am. Our sat-nav was set to take us to Baka Mare in Romania via the fastest route, but not on motorways, unless they were unavoidable. The distance was 640 kilometres. We hadn’t been underway very long when we crossed into Slovakia. We could tell we were somewhere in Central Europe by the storks nesting on top of electricity poles.

A lovely day’s driving

It is another very hot day, but with the windows open, we stay reasonably cool in Poki. Occasionally we were on the motorway, but most of the day we were on roads which tracked the motorway, but were a far more pleasant experience. On these roads, I don’t think we saw a truck all day. On one occasion the sat-nav took us off onto a brand new motorway. So brand new it wasn’t even open! We hadn’t gone far before a workman stopped us and we had to turn back. We then saw there was a tiny “No Entry” sign, which we had missed.

The scenery throughout the day became more and more beautiful, as we approached mountains. There was evidence of the occasional winter ski lifts. Although it was necessary to slow down for villages, it was definitely worth not taking the motorway.

Stopping for lunch at a roadside parking, the car next to us contained a young Slovakian family, Mark, Martina and 18 months old, Constantin (I hope I have the correct spelling). They were fascinated by Poki’s map of our travels and wanted to ask about our journey. Their English was very good, so we enjoyed an animated chat for a while. Mark designs and build prefabricated garages. They were visiting an old Slovakian restaurant. We couldn’t see it, but it was located through a tunnel on the other side of the road.

Spis Castle

Later in the afternoon we could see a very large castle in the distance on the hilltop. We took a diversion to get closer for a better photo. It is largely a ruin. It dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and is one of the largest medieval castles in central Europe. Originally it was a boundary fort on the northern frontier of the Kingdom of Hungary. Various Hungarian kings and families subsequently owned it, the last being the Csaky family. They abandoned it in the early 18th century as they considered it too uncomfortable to live in.

in 1780 the castle was destroyed by a fire. The cause is unknown, but there are 3 theories. One the family burned it down to reduce taxes, another that it was struck by lightening and a third that some soldiers in the castle were making moonshine and in the process accidentally started the fire. It was partially reconstructed in the second half of the 20th century. It is apparently now closed due to restoration.

During the afternoon we passed a number of really poor, hovels. Villages looking like slums. The inhabitants were very dark, swarthy people, so we presume they are Romani’s (an Indian-Aryan ethnic group with origins in northwest India). Many face systemic poverty and discrimination.

Whole villages of squalor!

Our camp tonight is on the outskirts of Kosice. It has immaculate facilities and seems to have a small zoo. An aviary of lovely birds, parakeets, budgies etc, some very large rabbits and alpacas. Staff were taking the alpacas on leads for a walk, according to Dennis. I was preparing dinner inside and so did not see them. When we arrived the only camping was in the open central area, with no shade. There are some shady places around the edge, but there is some sort of Pilates event happening there early tomorrow morning, so we couldn’t camp there. It was very uncomfortable putting up the tent in the heat, but it’s now after 9pm and has cooled down beautifully.

Tonight we are approximately 250 kilometres from the Romanian border, but will have to pass into Hungary first before we get there.

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