It was a fairly early start to the day as we had to meet the tour bus just before 9am. We were going to be heading off to Zapakone and the Tatras mountains as we’d booked some snowmobiling.

After an hour or so of driving, we stopped for a rest break at a little roadside cafe.

After some more driving, we arrived in Chochołow, a highlander Polish village. The whole village seems to be made up of traditional wooden houses and reflects on how Poland used to be.

The first building we came across was the village church – saint hyacinth, which is beautiful. The church was built between 1853 and 1873, and the foundations are 17m deep as it is built on an area of swamp. It is said that the church was funded via some gold found in a barrel of homemade plum spirit. This is a local speciality and is around 65-75% proof. The locals also make homemade wine.

From the church, we headed to one of the local houses. On the way we learnt about some of the village ‘rules’. These are only applicable to the individual village rather than the whole area. One of the rules is that only traditional style houses are allowed to be built. These are known as góralskie chaty.  Another rule is that the houses are not allowed to be painted, but twice a year, Christmas and Easter, they use salt water and brush it into the wood. Chopped wood and sawdust are used to plug the gaps in between the logs in the buildings.

Outside one of the houses was a storks nest. Alongside storks, the local wildlife consists of wolves and brown bears. As the winters are becoming warmer, the bears are not hibernating as deeply and sometimes wake up in the winter. They are hungry and come close to the houses to find food. There are 4 types of snakes in the area, but only 1 of them is poisonous. There is also a small type of bison, the European bison, in the Zakapone area, although not in this village.

Most of the houses in the village are built from spruce and are over 200 years old. Most of the houses are passed down through a family. The prices of these houses are 5 to 6 more times higher than houses in other parts of the country. If you do want to buy a house or land in the area, you have to sign a document explaining the purpose of purchase. This is to stop any developers owning land or property in the area.

We were invited to look around one of the local woodworkers’ home and workshop. The house itself is quite small, and the bed seems really tiny. The baby’s cot over the bed is a really practical solution.  In the side room was a fireman’s helmet. In Chochołow anyone can be a firefighter. Every third house has a firefighter as you receive free training and equipment.

The room is heated by a large oven at the side of the room. The apartments we stayed in had these ovens, too.

There is a date of when the house was built inscribed in a piece of wood over a door.  Another one of the rules is that this piece of wood can never be replaced.

The wooden lock to the door was really thick and sturdy.

We then entered into the workshop. The woodworker made some amazing pieces, mainly related to religious events. He carved a sculpture of Jesus every year, which reflected on the events of the previous year.

In 1846, Chocholow started an uprising. This was actually by accident. Poland, at the time, was occupied by Austria, and the uprising was planned. However, there was a change at the last minute, and messages were sent out across the country. The messages didn’t get to the highlands, so around 30 farmers started an uprising on 20th February. They were soon quashed by the Austrian army. The woodworkers’ grandad was shot in the knee and was transferred out of the army.

On the way back to the minibus, I took another picture of the church, and you can see the mountains in the background.

Shortly after the stop in Chochołow we arrived at the snowmobiling venue. But there wasn’t any snow, so we had to go quad biking instead. After going through a safety briefing and signing our lives away, we were kitted up and ready to go.

We were then allocated our bikes. I was with Faye.

I set off first after the instructor. It was really muddy and narrow, and I was rubbish at steering. A few minutes in, the instructor asked how we were doing, and I ended up going on the back of his bike and another instructor took Faye on the back of his quad bike. I felt a lot more relaxed after that.

Once we had been going for about 30 minutes, we stopped for a quick break and to take in the beautiful scenery.

We crossed several rivers and streams and lots of different terrain.

It was a great experience, and we were all buzzing afterwards. Everyone else did brilliantly a driving and controlling the quad bikes.

After the bikes, we drove for literally a minute for a cheese and wine stop at Bacowka. The cheese is smoked in sheds for around 2 hours. Chopped wooden logs are laid at the bottom of the shed, and wet wooden chips are laid on top to create the smoke.

Here, we got to try the local smoked cheese made up of a mixture of goats and sheep cheese, oscypek. The percentage of goats and sheep’s cheese varies depending on the season. They also have various levels of saltiness.

Along with the smoked cheese, we had a cup or two of delicious mulled wine.

The scenery was stunning, and I found a furry friend too.

Our last stop was the thermal spas at Chocholow with their healing minerals. The waters are rich in micronutrients that invigorate and regenerate the body. Across the pools is 3,000m² of water in a variety of indoor and outdoor pools.

One of the outdoor pools has a swim up bar, so we bought some cocktails.

This outdoor pool also had a lazy river with a current generator in the middle – so we had a go at that. And all the waterfalls and outdoor jacuzzi’s too.

We then wandered inside and found a lovely warm pool in the adult only area.

We also explored the saunas and the saltroom before having another cocktail from the bar.

After a good couple of hours relaxing and rejuvenation, it was time to head home.

We arrived back in Krakow around 8:00 pm. and decided to get some dinner before heading back to the apartment. We went to The Spaghetti, and I had a lovely prawn spaghetti.

The main square looked beautiful, too.

Before we went home, a few of us made a detour to the Wodka bar.

Chocolate vodka is definitely my favourite.

And then it was time for bed.