National Park welcomed us with barrier and questions from the park worker “but why you want to go there?”. Was not so easy to explain that we just want to walk a bit and see highest mountains of Ukraine.

For long time he didn’t want to let us to Zaroslyak building complex (maybe 12km from barrier just 3,5km to the top of Hoverla Mountain), offering some other hotel in the valley (I can get bet that it was hotel of his wife/mother/sister). Eventually we made it to be in. Paying just normal national park fee (10 hrywnas per person) but nothing for a car (which was surprising bearing in mind that it’s the national park).
Long way up was a challenge for our car, but he managed! After maybe half an hour we reached Zaroslyak, big “Tur-Baz”, mostly for sportsmen training skiing, ski jumping and ski acrobatic. Huge complex with boiler room, with 20 people working there permanently, and from tourists – only with us. The receptionist called the cook, the cook I guess made some shopping and came by to make food for us. After calm night we started into Hoverla, highest Ukrainian mountain, direction.

Roots of trees, smaller and bigger streams, sun and wind – step by step was getting simply more and more beautiful. Hanna was practicing new sounds and watching crocuses. “Grzesiek” – chocolate waffle never tasted as good as up there.

But we didn’t make it to the final top. Snow until knees and Hanna on the back does not make things easy. But it absolutely doesn’t matter, day was wonderful.

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Our first book is out!

We have published our first book (for now just in Polish:) about our Central America Trip.
See, read and order here »