Compassion Rising Tour 2025: Poland (Part 1)

German border near Rütenbrock

July 26: Kamminke-Międzyzdroje (23km)

Just after Camping Kamminke I already reached the German-Polish border at a narrow canal. On the other side of the small wooden bridge stood a Polish gendarme, apparently not to check because I was greeted with a broad smile.

At Świnoujście I made some purchases and exchanged złotys. Just an unpleasant moment: two ATMs refused my cards!

I looked for an ATM at a bank and oef, there it worked.

What struck me about this first Polish city:

The bike lanes here had no awkward bordures at intersecting side streets. I hope this remains the case. In Germany, it was always pavement down/sidewalk up.

Cigarette butts are thrown on the street without any guise.

Everything is fairly messy and untidy, including the shelves in the supermarket.

Pushing at the checkout also seems normal.

People are not in a hurry, neither are the shop staff.

The names of cities are impossible to remember.

The Świnoujście ferry was free. The cycle ferry in Camp cost 13€, the price of camping.

Everything is cheaper here.

Tent camping is still popular here: a large 300×80-metre tent meadow filled up well at two hours.

The campsite has a well-equipped kitchenette with refrigerators, microwave, gas cooker, cutlery.... Probably because of the many tent campers.

Transistor radios are still very popular here.

Eurovelo 10 to Forest Camp Międzyzdroje

As for the route, it was only going to be a short ride. After my delay in Świnoujście, I followed the Eurovelo-10 East Sea route, for the most part on a rough gravel road through a forest. Not a fast course.... The final stretch to Międzyzdroje ran right next to the Baltic Sea beach, separated by just a narrow see-through forest strip. Lovely cycling!

In Międzyzdroje, there were a few campsites. I looked to see how far the next one would be: 25 km, mostly through forests. With potentially bad dirt roads ahead, I didn't see the point of starting that at 15:30, and checked in at Forest Camp Międzyzdroje, a campsite behind the village and a bit quieter than the beach campsites.

When I returned on foot from the supermarket around 8pm, I saw white disgust hanging over the campsite. At reception, they gave me a piece of paper that mosquito repellent would be sprayed from 19:30 and that everyone was requested to temporarily stay in their camping gear or leave the site for a while. That doesn't seem very ecological and healthy to me.... Different country, different standards.

Tent site Forest Camp Międzyzdroje

27 July: Międzyzdroje - Niechorze (51.5 km)

Slightly longer ride today as I had fewer delays along the way.

First about 10 km fairly slow on a rough gravel road and paved asphalt through the Narodowy National Park (2.5€ entrance fee). This seems to me to be a primeval forest like the Sonian Forest in Brussels. A beautiful deciduous forest with majestic trees.

Then on a fine cycle path alongside the coastal road, with wooded stretches interspersed with super busy seaside towns. Shops with Chinese beach roll, fast food eateries, ice cream parlours, funfairs and lots of strolling people. Poles apparently love their coast.

At Pobierowo I passed two huge hotel resorts, but all in all this is not too bad here. Probably their summers are too short to be really profitable.

Things were slow in the towns as cyclists and strollers had to share the road. The strollers did not pay much attention to cyclists. Lots of big families taking up the whole width. The alternation forest-crowded seaside town was nice today, but whether I will continue to find this East Coast cycling regime enjoyable until Gdansk (350 km to go) is questionable.

The weather was beautiful and warm today. For Niechorze I saw a cosy, quiet mini-campsite. So much more pleasant than those mega-sized, noisy beach campsites and so I turned in and went for another nice swim in the sea. Then I was able to dry off on the beach, as it was still warm enough. In warm weather, this is

already a good reason to keep cycling on the coast.

Beach at Dziwnow

July 28: Niechorze-Ustronie Morskie (57km)

To compensate for the many seaside towns yesterday afternoon, I was presented with nature all morning today. More than 2 hours non-stop through a vast pine forest on good gravel paths. Lovely zen cycling, although the path is crowded, even by day-trip cyclists. It strikes me that electric cyclists are still in the minority here. Even many elderly cyclists still use muscle power.

After that long nature trip, the fishing town was Mrzezyno a fine rest stop.

On the quayside of the Rega River fishermen were busy untangling their nets, then storing them in plastic bins.

The mouth of the Rega is dammed up. Boats choose the wide sea via a side exit on the beach side. From midday the wind suddenly swelled to Beaufort 5, but fortunately for me it was still coming from a favourable direction.

Fisherman on the Rega River

After Mrzezyno, many kilometres again followed alongside the coastal road. This stretch did have many new large urbanisations under construction. It does get very busy here in summer, but I hope the Poles are not overplaying their hand with so much concrete along the coast after all.

The final stretch for Ustronie Morskie ran across a narrow headland with the raging sea on the left and a marshland on the right.

Because of the stormy wind - I think - at the time I normally start looking for a campsite, I suddenly had little mobile coverage and couldn't get the camping apps to load. So I took the first one I came across, which unfortunately was a super crowded packed coastal campsite. So be it, so be it. Tomorrow I'll look for some better camping candidates in the morning instead of only starting to search 'on the spot'.

Bike path along the Baltic Sea

28 July: Introduction to Arkadiusz

Just arrived at the busy campsite in Ustronie Morskie, my tent was only half erect, or Arkadiusz came walking up to me with the usual questions: from where, to where, why.... Speaking only Polish, he struggled with GoogleTranslate and the Polish translation of the flyer on my website.

He was amazed at the distance already covered and asked if he could ride a lap on my bike.

Afterwards, as I passed his 'encampment' - he was there with friends and it was a chaotic arrangement of tents, cars, a camper van and stretched tarpaulins with chairs, tables, and tubs of beer underneath - I saw a tiny old-timer Fiat among them. It turned out to be Arkadiusz's and he was wonderfully proud of it. It was a Polish Fiat: Polski Fiat 126p, produced from 1972 to 2000, I read on the internet.

The old beast was maintained pico bello. I sat in it for a while. It looked like a car from a fairground, so small. The engine was in the back of the boot.

Arkadiusz had hung a small trailer behind it to transport his tent and camping gear.

When I packed and went to say goodbye the next morning, I received a sticker of his oldtimer club and a Polish pennant. The latter now adorns my bike handlebars next to my Belgian flag. And I gave him a Tibet sticker as a souvenir.

Arkadiusz and his vintage Fiat 126p

July 29: Ustronie Morskie - Darłowo (62.8 km)

This morning more of the same: the coastal road with alternating stretches of forest and busy seaside towns. The only difference: on the wooded stretches there was also a lot of traffic. All the time carefully slaloming between strolling families, doddering children on bicycles, young people looking at their mobile phones.... This keeps your attention, but I think the best period to cycle this route is June: long days and probably no mass tourism yet.

Between seaside towns, buses and trains take holidaymakers to another town, with different stalls but the same Chinese beach roll. Heaps of cheap plastic are displayed here. I wonder how many millions of złotys Poles spend on this for their offspring. Humanity has a long way to go to consume less environmentally destructive.

On the thin strip between the large Jamno more and the sea was calmer.

After my lunch break, I had to turn inland to cycle around a second large lake. Immediately, the atmosphere changed from coastal bustle to rural tranquillity. In the villages, the houses were no longer hidden behind stalls and other entertainment. Most fields had been mowed and were golden. Few cyclists on this stretch. Just a reset in the mind from constant alertness to calm and relaxation. That did some good.

On the way to Iwięcino

At Dabki it was again pedestrian slalom blown, but then thankfully some quiet kilometres.

The last 2 kilometres I felt how lucky I have been with the wind the past few days. With the wind straight ahead, my speed dropped from 18 to 12km/h!

To that headwind snail's pace I traversed France from south to north in 2023 and fell ill the penultimate day before Antwerp. Probably because I had exhausted my reserves a little too deeply each day and had not recovered sufficiently by the following day. I did learn that lesson then.

Because of the strong wind, I did not go into the sea. There's no swimming in those foamy waves, and it's just the breaststroke motion that is so pleasing to the body and joints. There were also helicopters flying along the artificial line all day to keep an eye on irresponsible swimmers, I suspect. The beaches here are too vast to provide rescue posts everywhere.

30 July: Darłowo-Ustka (54 km)

A little past the campsite I passed the port of Darłowo. Just as I had crossed the footbridge, it closed and a pirate two-master sailed in.

Furthermore, all morning I cycled through a pine forest next to the Baltic Sea. The smell of sea and pine is indescribably fresh and pleasant.

A little further on, it became a narrow strip of land between the sea and a large lake. You can find more explanation on the photo captions.

Afterwards, the Eurovelo 10 back down inland, around a lake with idyllic swimming spots, where I lingered longer than planned.

As a result, I have been in Ustka a campsite (Camping Morski 101 Ustka) earlier than planned, after first making some pointless rounds there to find gas for my cooking stove. Apparently, these can only be bought in DIY shops in Poland, and you only find them in bigger cities. Fortunately, I can now continue on to Lithuania.

Eurovelo 10 between the Baltic Sea and Lake Kopán

31 July: Ustka - Łeba (72 km)

When planning this route, Komoot qualified it as 'tough'. The first time this trip. There were slightly more altimeters as the route was mostly inland, but compared to 'medium' routes in France and Spain, this was a joke. I suspect the heaviness was due to the heavier surface. More than half of it was on forest paths, rough gravel or bad concrete tracks.

These slow routes reduced my average speed to barely 13km/h. So I had to pedal for some hours to reel off the 72km.

Although I did not feel fully rested in the morning, I was not tired on the way and when I finally reached the campsite. Only when I sat down in my porch for an hour, working on videos and reports, did I suddenly get a serious tap of the hammer.

The route was beautiful again and definitely worth the greater effort.

Between Smołdzino and Retowo

2 August: Łeba - Chłapowie (72 km)

Good gentle gravel paths alternated through forest - forest - forest and long stretches of dune forest, interrupted after kilometres over a bit of tarmac through a seaside town and then back into the (dune) forest.

Beautiful route unless you follow Komoot's "shortcuts". Suddenly I was on a dirt road full of tree stumps or on a narrow grinding pad among tall ferns. I then turned back and looked for another route back to Eurovelo. So, good advice to those who cycle this route: follow Eurovelo, even when it is a bit detours makes.

Around 3pm, I received a warning of extreme, life-threatening weather. Some scant drops were falling. To avoid a wet phone, I already put it in its plastic bag and kept on cycling until it suddenly started thundering. In Debki I stopped at a terrace for a herbata (tea) anyway. Better not take any chances, although the sky didn't look particularly threatening.

When the sun came through again, I continued my route, but 3 kilometres further on I still got a cloudburst over me that turned the gravel road into a shallow river in an instant. As a result, I could no longer see the potholes, leading to severe jolts at times. Poor bike, it's a strong beast.

Fortunately, after about two kilometres of torrential rain plodding, a good tarmac track followed with not too much splashing wet from passing cars.

And I kept getting lucky: in the last part of the ride, there was always an asphalt bike path next to the dirt road for cars. The dirt road was completely flooded in many places, which would certainly have caused problems with a packed bike.

Camping Alexa is another super busy noisy coastal campsite. It's about time to return to the peace and quiet of the interior.

From tomorrow, I will stay for three nights in a hostel in Gdansk, and then we'll see again.

Eurovelo 10 gravel path through dune forests

August 3: Chłapowie - Gdansk (70km)

Via Hell: 42km by bike and 28km tram ferry to Gdansk

The drive across the extremely narrow peninsula to Hell was monotonous. A busy cycle path, especially the first 15 km, next to a car lane and a railway.

On the first, busy part of the route, there were a number of campsites where there was barely 1.5 metres of space between the caravans/campers. I have not often seen such an accumulation.

We had to be careful on the cycle path as it was regularly littered with broken glass, probably from drunks smashing their bottles on the asphalt.

Along the way, I did pass some tuneful little harbours.

At Hell was very busy, but taking photos was difficult because of the rain.

That rain was also the reason I took this route. I thought it would be more pleasant to spend the last two hours in a warm and dry ferry than all day in rain showers on the bike.

I assumed that the ferry would dock somewhere near the coast in the port of Gdansk and that I would then have 12 km or so to cycle to Waterlane Island Hostel, but he wasn't. He still sailed for about half an hour the Martwa Visla river up and moored right in the old town. From there it was only 1,200 metres to the hostel, but cycling did not work in this extremely busy pedestrian area.

En route to Waterlane Island Hostel

Lama Tashi Norbu wishes me a prosperous journey with a puja (in 2022)

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