Planing the next stop - Slovakia part 2

Towards the end of my stay in Bratislava I felt the need to see some countryside for a change. A friend had recommended to visit the Mala Fatra National Park and I also always wanted to see the Tatra mountains in the Eastern part of Slovakia. Some planing became necessary and so I spent the best part of my last day in Bratislava on the internet, checking out bus and train schedules, availability of mountain huts, onward connections from the Mala Fatra area to the Tatra mountains and accommodation options in the Tatras. It is the sort of planing I have to do every time I move to a new location. That, together with the fact that every time I move I have to check that I have packed everything, get up early with the help of my alarm to catch an early bus, make sure I find my connecting buses on time, make those periods of traveling quite stressful. So far that has resulted I in a travel pattern where I make just a few stops per country but stay more than just a couple of days in each place, unlike most other travellers – and that seems a pretty nice balance of quantity and quality so far.

Some impressions from moving through Slovakia...

Making the most from the space: rolling timetables

People inside a train station, waiting for the platform to be announced. For some strange reason they are announced only couple of minutes before the train arrives.