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Well now I am in Poland and figuring out how to trek becomes difficult. First there is the transportation issue, which after a mini-bus trip to Krakow, becomes a little easier. Then there is the issue of not being able to speak Polish, which slowly became easier too. No one I meet here has the time or gumption to want to go for extended backpacking trips, so I guess I'm on my own. Through the grapevine at Pub U Szewca, where most of my new friends are, I hear Derrick is taking a holiday trip to Rumania. I jump at the chance to be dropped of anywhere in a forest near the southern border of Poland. The problem is I have only a few hours to prepare for a trip to a place I know nothing about. I scurry to get to the hardware store and miraculously get the last bottle of White Spirit. It is the only thing I have found here, of course with the help of Maciej, that will burn in my Whisperlite stove. It works but burns a little hotter. Then I scour Biedronka, which means ladybug and is a chain of grocery stores or sklepy here, for snacks and food for the trip. Cucumbers are in season so I take seven big ones. One thing to mention about this trip is that I have no obligation to return so I will be carrying the most amount of food ever, perhaps enough for ten days. The pack is ridiculously heavy and immediately makes my back hurt daily. Back to planning, I look at the highway and border crossing that Derrick and his wife Anya will follow. There is a forest there so I google it, which is also daunting as being only English speaking. I find the name and rush out to Empic, a bookstore were I know to have the best map collection. While there I am overjoyed to find that there is a trail on the actual border and I can catch it from the highway crossing! Now with a solid starting point set in place I prepare the backpack. However uncertain of my return transport I make a hitchhiking sign that I will carry with me like the Grail. There is a forest in the very southeastern tip of Poland called Bieszczady, which I have heard many great things about and that it is probably the most wild of the forests here. My border trail eventually leads to it so that is my goal. The drive from Lublin to Barwinek is long and we have difficulty finding the trail, mostly because I am unaccustomed as to what to look for. It actually started at a road junction, Anya helped by reading the hand drawn signs indicating the direction to go. So we had a group hug then parted ways.