. : After being born in Slovakia, living in Pakistan and Ghana I am workin in Czech Republic… And I write about what I see, read or think. Enjoy :)
So today I went for a hike up the hills above my town.
Yes, it was nice and it felt good to be out again, but the main point is that I am fine and fresh after it… why? After my hike in Tatras to Krivan my knee was bitching about me going fast and far and I had some slight pains in it. But today after my return I can see that I am ready.
Ready for what? Walking across Slovakia 
So I got a kick of nostalgia right in my guts the last few days…
Yeah, I know that I am home in Vrutky/Martin, the twin towns where I was born and was raised, but honestly for the last 7 years it was just a stop over – the place to go to get clean clothes, have some home cooked food and maybe spend holidays. In Banska Bystrica (BB) I have spent 5 years of my uni studies and it was my base for the countless conferences of AIESEC… but most of all its the town where I truly lived, loved, drunk, enjoyed myself, was doing sightseeing for I dont know how many foreigners, lived at 5 different places each in different part of town, took on the challenge of AIESEC leadership and realized I am more-less good in it, was enjoying the old buildings with their small details and the hills and nature right behind the houses…
So it should not be surprising that I experienced that a memory pops out on every second corner…
This is where is Slovakia:
And this is our coat of arms and flag:
Size: 49.000 square km; 396 km “wide” and 220 km “tall”
Population: 5.5 mio out of which 0.5 mio live in the capital Bratislava, 45% of Slovaks live in villages with fewer than 5000 inhabitants, and 14% in villages with fewer than 1000. The majority of Slovak citizens (69%) practice Roman Catholicism; the second-largest group consider themselves atheists (13%). About 6.9% are Protestants, and 0.9% are Orthodox. There are supposed to be around 5000 Muslims in Slovakia.
Short history: was part of Kingdom of Hungary and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WW1 in 1918 has agreed with Czechs (who are very similar in culture and history) to form a common state that lasted till WW2 when Nazis made Czech republic part of the German Empire and Slovakia was made a separate (but not at all independent) state. After WW2 in 1945 the two nations joined again into one state. In 1948 communist took over in democratic elections but later banned all other parties and didnt loose their grip till 1989. In 1993, when the two nations were not able to agree on form of government in the now federation of Slovak and Czech Republic, it was decided to split into two independent states. This split was absolutely peaceful and the two states have been closely cooperating since. In 2004 Slovakia joined EU and NATO, in 2007 became part of Schengen and in 2009 will adopt EURO as currency.
Why to come?: well read this blog to find out or browse http://www.slovakia.travel/ for some more info, dont feel like listing everything that can be interesting now 
I got finally matched!
I am going to Ghana soon, to work for one year in Capital Group – an HR agency in Accra, the capital, to work on this TN.
I still dont know when I am leaving, only one thing is for sure – soon. The company would like me to come in less than a month… Lets see if I can manage.
Looks like I should speed up with my “Slovakia travel” plans
Again a trek that was a spontaneous decision… I have made up my mind the day before, hitchhiked to Poprad (closest bigger city), slept over with members of the LC there and in morning hitchhiked to a village right under the High Tatras and started walking… Starting altitude was 894 m above sea level, I wanted to finish on Krivan at 2494 m.
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Continue reading ’1600 m uphill in one day – trek to peak of Krivan’
I woke up late and a little bit lazy and was thinking what to do and when I realized that I just made myself late breakfast and have seated myself in front of the TV (where there is shit nothing worth watching) I have decided that I have to get out…
The hill Magura is right above my town, I can see it from my window and the hill Suchy Vrch (1468 m), means “dry mountain”, is right behind + above it. I took a little water, camera and started walking… I was sweating like hell when I came to the top but the view, tired smile, hand fulls of wild blueberries I picked on the way and the cold glass of beer in a cottage on the way were worth it
Few pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/klepo.slovakia/TheHillOfSuchyVrchDryMountain
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