During the night it has continued to rain for while. Later on I can see stars between the overcast against the dark sky.

I get up at 3.45 and I leave the cabin at 4.15. My legs are stiff, and my shoes are still wet. After a few minutes I pass the top of the Ohla Hora hill, and I start my decent to Kurimka. I cross the creek and I arrive in the very small village. I follow the signs and go right on the very small main road that crosses this valley. After some 15 minutes a sign shows that I have to go left, up through the fields and trees to the Makovica hill. The ascent is not as steep as it looks on the map, and the path and the signs are well maintained. On top of the Makovica hill there is a covered picknick location, without any activity on this early Sunday morning. I follow the ridge to the southeast. On the top of the Cierna Hora hill there is a huge watchtower and a small refuge (not locked). The weather is a bit foggy, so I do not have to be tempted to climb the tower. I would not have done so, due to the safety of being alone on the way (the construction of the tower looks very robust, though). On the last hill of this ridge there is a nice view to the southwest, after which the decent to the city of Svidnik is uncomplicated and easy.

In Svidnik I buy food & beverage in a small shop along the Trail which I use for breakfast. At 9.45 I continue my hike, and after passing the war monument (it has a lot of resemblance with the Slavin monument in Bratislava) I go uphill through the fields. The last part of the climb is along an easy road, and consequently down the hill to the village of Nizna Jedlova. Following the signs I pass the village, and go right after the bus stop. The next two kilometers turn out to be very anoying: there are many signs but the path is unclear, or just covered with bushes, or mud. I rely heavily on my compass to guide me in the direction of the next village, Kapisova, and it leads me correctly over the wide fields that need to be crossed. Around noon I have a short lunchbreak in Kapisova and I continue by following the E8-signs along the main road northbound. During the next 7 kilometers I pass several ancient Russian tanks from the 2nd World War, left after the battles on the Dukla Pass, on the border between Slovakia and Poland. In the (tiny) village of Vysna Pizana I leave the road and follow the signs across the fields and woods to another small village, Medvedie. I continue eastbound, the final Slovakian kilometers have come! In the forrest between Medvedie and the last Slovakian village of Vysny Komarnik, I loose the signs and find out that I am going in the wrong direction by the time I am close to the Polish border. I decide to continue my way northbound and after 10 minutes I arrive on top of the ridge, which is for many kilometers the border between Slovakia and Poland. Along the border the E3 finds its way, and I follow these signs eastbound towards the Dukla Pass, where the main road crosses the border. This point is also the start/finish of the Slovakian section of the E8.

last E8-sign in Slovakia

I arrive at the border at 17.00, and again no customs officer is interested, or even present, when I pass another border on my hike along the E8. I loose some time to find a smart way to go cross country to the village of Zyndranowa, and I end up walking along the main road to the Polish village of Barwinek. Following the blue signs (no E-route) I arrive at a B&B in the first street on the left from the Dukla Pass, some 10 minutes hike into Poland. The hosts speak German very well. I am happy that this day was so succesfull, and that it finishes with a nice, hot shower.