Low Tatras

Two weekends ago, a group of us went to the Low Tatras, which are in the middle of the country. We arrived Friday evening at the penzion and went hiking Saturday morning.

The penzion was poor. They advertised a hot tub, but then said it cost 100 SKK to enter for 1/2 hour and only two people could enter at a time. They also had a breakfast for 120 SKK, which was very Slovak - meat and bread. I suppose I should have been thankful it wasn't hot dogs. There was no common area and terrible water pressure.

Nevertheless, the hike was fantastic. We hiked to the top of a mountain, walked along its ridge and then ate lunch at a cottage at the very top. After eating, we walked for about an hour, and then it started to rain and hail, so a group hiked down and another kept going.

The hike down was dangerous because of the rain and snow on the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I came close to slipping a few times.

The hike was a good opportunity for me to get to know my friends better. I had a great conversation with a Slovak Juro about communism. We got on the topic because I asked him how the path we were walking along was made. The path was simply amazing. It was made out of large rocks that had to weigh 50 pounds each. I thought it must have taken years to build the path. He said he didn't know when or how it was made, but that it was made under the communist era.

I then asked him what his family says about communism. He said he couldn't remember much because he was only five when the Velvet Revolution occurred. He said his grandparents thought communism was better but his parents disagreed. His grandparents liked communism because everyone had a job and security.

Later, he asked me what people in the United States thought about it. I said that people were scared that communism would take over country after country and eventually come to the United States. He thought this was hilarious. He had never heard of this worry.

Soon we got onto the topic of governments in general and decided that every form of country has its pros and cons and that all governments can become corrupt.

I concluded that perhaps we merely fear what we don't know or don't understand.

The mountaintop was so peaceful. We touched the clouds. The view above villages and valleys makes you want to listen to people and try to understand them.

Nevertheless, we always come down those mountains. Sometimes it's easy to remember what it's like atop a mountain. Sometimes not so much.