To Warka, the back way

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.

Laski (pop. 151) used to be the settlement for a state collective farm (PGR), long since privatised and doing OK. I walked through the centre, many people out and about, everything in order. Left: this wayside chapel stands at the edge of Laski where it meets Warka on the road to Grójec. Unusual structure – I've seen a similar cylindrical pillar in Czarny Las.

For my non-Polish readers, the word 'Laski' can mean 'little forests (las = forest, lasek = little forest, laski, plural); it can mean 'walking sticks', it can mean 'hazel trees' (as in orzech laskowy = hazelnut). But it's also slang for 'attractive women', 'erect penises' or 'acts of fellatio'. So take care. Incidentally, this is one of 45 places across Poland named 'Laski'.

Below: on the edge of Warka, the new bridge over the railway line. Further roads are intended to radiate out from the roundabout ahead. I am catching one of those "this is not America, no?" moments.

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. 

[Postscript from the morning Sunday 14 July: I dreamt of Donald Trump, a few hours after the assassination attempt which occurred as I slept. Although there was no shooting in my dream, the setting with eerily congruent with the footage of the rally up to that point.]

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)

So – back to Chynów then, so much closer now that Warka Miasto station has opened, a whole kilometre nearer the square than Warka station itself. I stroll down ulica Lotników, which, in the sunshine has a Mediterranean vibe to it.

At Warka Miasto, the platform is quite busy. I recognise several people who took the southbound 11:30 train from Chynów, the one I got off at Michalczew to start my walk into Warka. Below: the northbound Koleje Mazowieckie train from Radom to Warsaw approaches the bridge over the Pilica river. photo taken from the end of the platform at Warka Miasto station.

The train takes less than a quarter of an hour to get me back to Chynów, 5.72 złotys with my 30% senior's discount (£1.12). Best of all, 19,900 paces walked (making up from those two heatwave days earlier in the week when I couldn't be arsed to go for a walk). Wore a short-sleeved shirt today (a polo shirt with breast pocket inherited from my father). Big mistake. My lower arms are red from the sun, I have an insect bite on my left elbow. There's a reason why I don't buy short-sleeved shirts.

This time last year:
A year with panels

This time two years ago:
Powered by the Sun

This time four years ago:
Poland's town/country divide explored

This time eight years ago:

A long walk to Czachówek

This time ten years ago:
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