POLE TO POLE

North of Oranienberg I called at the sombre Sachssenhausen Concentration Camp that felt as poignant as my visit to Belsen a decade ago. The punishment and abuse here meted out initially by the Nazis and post war the Soviets was recorded and displayed - the walking track, a series of mixed surfaces where captives were forced to walk for hours to test new military footwear, photos of prisoners clearing bombs manually and the appalling neck shot mechanism whereby prisoners were stood against a wall gauge for measuring only to be shot through a slit in the device from an adjoining room all conspired to leave me feeling very humbled. The hospital wing had deliberately infected people with gangrene and hepatitis to test new treatments and women prisoners worked in a nearby munitions factory manufacturing amongst other things gas masks and missiles.

 

Moving on with plenty to think about I called at Chorin where the ruins of an abbey were filling up with guests for a recital of classical music which I stopped to enjoy for a while. The local station is well preserved and worth a look and I finished the day at the remarkable Niederfinhow boat lift which raises huge barges 130' using concrete counterbalances. As the route is increasingly busy a new lift has been constructed alongside and once open will carry barges with up to 120 shipping containers aboard. Staying overnight was allowed but seemed pricy at 15 euros so I backtracked to a spot right on the canal where I'd seen another van parked up. It was a lovely spot and a party boat passed with the event in full swing and the passengers all waving and cheering as they passed.

 

 

The following day I returned to the boat lift for the guided tour which was excellent and took us right up to the top of this impressive structure, the two small control cabins way below reminded me of the Newport Transporter Bridge in Wales. I stayed my last night in Germany right on the border which here follows the Oder river so took an evening ride along the elevated flood prevention bank noting that no such provision existed on the Polish side. I stayed with an old German guy who allowed camping in his large garden and took advantage of the water and waste to prepare the van for my next stage.

 

 

Crossing in to Poland was no trouble at all and I went to the nearest cash point in the first town as Poland still uses the zloty. I then filled up with BP Ultimate at a third less than the UK and then did a food shop in a well stocked Lidl before setting the sat nav for Kornik, one of the more pronounceable Polish names. Here a campsite at the local sports centre was an ideal easy introduction to another new country and had a washing machine available. I got talking to the owner of the first UK plate I had seen for ages - he was a Polish guy living in Britain back over to see family. Kornik castle and the red brick church were very beautiful as was the lake as I returned to base.

Rogalin Palace the following day was stunning and after a walk round the ornamental gardens I joined a guided tour, very grateful for the  English audio guide.

 

South of Poznan I stayed in a woodland car park in the Wielkopolska National Park and used some of the many cycle tracks through the woods to visit the city, stopping for a beer on the riverbank before the spin home.

At Lake Lednica I pulled in to a large grassy field where a very relaxed campsite sat amongst flowers and shady trees. It provided the starting point for a ride round the lake the next day with visits to a once fortified island and the local folk museum where traditional buildings from all over Poland have been re erected and furnished accordingly. I ate in the cafe receiving fish, salad and chips in yet another case of not being sure what I had actually ordered - it was very good and set me up for the remaining few miles back to camp.

 

At Znin the following day I bought a huge bag of cherries from a street stall before jumping on the narrow gauge railway that still runs through the area and alighting after a rickety and leisurely half hour at Wenecja where there is a yard full of these old 600mm gauge locomotives and rolling stock. It was a fascinating trip and the return journey had me back in time to move via the castle at Golub Dobryzyn to the Mazurian Lakes where I felt the small field site with no facilities alongside a closed restaurant was something of a rip off.

 

Saturday was a day for moving on a few miles so I left the very beautiful Lakes and stayed the night on an agritourist holding where the old couple were very friendly but spoke no English. 

Sunday included a visit to the restored synagogue at Tykocin which was fascinating before I stopped the night at the bivouac camp near Biebrzanski National Park. It was very quiet - no one else was staying but the long grass attracted swarms of flies and mosquitoes so I stayed indoors with windows open but flyscreens down.

Early next day the grass cutters arrived as I moved off only to find out from the visitor centre that the site wasn't actually open. Anyway I set off on a 55 mile ride through the woodland scenery following a mix of roads and tracks but failing to spot any of the elk that apparently roam freely in the area. 

At Bialystock I parked up to view the magnificent palace that now partially serves as the medical and dental faculty of the university and thus houses a somewhat macabre collection of old equipment and body parts.

 

The rest of the palace has been restored after war time destruction and the various rooms reflected the luxury enjoyed by the ruling classes in previous times - Mr Putin allegedly enjoys similar perks and is pursuing a similarly enlightened approach to infrastructure in a foreign land - funny old world. 

From Bialystock it was a short hop via a stocking up at Lidl to the Bialowieza National Park that alongside an extension of the  huge reserve in to Belarus houses the last remaining herds of wild European bison. Down at the visitor centre it was something of an unexpected shock with gaudy stalls, bars and other paraphernalia relating to all things bison. The frenetic atmosphere wasn't helped by a huge military presence with two container sized generators roaring away and much of the parking closed to accommodate a large tented military camp.

 

Anyway a mile or two out of town it was much quieter and I pulled in to Camping Michala which is effectively the large back garden of a wooden house and spoke to the lad Henry who had very good English. It was reasonably priced at about £10/night and very well kept with good shower facilities which for once I used. I cycled back to the Visitor Centre and booked a guided tour in to the protected area of the park for the Wednesday evening. A good map was available to supplement my GPS so the following morning I set off on a 55 mile ride through superb flat woodland with almost nobody else around. Apparently the border area had been closed by the military to prevent migrants from Africa and Asia coming in to Europe via a northern route, and not due to the Ukrainian situation as I had thought. This plus the cost of fuel had apparently kept visitor numbers very low this year and occasionally I would come across a small group of soldiers and their trucks tucked away in the shade.

It was a lovely route in warm sunshine with a real feel of pristine woodland rarely touched by man. Later that evening a French family of two parents, two grandparents and five young children descended out of two cars but were hugely well organised and within two hours tents were up, dinner cooked and everyone off to bed - similarly the following morning they were off and away quietly by 9.

On the Wednesday morning I went up to the Breeding Reserve where a few bison were kept in large open areas and two young calves were visible soaking up the sun as the parents basked in the shade - they are remarkable animals and a few other local specialities including deer, wild boar, elk and zubron were also on display, again in very large enclosures. After exploring the village by bike I reported to the Centre to meet Patryck who spoke excellent English although as there had been no other visitors wanting an English tour  (hardly surprising as I'd not seen any UK plates) I had to pay the full £90 - not that bad for a personal four hour tour.

We walked through the special reserve which would normally extend right across in to Belarus but to the horror of the environmentalists the Polish military have constructed a Trump style wall which will massively interfere with the normal wanderings of the bison. As we were returning Patryck suddenly stopped and looked mildly concerned as lo and behold a single male was almost invisible beside a nearby tree - he said it was the first he'd seen in several years and that we should retrace our steps and take a different route.

 

 

Leaving the very pleasant campsite behind I parked up near Narawka to do a 30 mile ride in another part of the forest with again signs of the military and saw a golden eagle lifting to the sky with an unlucky rabbit's foot plus the even unluckier rest of it, before returning to the van. Quiet border roads took me to the almost empty village of Kruszyniamy where a small green wooden mosque was open to all and whilst I didn't understand a word of the caretaker/guide's talk it was a peaceful atmosphere in a very unique place.

 

 

 

I wandered down to the small restaurant to see if they still did camping but the lady said no and then rang an old woman in a wooden cottage opposite who was happy to put me up in her garden. I returned to the restaurant for a meal enjoying a potato omelette filled with chicken and mushrooms washed down with Belarussian beer and followed by ice cream and a coffee. A tall, blonde and very striking Russian lass had pulled up across the road on a large shiny red Suzuki Savage and we enjoyed a good discussion on various matters as her English was excellent. The owner spoke Polish, Russian and some English but was Belarussian and had started her business here in easier times. I spent a very quiet night alongside the potato patch with just the odd army truck rumbling past to the border two miles away.

 East of Augustow on the edge of the Mazurian Lakes again I found a nice site on the edge of Lake Wigry with a few families staying and some shade offered by pine trees as we were now getting some of the heat that had hit the UK the week before. I set off round the lake on a 30 or so mile ride which cooled me down and offered beautiful views across to the large pink church on the opposite shore. It was an enchanting area and brought to a close my first visit to Poland with the lovely prospect of another week or so passing through towards the end of August on my return journey.

Thus I turned east again heading towards Lithuania where I am now sat but that will have to wait for my next post as with a now two hour time difference to the UK it is getting late.

More than enough pics here............