Day 1 transbeskidzki szlak konny
Yesterday we left in Brenna at the stable of the kind man Jarek Salamandra.
With a lot of courage we put on our rain suit. (I was smart enough to put my sweater over my rain pants, so I had a leak at the transition from jacket to pants)
We said goodbye to mom and dad, they were so sweet to bring us to the starting point.
The hospitality of Jarek and his beautiful ranch was also top notch!
We took the asphalt road, the horses made good progress.
Then onto the yellow road, it was immediately a steep climb. And it actually kept going that way all day haha. I think I'm a real luxury bitch. I didn't expect nice dirt/sand roads.
They all told me there would be a lot of stones, but when Poles say a lot of stones, it means a lot of stones!!
I actually felt quite guilty about the boys. They did their best. We walked a lot next to them because it was already hard for us on foot... Just out of respect. Sometimes they didn't want to go any further. Then we gave them some time. But after a few times it was just pulling the rope and 'dragging' them on to walk. Not nice. Despite that, they were really great!
The roads were difficult and I had so much stress for them. Twisted my ankles 3 times because I was looking too much into where Dior would walk best.
We soon realized that we would not find a decent place to set our tent.
For a moment we hesitated on top of a mountain where a worn-out house stood. But the grass had been mowed and it was really windy. So we rode on.
We had an adres where we could spend the night. Luckily I had called on the way. Yes, I called in Polish! Proud of myself haha. They would have place for the horses but not for us. Tent was also not possible. Okay, no problem as long as the horses are in the right place it is all ok. We'll find something.
First we rode 6 km wrong. (3 km wrong so 3 km back) then we had to do 5 more along the way. So we did some trotting on the streets to save time because it was already 7 o'clock and it gets dark very early here. By 8 pm we were almost there and two boys came to meet us by bicycle. I asked if it was still far, they were from the farm and came to get us. They thought we were coming with the trailer. 8.30 pm and in the dark we arrived. Very friendly people! The horses were allowed to stand next to the cow in the stable. Mr Dior thought otherwise. He did not want to get in the sable. The man wanted to help, but Dior only got more nervous. Not my thing. I asked if they also had a meadow. Yes no problem but without electricity, there was still some grass on it but they got a lot of hay which I think they barely ate. I was happy because the horses were happy. Then the friendly woman prepared a room for us. Totally great because we were hungry and cold and we were quite wet despite our rain suit. I had wet feet all day. So very happy if those shoes could take off. Opened everything that had to dry because the front bags are not waterproof even though I had sprayed them. And also my fanny pack which is very handy if you have money in it. Took a shower, ate something and go to bed! I slept very badly again. Despite the fatigue. Geert was snoring nicely. Tomorrow is a new day... Oh yes, very unfortunate about the weather, otherwise we would have had very nice views. 38. 35km 11.13am