Everyone Is Very Helpful But No-One Can Help.

SEKOWA.

It's a lovely spring morning, the sun is shining and the birds are singing. I swear one is chirping "what are you doing?"

We try to fill the bottle again without success. At one point the attendant is letting gas out of the bottle which we can ill afford.

We're both beginning to think that we will have to cut the trip short. Still, nil desperandum, we decide to check it out in the local city of Kosice.

We pull over to check the internet and find ourselves outside a campsite! Two young lads prove very helpful and find the address of a local expert. We mention the shanty town and they tell us that they are expecting 20 Irish gypsies over the next few days. They come to sell all sorts of equipment at a local fayre. There are reported to be 10,000 Romanies in the city. Last year, they left at a moment's notice having paid for longer and even left their tropical fish behind.

The expert is in a road of houses and looks like a builders merchant. Three of them try to help with no success. We are then directed to a garage that fills bottles. We find it with some difficulty. Again, they are very helpful without success. However, the weigh the bottle for me and show that there is plenty left. Just about to leave the forecourt and a workman erects a ladder across the exit snd proceeds to start work on the guttering. I have to perform a u-turn to escape.

The drive into Poland avoids the motorways and takes us through some quaint villages. There is a run advertised which takes place on the airport runway on a Saturday night. That would be novel but is in a weeks' time.

Our stop is at the sports centre of a small village. Room for 5 van's, there is free electricity. Unfortunately, the water is not yet turned on and the toilets are locked. The village wants to promote tourism. It boasts a wooden church dating from the 16th Century and two shops. No bars or restaurants. How will it recoup its investment?