Ostrow Mazowiecka, Poland, 20 June 2008, 52 deg 47' 22" N
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Well, Internet access is really not easy to find. I'm standing in a shop in Ostrow Maz. (N. Poland) using a laptop that the shop assistant set up for me to use!

The transition from CZ to PL was certainly no anticlimax. The climbs were horrendous and went on and on and on. The weather was cold too. But nowhere was there any indication as to how high the passes were. Probably not very, by Alpine standards, but certainly high enough.

I'm having a difficult time getting to grips with Poland. It's the first time that I've been somewhere where so few people speak a western language. And the language is so cryptic, that it's impossible to guess what the signs mean without a dictionary. But, I don't suppose that we can really blame the Romans for not spreading their empire and language this far.

The really unpleasant part about PL is finding a room for the night. I suspect that there is some organised crime involved, especially in the big towns. One turns up at a hotel (which takes a lot of finding, since no one seems to have thought about putting up signs to show the way) to find a couple of heavyweight men guarding the door, who say "Full up", or its PL equivalent. I ended up camping in the middle of the forest one night in desperation.

However, in 3 days it could well be Lithuania, which might have a different tourist culture, if not an easier language. I must buy a map pretty soon.

Poland is very easy cycling, by the way, except for the variable quality of the road surface. It's a bit boring at times, though, with the long straight roads disappearing over the horizon.

So, I suppose I'd better return this laptop to the shop's display items.

Best regards,

David