Castle Crowds and Rafting

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22/08/2023

The alarm went off at 7.00 … up and at ’em. We left just after 7.30.  Our car park now had 3 attendants to entice early walkers into their parking. And whilst it was slow leaving Zakopane, the road north was busy but moving. The road south, even at this hour, was pretty slow. Is the North of Poland empty???

A Lidl shop.  A real pain as I dislike shopping, but without a working fridge, I have to shop every 2 days. Then onward to Dunajec Castle. A large paid for parking just below the castle, with a couple of coaches already, and it was only 9.45. Stalls selling tat, more stuffed white geese (they’re everywhere – why?) and smoked cheese all the way up to the castle.

Dunajec Castle
This part of Poland had been ruled by Austria so wasn’t as damaged by the war. However, when the Russians arrived they plundered windows and contents. Fortunately the roof and walls survived.
Looking down to the dam.
An unusual carriage. Kerstin and I guessed a hearse, for porting hay?  No. The lovely young girl practised her English to explain it was used by young gentry rebelling against their wealth, and of course their parents!  They’d sit on hay bales. The carriage would be drawn by 4 horses rigged in an unconventional line. Oh, and to complete the picture, each horse was a different colour.
View of the castle from the dam

Going around the castle with our English paper guide, we’d been flattened by constant tour groups. On our return to the car park, we discovered where all these people had come from. It was full of coaches. A nice castle, but it really didn’t warrant this number of visitors.

We lunched in the van and only managed to exit the car park once we realised we had to hand over our £4 to the attendant at the opposite car park, who then zapped the barrier open.

Next stop was a campsite, so we could take turns on the raft ride. Fortunately, we drove into the town first to investigate the rafting. Kerstin went and asked at one raft operator. We could take Corrie for free, so we could all go and they had their own parking (free)! Result … no need for a campsite and we could go together.

The rafts used to be hollowed out logs, lashed together.  The spruce branches prevent most splashes.
Two boatmen, one aft, one stern, steer over the rapids using long poles like a gondalier
This was about as exciting as the rapids got, but the raft did move fast over them. This is how goods used to be transported.
The Dunajec River here was busy with rafts, dingeys and kayaks. Another top Polish destination. But being on the water was restful.

After the obligatory ice cream at the destination we caught the mini bus (full) back to Jez. Then drove on towards Krosno … Kerstin was checking P4N overnight stops as we drove … found a lake side small parking. As well as anglers, there was a young Polish couple who are digital nomads. They’d just been kayaking and happy to chat. As I feared, most National Park’s are dog unfriendly. So no point heading down to Bieszczady National Park to see the bison then. Shame. And yes, finding free water is hard. They book onto a campsite every week to empty, fill and do laundry. But not many campsites as we move east.

We cooked on the Cadac and then ate by the lake.
Impossible to capture, but we watched lighting contained inside a cloud. Most bizarre. It was like a brain zapping.

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