Tatra National Park, Slovakia

Fri 22nd - Sat 23rd Aug

Slovakia's Tatra mountains jut out from the Slovakian plains like a gaping shark's mouth ready to chew up the countryside. Unfortunately they also took a chunk out of Bevan's hand. Now his hand is bandaged from fingertip to wrist and he's been sworn off using it for driving, chores and doing anything that might get it wet. Which means I'm now van b!tch.

The day itself was a bit of a disappointment. The area where we chose to hike is mostly used as ski fields in the winter, so the entire trail was under logging and construction. While hiking straight up the mountain, we were stumbling over desecrated forest and listening to chain saws chop down further trees. It was quite depressing, especially when we reached the top and the fog had rolled in. We waited it out for a few hours hoping that the view would clear up, but gave up and took the gondola ½ way down the mountain until Bevan spotted the three wheel go-kart track.

What's scary is how simple it was to strap yourself into a death trap. The karts are made of three off-road wheels with a seat in the middle which you race down a paved track in a nearly lying down position. To brake, you pull up on two bars with your hands, but what makes it really tricky is steering with your feet. We signed our lives away, strapped on a helmet and elbow pads, and baulked at a stern warning from a 16-year old kid to try not to kill ourselves because there were pedestrians AND logging trucks using the same road.

I went first and within 20 seconds, Bevan came flying around a corner and tried to pass me on the outside of a sharp S-shaped curve. Going too fast, he over-corrected with his feet and all I saw was dirt, branches, wheels, arms and legs flipping through the air. He didn't even scream or stop to brush himself off! Just a simple wave and he was off back down the mountain again with a big grin on his face.

The amazing Tatra peaks

I think the pain finally caught up with him at the bottom. He'd lost several layers of skin on the palm of his right hand and the blood was starting to pour. Since it was Sunday, all of the clinics and pharmacies were closed so we decided to find a doctor later and applied minimal first aid back at the van – a move we'd later regret.

View Tatra National Park Photos