Hajnowka 27 Oktober
Hi, have now made quite some progress in Poland and also seen quite a lot.
I went from Augustow on small roads through the Bierbzanski marshlands, one of the biggest wet lands in Europe. It was very nice and there was also the Augustow channel and all its locks. The main draw back was that there was nowhere to eat. Absolutely nothing open. It was not until Monki I could find a place to eat, but then I was out on the bigger roads again. In the end I wanted to make abit more progress rather than staying in Monki, so after a cup of tea there I progressed towards Bialystok, assuming that I would find a hotel along that way. But in the end I found nothing, and had to go all the way to Bialystok, which resulted in the longest daytrip so far - 109 km.
Augustow Channel
Bierbzanski marshlands
Actually the most limiting factor now for the length of the trip for the day is the day length followed by the limitations on food and accommodation. If you know you have food and somewhere to sleep you can gladly go on for an hour more, but if you risk finding occupied hotels and spent half an hour to find food, then you rather save some energy for that.
Bialystok itslef might be a nice city, but I didn't see it. Next morning I crossed through it and saw nothing of particular interst. I was heading for the Bialowiesa Forest and National park. One of the biggest "primeval" forests in Europe. Of course it is never true that there are pieces of nature that haven't been touched by humans. If you look carefully enough humans have been everywhere and made their mark, sometimes only by hunting like in this case. Anyway this forest is well known fro having the largest population of European Bison in the world as well as wolves etc.
I made a 88 km ride to the village Budy and found a pleasant pension, Siolo Budy. where I stayed 2 nights. That gave me the opportunity to do some washing of clothes and of course to see the National Park. So the 26th I spent in the area, rode around on my bike for a total of 44 km and walked some three hours in the forest, of which two was in the Strictly Protected Area with a guide. Quite a difference between this national park and the ones I have been to in Africa. In Africa there is a constant rally and seemingly no limitations on the number of people (except for the gorillas), so even if you marvel over the wild life of the savannah there is a bit of a zoo feeling in places like Ngorogoro and Masai Mara. Here you can only enter by foot and with a park ranger. That day, a Sunday, there had been one group in the morning and then me and the ranger in the afternoon, that was it. So there is a lot of silence. That Park is not particularly rich in number of animals even though the number of species are high (few individuals of each spieces). It is the forest that is the attraction!!!!
Really nice forest. Of course like all "natural" forests it is messy, with trees lying all around in various stages of decomposition. A big oak take more than 40 years to decompose, and after it is gone there is still a big elevation where it fell. The forest is composed of quite a lot of spieces. Spruces reach 53 meter, Oak, lime and Ash trees go up over 40, there are a few pines, lots of beech trees, maples, alders etc. Basically no birch or aspen as they are both pioneer trees. There is no stability in such a forest even if it is not touched by humans. The composition of species change over time, with climate change but also with change in the soil. Didn't see any animals apart from wood peckers in the park. In the surroundings of the part there are more protected areas where I saw lots of wild boars and some deer. The Bison? yeah, in the end I had to go to an "observation park" (read big zoo) to see them. There were also the crossing between the bison and the cow - the Zubron as well as the "reconstructed" wild horses, the Tarpans. All in all the landscape is beuatiful - if you like trees that is.
The hunting palace of the Czar
Typical village house - note that the entries never face the road. One can wonder why that is so, in Sweden the main entrance is normally facing the main road.
local bee-hives
In the evening I had the opportunity to try a local speciality - warm beer. They add a bit of spices and some grenadine to a normal beer and warm it. It was not very tasty. Otherwise I kind of enjoy the Lithuanian and Polish foods, they are a bit heavy, yesterday I was eating lard and pickled cucumbers as a main dish, but when it is cold that is quite nice.
The smallish breakfast they organised for me.
I went from Augustow on small roads through the Bierbzanski marshlands, one of the biggest wet lands in Europe. It was very nice and there was also the Augustow channel and all its locks. The main draw back was that there was nowhere to eat. Absolutely nothing open. It was not until Monki I could find a place to eat, but then I was out on the bigger roads again. In the end I wanted to make abit more progress rather than staying in Monki, so after a cup of tea there I progressed towards Bialystok, assuming that I would find a hotel along that way. But in the end I found nothing, and had to go all the way to Bialystok, which resulted in the longest daytrip so far - 109 km.
Augustow Channel
Bierbzanski marshlands
Actually the most limiting factor now for the length of the trip for the day is the day length followed by the limitations on food and accommodation. If you know you have food and somewhere to sleep you can gladly go on for an hour more, but if you risk finding occupied hotels and spent half an hour to find food, then you rather save some energy for that.
Bialystok itslef might be a nice city, but I didn't see it. Next morning I crossed through it and saw nothing of particular interst. I was heading for the Bialowiesa Forest and National park. One of the biggest "primeval" forests in Europe. Of course it is never true that there are pieces of nature that haven't been touched by humans. If you look carefully enough humans have been everywhere and made their mark, sometimes only by hunting like in this case. Anyway this forest is well known fro having the largest population of European Bison in the world as well as wolves etc.
I made a 88 km ride to the village Budy and found a pleasant pension, Siolo Budy. where I stayed 2 nights. That gave me the opportunity to do some washing of clothes and of course to see the National Park. So the 26th I spent in the area, rode around on my bike for a total of 44 km and walked some three hours in the forest, of which two was in the Strictly Protected Area with a guide. Quite a difference between this national park and the ones I have been to in Africa. In Africa there is a constant rally and seemingly no limitations on the number of people (except for the gorillas), so even if you marvel over the wild life of the savannah there is a bit of a zoo feeling in places like Ngorogoro and Masai Mara. Here you can only enter by foot and with a park ranger. That day, a Sunday, there had been one group in the morning and then me and the ranger in the afternoon, that was it. So there is a lot of silence. That Park is not particularly rich in number of animals even though the number of species are high (few individuals of each spieces). It is the forest that is the attraction!!!!
Really nice forest. Of course like all "natural" forests it is messy, with trees lying all around in various stages of decomposition. A big oak take more than 40 years to decompose, and after it is gone there is still a big elevation where it fell. The forest is composed of quite a lot of spieces. Spruces reach 53 meter, Oak, lime and Ash trees go up over 40, there are a few pines, lots of beech trees, maples, alders etc. Basically no birch or aspen as they are both pioneer trees. There is no stability in such a forest even if it is not touched by humans. The composition of species change over time, with climate change but also with change in the soil. Didn't see any animals apart from wood peckers in the park. In the surroundings of the part there are more protected areas where I saw lots of wild boars and some deer. The Bison? yeah, in the end I had to go to an "observation park" (read big zoo) to see them. There were also the crossing between the bison and the cow - the Zubron as well as the "reconstructed" wild horses, the Tarpans. All in all the landscape is beuatiful - if you like trees that is.
The hunting palace of the Czar
Typical village house - note that the entries never face the road. One can wonder why that is so, in Sweden the main entrance is normally facing the main road.
local bee-hives
In the evening I had the opportunity to try a local speciality - warm beer. They add a bit of spices and some grenadine to a normal beer and warm it. It was not very tasty. Otherwise I kind of enjoy the Lithuanian and Polish foods, they are a bit heavy, yesterday I was eating lard and pickled cucumbers as a main dish, but when it is cold that is quite nice.
The smallish breakfast they organised for me.
Kommentarer
Postat av: kari
ser underliga ut, ser inte så bra, kan undra varförbikupor är så olika i alla länder
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