Compassion Rising Tour 2025: Poland (Part 2)

Jurata Pier

Aug 6: Gdansk - Jantar (32 km)

Only short ride planned today as I was in Gdansk needed to buy a new cycling shirt. My beloved 35-year-old Odlo shirt that unfortunately is no longer sold is now literally ripping off my body....

To get out of Gdansk, I first had to go through industry for quite a while. Then followed a quiet lane with bike path. There wasn't much to photograph along the way, except for the odd ferry across the Wisla. That was not a ferry, but a platform pulled along side by another boat.

Then via a beautiful forest path to Jantar.

Although the weather app had predicted no rain, I got two downpours over me. The first a few hundred metres before a Lidl, but that was far enough to get drenched. The second in the forest beyond the ferry. There was a bike shelter there, but also too late, I was already soaking wet again.

And a third gust followed just after the tent was up. If I had continued cycling today, I probably would have gotten wet a third time. And between the showers, the sun shone each time.

From tomorrow it would get drier.

Hiding under a bicycle shelter

August 7: Jantar - Piaski (43km)

I had read on the internet that Copernicus' studio was located in the historic town of Frombork was located. This should be interesting to visit, and besides, there is a campsite in the town.

Along the mainland, however, it was +80km. I saw that from the headland between the Baltic Sea and the Wisla Lagoon 'water trams' to Frombork, and then the ride only came to a good 40km.

Fortunately, this second headland was much nicer and calmer cycling than the first from Chłapowie to Hel. Almost the entire ride on a nice, rideable forest path, though a lot of up and down as it was a dune forest.

Bike path in Park Krajobrazowy Mierzeja Wiślana

About in the middle, the headland was bisected by a canal connecting the Baltic Sea to the lagoon. Using GoogleTranslate, I read on an information board that an artificial uninhabited island for waterbirds was being constructed in the lagoon. Strange, I would have thought that with all these lagoons and lakes here, the birds would still find plenty of place to nest.

A little way past the canal, the cycle path ran right next to the sea, unfortunately only for a few kilometres.

I drove to the furthest village, Piaski, 4 km from the border with the Russian enclave Kaliningrad. At 16:15, a water tram left there for Frombork.

I was 50 minutes early, bought into a sklep (shop) a drink and waited alongside in a wooden shelter with bench seat (and bottle opener!) together with a Polish couple who were here on holiday. The conversation was conducted using GoogleTranslate.

A little after four o'clock I made my way to the jetty, but there was no tram boat in sight. Another boat did dock.

On a placard was an info phone number to which I thus called. There would be no more trams this afternoon. The next one was tomorrow morning at 9:45. Or else I had to cycle 12 km back to Krynica Morska.

Right next to the jetty was a quiet campsite, which is where I was going to spend the night. Too bad I had waited an hour for that boat first.

Advantage of this disadvantage: I was able to go for another swim in the sea

Bank with love locks at Krynica Morska

9 August: Lake Pasleka - Wielochowo (70 km)

Quite a long ride today. The first 30 km were pretty much uphill alongside rural roads. Normally, I like to eat a few pieces of fruit after 1.5 hours of cycling but I couldn't find a nice place to settle down anywhere. So I just kept cycling until Orneta, about halfway along the route. I took a longer rest there as the long climbing ride had been a bit tiring and went for a pizza.

In the market there were info panels with the story of the murder of the Catherine sisters (see blog Frombork), a painting of which I had seen in Frombork Cathedral. I also went to take a look inside the rather imposing church. There, pastoral staff were putting up decorations for a wedding.

The second part of the tour to Lidzbark Warminski ran for more than 15 km along a 'Greenway', a former railway track through a vast forest. The first few kilometres of that route could do with a layer of new gravel, as the cycle track there was narrow and slippery in shady areas.

Slightly too green Greenway

In Lidzbark Warminski I went to the shop, as everything here is closed on Sunday. I needed to go to the toilet fairly urgently, but in the supermarket it was not possible. As I was loading the merchandise into my panniers, Grzeziek walked up to me. He wanted more explanation about my cycling project.

After a nice chat, I asked him if there was a café nearby where I could go to the toilet. He invited me to his house, a 500m walk from the supermarket. Grzeziek was a 'marathon cyclist', doing rides of up to 400km without sleeping. He was also in the Warm Showers network.

Then it was another 5 km to the agro-tourism campsite Jankesówka, a fantastic spot by a lake, ideal for taking a rest day.

Forest campsite at Lake Pasleka

9-10 August: free 2nd overnight stay at Agroturystyka Jankesówka

After a rather long and arduous drive from the Lake Plasleka to Wielochowo I was only too happy to arrive at Artur's from agritourism Jankesówka, who welcomed me very warmly.

What a little paradise on earth! All the comforts of camping were there: hot shower, plugs to charge appliances, all kinds of comfortable seating in the garden, 300m away a beautiful lake for swimming, and for children: a trampoline, play equipment and a small pool.

Also for rent: a hot-fired outdoor jacuzzi and a sauna.

Sunday morning was thundering and I wisely decided to take my rest day here. When I wanted to pay extra, Artur gifted me the second night for free as a contribution to my Compassion Rising World Tour project.

Jankesówka also has several comfortable log cabins or guest rooms for rent.

Definitely recommended for those looking to relax for a few days in a quiet rural setting.

Artur and I in the beautiful garden

11 August: Wielochowo - Leśniewo (93 km)

If I wanted to cycle in as straight a line as possible to the Lithuanian border, the next campsite was 90 km away. There was also one at 60 km, but it was far from my route.

I chose the niner and would find something to stay overnight if I couldn't handle that distance (anymore).

The first 10 km over Green Velo were disastrous. Pockmarked asphalt lanes, gravel full of potholes and also a strip of loose sand at roadworks. Although I rode as carefully as possible, my bike sometimes groaned. But then the quality of the gravel improved, until a sharp left turn, where I was suddenly in tall grass strewn with large boulders.

By then I had had it with Green Velo, I turned back and looked for the shortest possible route to the regional road. That was a diversion and not nice cycling with cars and trucks racing past, but I was able to blaze along at +20km/h thanks to tailwind.

My faith in Green Velo was dashed. During my lunch break in Bartoszyce I decided to take a shortcut along local tracks. That tarmac was no billiard sheet either, but there was still room to navigate between the pits.

From Sepopol it continued on Green Velo, mainly on reasonable local lanes and 10 km of good gravel road.

Actually, the cycling went well and I was happy to complete this ride.

One of the better, short pieces of Green Velo

12 August: Leśniewo - Gołdap (63 km)

After yesterday's nineties, my legs - understandably - struggled to get going today. I had to cycle 15 km on a clear bike path next to a regional road and was annoyed that the bike path went up and down much more and much steeper than the roadway for cars. Why couldn't they have levelled that a bit more?

In one extreme case (pictured below), cyclists first had to enter a pit several metres below the roadway and then climb to 6 metres above the roadway, followed by a steep dive down.

There was a family with two small children who were about to start the climb, but the children, of course, could not handle that gradient with their bicycles, resulting in the necessary scrambling. This created dangerous situations when a cyclist just came plunging down steeply from the opposite direction.

After cycling for a good hour, in Janówko, I was already feeling completely empty and hungry. I had leftover sweet glazed cornflakes and some yoghurt. Together with the Polish version of Centwafertjes, these met my glucose needs. The human body is weird. Yesterday I cycled all day without feeling hungry and today I ran out of fuel after 10 km.

After Janówko, the Green Velo route ran for 35 km on a good gravel road on a former railway embankment. On routes like that, you are often in a green tunnel with little visibility, but this was not the case here: lots of wide panoramas of the undulating Polish landscape, which somewhat resembles our Ardennes.

Lovely quiet cycling with the chirping of crickets and no angry spat slopes. After this long stretch, my legs felt fully rested again.

The campsite near Gołdap, Gołdap molo on the shore of a beautiful lake that extends across the border with Kaliningrad stretches, keeps strange habits. I had checked in, set up the tent and wanted to take a shower after an hour. The washroom was locked! Meanwhile, it was already 8 o'clock but fortunately the lady at the reception was still there. She gave me a key. If I had been a bit later, I would have had to wash in the lake - it's chilly here at eight o'clock because that's when the sun goes down - and go to the toilet in the bushes. Strange mentality, that receptionist.

Diving and climbing bike path

August 13: Gołdap - Camping Viktorija (LT)

Today would be a route up against the border. Literally, fortunately not physically. With about 30 km on gravel through a forest, right next to the Russian border.

When I was rigging up my bike, I suddenly noticed that a spoke had broken off at the rear wheel, just above the spoke nipple. In the spoke next to it, there was also a kink. With that, I couldn't ride on a gravel road. Fortunately, Gołdap is a medium-sized town and I found a bicycle repair shop there.

Adam went to work immediately, but it would take two to three hours.

I could put that waiting time to good use. In Frombork, I had left my cap behind. Probably set aside in the church to take a photo and left it there. So I bought a new one for 10 Złoty (2.5€).

I had also been looking for a "fryzjer" (friseur - hairdresser) who had time to cut my hair. At the fifth one I had prize, my hair is now easily short again (40 Złoty -10€).

I spent my last Zlotys -other than those intended for bicycle repair- on a Pad Thai in a cosy restaurant.

As a result, I only set off at 14:30 for a 53 km ride - I thought.

The forest road was seriously hilly but otherwise not too bad, except for 800 metres on a soggy forest path. I did most of that on foot. In such a remote area, I'd rather not fall down. There was not even coverage, so close to the Russian border.

Back in civilisation, from the Poland-Lithuania-Russia tri-border point it would be another few kilometres of forest road, but that path was really not doable by bike. So I had to take the car route, but that was a 6km diversions

. Fortunately, I progressed quite quickly, as the sun was already starting to sink low.

As at Kamminke in Germany, two soldiers stood at the Polish border crossing here, letting me pass with a smile and a wave.

In a geopolitical book by Rob De Wijk on China's hegemonic aspirations, I read that the Belarusians, at Putin's behest, are trying to import illegal African refugees into Poland on a large scale at those small border crossings to destabilise the country. At the campsite, a Polish couple confirmed this story. Putin uses many ways to stir up unrest in EU countries and drive the population to the anti-democratic far right

Camping Viktorija to the more from Vistytis is an oasis of calm. Across the lake is Russia. Poles in the lake demarcate the border.

For those seeking peace and quiet: there are also rooms: €56 for a double, €42 for a single.

The sympathetic Polish couple next to me warned not to leave my roaming on 'automatic network search' because you could end up on a Russian network here and have to pay roaming charges to the Russians. Indeed, I had not thought about that.

Lithuanian border

13-14 August: Jurek and Beata

The sympathetic Polish couple Jurek and Beata immediately came to me and put a cup of hot Earl Grey tea in front of me.

After I set up my tent, they also let me taste an artisan bread with special grains they had bought in Estonia. Delicious.

Their kindness did not end there. The next morning, they made me a very nice Vietnamese coffee; they brought a bottle of yoghurt when they went shopping by car, and for dinner, they made a tasty vegetable satouille and gave me a beer from a Czech brewery near their house.

We also had a very nice conversation Friday night at the big wooden table near their tent.

What a nice couple. I hope we will meet again, in Cracow or maybe somewhere else.

Jurek and Beata

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

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