I Visited Poland s Most Famous Lake

I'll call you about four o'clock, okay? Thank you, drive safe. And she's off. So Sharlene has dropped me off at this place called Lisana Polana, I think. It's just by the border. In fact, this is the border between Poland and Slovakia. I can't believe I'm hiking through snow. As with most of the hikes here in the Polish Tatras, we can't take folly on this trail. You'd think it wouldn't be a problem, but no, they don't let you. And yeah, there's a lot of people here, so obviously Sharlene's just dropped me off and she's gonna go find a park up. And indeed, I've decided to do the hike to Morski Oko. I guess it's the most popular hike here in Poland. Apart from being a very sunny day, it's also Saturday today, so that's why there's a lot of people out. In fact, as we were driving here, all the different parking areas, they're all like chock-a-block, so many people. And yeah, worked out well that she's just dropped me off. Ah, look at this amazing view here. Before we get started, let me just pop down here quickly and check out the view of the river. And even as we were driving here, we had some really epic views of the snow-covered mountains. The High Tatras are really beautiful. Up there with the Dolomites, if you ask me. So the hike to Morski Oko shouldn't be too bad. It's an uphill hike. We've got an elevation of about 500 meters. The hike itself is accessible to everyone because it's on Parmac. There might be a few shortcuts that I can take, but the end reward should be what it's all about, really. I also need to take a leak, so now might be a good time down here before I get on the trail. I forgot to mention, I think it's about a three-hour hike up. So I've risked it today. I'm coming in shorts, but I do have a jacket and I've got another layer in the bag as well, just in case. I've got a banana if I get hungry. Spare battery for the camera. What else do you need, really? Already you can tell this is going to be a special place. So what I've realized here in Poland and even in Slovakia, they are happy to see you in your motorhome. You know, some places we go in Germany and Austria and Switzerland, you can tell they don't like you. And even for parking, sometimes it's just a total rip-off. I think this one is quite expensive. It's like 25 euros in summer just to park up for the day and book in advance. But today, seeing that Holly couldn't come, Charlene's just going to go and find a free parking instead down the road. But when she did drop me off, we went into the parking lot and we asked the guy if we can go in so she can turn around. He was like, yeah, of course. And just something simple like that makes you feel welcome. I'm not even joking. Where were we? I forgot where we were. We were in Austria, yeah. And Charlene wanted to drop me off and they had a go at us. They didn't want to let her drop me off in this parking area beside the train station. I just want to get out, you know. He was saying, no parking here, no parking here. You have to leave. And he started shouting. At least in these places, you do feel a little bit more welcome in your camper van or motorhome. And the prices, apart from this one in Morski Oko, they're relatively much cheaper. So far, the temperature status is 10 degrees going up to 14 degrees here in the mountain. And it's cold in the shade, but absolutely perfect in the sun. Still blown away as to how much snow there still is here. You actually have to pay to go into the National Park. And no, my luck, bus has just arrived before me. Just one, please. One? Yeah. Okay, 11. So the entrance fee to go into the National Park was 11 zloty, which is about three euros, I think. And as you can see, there's quite a lot of people here, which means that there's about zero percent chance of encountering a bear with all these people. But it's not too bad because I've seen some photos of this place in summer. It's actually worse. The whole road is just packed with people. It's like a procession. And just like the rest of this area in Poland, very strict at the door. There's actually people that are definitely not going to get in here with a dog. And you can't use the drone in the National Park and everything. So yeah, very, very strict. But at the same time, absolutely stunning. So far, the walk is on this tarmac road, a few curves and just steadily heading uphill. Everyone's stopping to take photos of the backdrop of the mountains. I'm trying to walk at a fast pace as well, so it doesn't take me too long. It says it can take you between two and three hours to arrive at the top. So I'm walking quite fast. So hopefully I can get there in two hours. The trail itself is nine kilometers long. And the whole area, like even in Zakopane, at the beginning of this hike is full of horse carriages. And the horse can actually take you up to the lake instead of walking. I guess we'll see some pass us at some point. This is not my typical hike I do with all these people. Seeing that we're here and it's a sunny day, I thought, why not? And apparently at some point on the trail, there's actually a shortcut through the forest where you can hike up and save about 20 minutes. And the problem with that is it's going to be very, very steep. And with this walk up, I'm finding it quite easy. So I can just keep the speed up for the next hour or two. I think that'd be the best bet. Depends on how tempting the shortcut looks. And when you get moving, you quickly warm up. I can't believe I'm the only one in t-shirt and shorts out of all these people. I don't know how they're doing it in a jacket. What a lovely day. Absolutely perfect. I might regret it though when I get to the lake. Look at all this traffic here. Like I said, I've seen worse, but this is quite unusual for me to go on a hike like this. So these people must be the nobles of this generation riding to the lake on a horse carriage. Maybe I can just hop on the back and they will notice. So on the way up, we've got these excellent mountain views on the left. So he's hiking. This one, she's going to sleep now. And I got a little bit of time to clean this beautiful home of ours. And I hit my name. Yeah, I injured myself today. Look what I did guys. Oh, that hurt a lot. So she found her spot and she's asleep. I'm gonna start with the fridge. Oh, this is normal. When you drive, you know, especially these windy roads here in the mountains, things just fall off. It's normal. You just put them back in their place. Look at this one. She woke up already. She wants to eat. So today was my last time shopping in Poland and I bought a lot of pierogi. I bought strawberries, pierogi. Oh my god. We have to try this. We can't leave Poland without trying the strawberry one. I guess this is cheese. Cheese, potato and onions. I don't know, spinach, I think. And this one is with beef or pork. I also bought this Gouda cheese for Chris. This is a family pack. But with Chris, this lasts only one week or even one and a half weeks. But from here, the prices are cheaper. So that's why I bought this. So this is what we got. We got some spinach. So we got some spinach, kiwis, pistachios, parmigiano, sausages, chicken. What else do we have? Pierogi here, pierogi here, tomatoes, meat, sausages, more meat and then pierogi and eggs here. I bought these from Flying Tiger and I really find them convenient to store clothes and also when we travel. So like this, everything is organized. Look how big it is. So huge. I think I have a lot of clothes in this van. There has to be a time where we have to stop, do what we need, what we don't need and give some to charity. But sometimes, you know, we have these things but we buy them and then we don't really use them and it's not good to carry it all the time with you and then you don't really use it. And yeah, I really like to wear all of them. Even if I wear it, you know, once a month or so, at least I'm wearing it. Oh my god, it's jam-packed. Look at this. Now I have to do this. You know what? Before we bought the van, I had to give away a lot of things and also stop buying things. And I think I grew out of that. I need to watch some minimal videos as well to, yeah, declutter this van because I keep saying this but I never do it. Oh my god, I'm terrible at this. I'm terrible. Anyway, let's keep on, you know, doing this and let's stick with our plan. I don't want to throw away anything today. How many pairs of pants do I have? Two hours later, almost made it up to the lake. The path is very straightforward. There's a couple of toilets and a restaurant as well and some nice places where you can stop along the way. Just over two hours and I think I've got the last five minutes left. Up here, it's even more busy. These mountains here that have no snow on them actually look quite nice as well. Look how beautiful they look. Look at that. I'm definitely overshadowed by these big ones. These are just massive. Should be getting really close now. I think the lake is just over this hill because the valley doesn't really continue much more. First, these were so far away. Now I'm standing nearly at the foot of them and it's actually pretty weird being on the hike and not seeing a single dog. Feels like something's missing. And there we are. After nine kilometres, I finally got my first glimpse of the lake which is obviously all frozen over at the moment. So, in summertime, you can normally hike around the lake and then head back down the same way. So, this part of the lake is all slushy. It's actually straight water there as well. Let's go around to the solid part because I do not want to get wet. When I'm walking on a lake like this which is frozen over but we're in the sun, at any point, I'm worried that I'm just going to go straight down. Can't believe I finally made it to Morski Oko which means the eye of the sea. The name actually sounds Japanese. Morski Oko. It's very similar to Lago de Braies in the Dolomites. So, some of you who've been following along for a few years will remember we went to Braies in summer and in winter. But when we went to winter, the lake was exactly like this and it's at the foot of these massive mountains which is very similar as well. If you have a look at all these people here, it's really incredible. I know this place gets really really busy in summer but I never thought it would be like this in spring. Really nice walk to a really nice lake. Nonetheless, still enjoyed it so much. Let me give you a quick 360 degree tour of where I am at the moment. Morski Oko. When I was walking here, I didn't even think it was going to be covered in snow. Now I'm thinking of it, it's obvious, yeah. Wonder when the snow starts to break. I guess next month and then it has a really nice bluey green colour. A beauty of a day. I think that's why there's so many people here as well because the weather's been ---- all week. Today's Saturday and it's just beautiful. So, I'm just going to enjoy these amazing views here on the lake as well as my banana which seems to be a bit disfigured. I think it got semi-squashed in the bag and then afterwards I'll start heading back down. I need to call Shadi in about 15 minutes before she comes pick me up. My shoes are actually getting soaked here. I'm going all the way down. Look at this. Best to take the long walk around. I'm going to get soaked or even worse, fall all the way through the lake. Holly ate her food now. She woke up from her nap and I hope she lets me continue. Chris called me and he said that in 45 minutes he's gonna be back. So, I have to get ready in 45 minutes. Now I'm gonna clean the floor and some of this boot here and then go for him. Look at her. She's enjoying the space that she's got on the bed. It's very important that while you're cleaning you also use some of your products. So, for example, this is a lip moisturizer from Greece because it's important to take care of yourself as well. Here we have a quick salad. Cucumber, tomatoes, some onions and also some sausages. That's it. Very easy, very delicious. And yes, now we have a clean van. Wow, wow, wow. I don't want to leave from here. Made it back down. Nearly arrived at the starting point. Just called Charlene to come pick me up. Nice 20 kilometers, 21 kilometers actually. Not even gonna lie, I think going down was the hardest because my legs are killing me. Last five minutes now. Can't wait to get back in the van and go and park up for tonight. Come on driver, take me to a park up. Now we're heading back to Poland. That hike was basically right on the border between Slovakia and Poland. In fact, now we've crossed into Slovakia just to go back to Poland. So we've come to check out a park up here by the river. Really looks nice but it's actually in the shade and it's very muddy as well at the moment. So we're gonna head back to the place where Charlene stopped. It's on the main road but it's just nice and open and a lovely view of the mountains. So Chris now is vulnerable. Vulnerable? I'm tired. I wouldn't go that far. Chris now is so petite after the hike. I made him two sandwiches and that bread was amazing. I don't even know, what is it? White rye bread. It was so delicious. And now we're having a little chocolate bar now. I'm so tired. Charlene, which one? It's this one. It's really good. Princessa, longer. Chocolate's good but the bread is even better. So this is the bread. Look at this. Look at those mountains. And oh my god guys, from this spot I spotted three deer. They're so far away. I can't believe that I really spotted them to be honest because they are far away but I saw this tiny dot moving slowly you know and I said okay let me just try you know with my binoculars to check if they're deer and they're actually deer. They're so cute. I'm so happy that we came here. Anyway guys, if you enjoyed today's video do hit the like button, leave a comment down below because we love to read them. Thank you so much for watching and see you in the next one.