Europe by Van Day 6

Again I woke at 5 so I listened to more Empire with William Dalrymple and an annoying woman Anita who constantly interrupts. They are almost done with India and are moving on to the Ottoman Empire.

It was a cool night but it soon warmed up. We had to take on water and empty waste before moving on. The Dutch couple who parked beside us said campsites here are few so they have had to wild camp.


We made it over the twisty road which wasn’t too bad at all to park up in Banska Stiavnica by 9 am. This UNESCO-listed town with its with narrow, cobbled streets is reputed to be one of the most beautiful in Slovakia.

It was once one of the richest towns in Europe, having rich deposits of silver and gold. These funded the building of the opulent palaces of the Austri-Hungarian empire in Vienna and Budapest.

We decided to drive to Ochtinská Aragonite Cave, one of only 3 in the world, up in the hills, 120 miles away, but first we did a shop in Lidl. It’s really cheap here. We also got diesel which was €1.64 a litre, the cheapest yet.

The drive was very pleasant on quiet roads among ripe fields of sunflowers and corn, then over wooded hills and through many pretty villages which meant slowing down to 50km.

When we finally arrived at the caves the last tour had gone 15 minutes before. It was 2.15 and it is closed on Monday. We had a late lunch and decided to head north east to Spis Castle, up and down more twisty steep hills and being held up a few times with traffic lights for road works on the hairpin bends. It was only 60 miles but took 2 hours. Mr C enjoyed it.

When we arrived at Spis Castle, or Spissky Hrad in Slovak, at 5.30, we immediately went for a climb up the steep hill behind the car park for a view of the castle, one of the largest castles in Europe. Unfortunately there’s a monster crane looming over it and some of the castle is closed for renovations. Despite that it’s an impressive sight. It was build in the 12th century, owned by several kings of Hungary but now it’s a property of state of Slovakia. We had panoramic views in all directions - the High Tatras to the north and small towns amid fields with rolling wooded hills beyond. We’ll stay the night here. I’ll cook pasta with some pears, soft cheese and walnuts for supper and we’ll define have a G&T after such a long day - temperatures outside the van were over 30.

We walked 4.25 miles and drove 186 miles.

Do any Scottish friends know what the term Rough Bounds means? English friend thinks bounds must mean boundary but which?