Tom`s travels: Niedzica & Dębno (19/11/2016)

On this solo travel I decided to leave early from Krakow and head south towards the mountains to see a castle on Lake Czorsztyn. I took an early bus right downstairs from my house, leaving at around 7:20, and reaching Nowy Targ at 9:20. Right before reaching the destination however, a mini van hit hard the bus from behind so we were made get off, with no one injured, and wait for the next bus which luckily came in just a few minutes. Once I reached Nowy Targ I had to wait half an hour to then take the bus headed for Niedzica. About 40 minutes ride through rolling hills, I eventually reached Niedzica Castle. Sitting on top of a hill at 553m it overlooks the Lake with a beautiful setting all around. Built during the 13th century it was refurbished from ruins during the 20th century. After paying the entry ticket price of 12zl, I entered through the main gate and started exploring the interiors. The courtyard had an interesting arched structure made of wood and stone which reminded me of a church cloister and its own small church with a clock on its tower. After seeing the museum inside with several archaeological remains found under the castle grounds, I climbed to the highest point of the castle where a beautiful panorama of mountains and the lake filled my eyes. After exiting the castle, I reached the dam which formed the lake, and from there had a great view of the castle overlooking the water and the surrounding hills and mountains in the background. From there I went back towards the main road and looked if I could catch the bus back towards Nowy Targ. I found out though that the bus wouldn't pass until much later so I decided to walk part of the way instead. After walking for about an hour I reached a small village called Falsztyn where I saw I could take a bus coming in the next 10 minutes. As I was waiting at the bus stop I decided to eat the lunch I had packed; two sandwiches and some fruit. After catching the bus, I decided to get off a few kilometers after in a small village called Dębno where I wanted to see a wooden church. After jumping off, I walked through the wooden houses of the village and ten minutes later reached the church. St Michael the Archangel church is a Gothic wooden structure dating to the 15th century, and together with other similar wooden churches throughout Lesser Poland it is a Unesco world heritage site. It is considered as among the best preserved of its kind in Poland, and one of the oldest, if not the oldest polychrome wood church in Europe. As my luck goes the church was unfortunately closed, and no way of finding someone who new if it would open or not as the village looked deserted; online I had seen that the church would be open only during the summer months so I enjoyed its beauty from the outside only. It was time to go, so I got back on the street walking towards Nowy Targ, after a few hundred meters I found a bus stop but no bus schedule, I tried looking online but found just one or two buses coming much later. I decided thus to walk it instead; I was worried though that I wouldn't make it in time to take the bus back to Krakow. I thus decided to stop on the side of the road and try my luck in getting a hitchhike; luckily just a few cars later, three young polish guys stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. I jumped on and told them I wanted to go to Nowy Targ, they agreed as they were also heading that way. Unfortunately they didn't speak one single word of English and I managed to say just a few things in polish; after reaching the town I thanked them greatly and managed to get the next bus headed to Krakow ending a tiring yet very satisfying and funny trip.