I've walked from Michalczew to Warka twice – along the main road from Chynów – not pleasant. The road's dead straight, there's no pavement and drivers tend to drive too fast. So, a different way is called for. Open Street Maps provides much better online mapping of local terrain than Google Maps (though the latter is better in town). I come across Szlak Turystyczny (tourist trail) MZ-5203-y, running from Chynów down to Warka, though I'll only be walking the lower half of it.
From Michalczew station I follow an unasphalted track running parallel to the railway line to its east, which connects several działki to the main road. This has been modernised, and the level crossing moved 100m north of the old location. The new profile includes tight bends on either side of the tracks to slow down road traffic. Below:the old approach to the level crossing. Hexagonal paving slabs were used to warn drivers of the crossing. Having ridden on this many times on a motorbike, I can say it was bone-shakingly bad. My route off into the forest starts to the left beyond the bushes. Then a 4km walk to the village of Laski, and the centre of Warka another 4km beyond that.
Below: more evidence of the wildlife-bothering community, though judging by the ladder leading up to this hunters' pulpit, overgrown with bindweed and ivy, it seems not to have been used over the last winter. Progress.
Below: clumps of tall pines rising high above the general treeline characterise this forest that lies between Michalczew and Gośniewice to the west of the railway line.
Below: interesting. I am walking over railway ballast – yet this is a forest track. I suspect that the forestry workers struck some kind of a deal with railway workers when the Radom line was being modernised. After the last two downpours, there were a couple of stretches of this path where edge-to-edge puddles meant I got my socks wet. But where the ballast had been laid down, the path was dry.
Below: Warka brewery, shimmering in a heat-haze. In the foreground, fields of barley. I'd like to think the local produce goes into the brewing process.
Below: the best part of the trip. A traditional tree-lined, unasphalted rural road, from half-remembered summer holidays in Poland. Big fields on either sides; beyond them to my left, the Warsaw-Radom railway line, to my right, the main road from Warka to Grójec. No one around, not even distant tractors. Flocks of pigeons scatter from the trees as I pass by. Ahead of me, the village of Laski.
I have this thought, about how American this scene appears, the road, the sky, the lamp posts, the electricity cables, and then just happen to look down and to my left, to see this American flag lying on the grass. A synchronicity.
Below: I enter Warka, I see this old bus turning from ulica Wysockiego into ul. Warszawska. Is this an enthusiasts' special for fans of old buses? Or just the superannuated junk that PKS is still using? I can't tell looking at PKS Grójec's Facebook page. The .pdf-format timetable on the town of Warka's website for the one bus service circulating around the town says it runs Mondays to Fridays only. I've written about this before, but Poland's rural bus services are crap when it comes to communicating with passengers. Koleje Mazowieckie I use regularly. But PKS I've yet to travel on around here. Can any bus enthusiast tell me more about this vehicle and what it's doing in Warka (scheduled service or a special)?
Below: hey Warka! Why so empty? It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the main square should be crammed. Everyone on holiday or what? A few minutes of strolling around the side streets reveals what could be the reason. In Warka, most shops shut at 14:00 and it's already ten past. (Note the Warka brewery parasols)
A year with panels
This time two years ago:
Powered by the Sun
Poland's town/country divide explored
Half a mile under central Warsaw, on foot
This time 11 years ago:
Dzienniki Kołymskie reviewed
This time 12 years ago
Russia-Poland in Warsaw: the worst day of Euro 2012
This time 14 years ago:
Thirty-one and sixty-three - a short story
This time 15 years ago:
Warsaw rail circumnavigation
This time 16 years ago:
Classic Polish vehicles
This time 17 years ago:
South Warsaw sunsets
2 comments:
The old bus that you have spotted in Warka is Ikarus-Zemun IK160P - a Yugoslovian construction assembled by Jelcz in Poland. It's been a special service organized by enthusiasts: https://phototrans.eu/17,743,13.html.
@ artnowo
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Fantastic to get such a detailed answer – and thanks for the link. Great photos! In particular, the one with the bus on the bridge over the Pilica at Michałów. Many's the time I have ridden my motorbike over that bridge.
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