A Problem in Slovakia

We were hiking in Slovakia some years ago with Mt. Travel/Sobek, the adventure travel company based in San Francisco. The hiking and cultural experiences were excellent, and we had a nice group of diverse people who mixed well with one exception. When she appeared 45 minutes late the first morning, I thought, “Oh, oh this is trouble.” When I saw she was wearing a jungle hat and clothes, I knew we were in for a roller coaster ride.

From day one she wanted special treatment, was always late, and was contrary to group members. She told us she was a nephrologist from New York City. No one believed her until later, when one of the group members, who was a physician checked her out, and indeed she was what she said she was. I wondered how she functioned in the day-to-day world of health care.

One day she didn’t want to do the hike the group was, and the guide, who I felt was much too accommodating to her, arranged for two young local men to take her on a customized walk. She returned later in the afternoon wearing one of the guy’s shirts with a bemused expression on her face.

One day we finished a long hike and came out of the woods near a beer café. As I went to buy a mug of local beer, she asked me to get her a glass. I thought she was attending to something, so I said I would. That was an error. When I brought her beer, she was sitting quietly at a bench. She had been too lazy to stand in line.

At one point the guide called headquarters for guidance. I encouraged him to set limits and stop catering to her, but he was afraid she would give him a black mark with the company.

The trip except for her was excellent. One day we drove into Poland and spent time at a spa that once catered to the communist leadership from Russia. The buildings were grand and spacious, and I noted they seemed to be showing off, as there was a lot of wasted space. Later we visited Krakow, a beautiful city, which was in sharp contrast to the poverty stricken Polish countryside.

When I arrived home I wrote a letter to Mountain Travel explaining to them what had happened and how unreasonable the woman guest had ben. I said the guide had tried his best to accommodate her, but she was so entitled and demanding that nothing could please her.

I later heard that out guide Martin, whom I liked very much perished in a snowstorm on Annapurna in Nepal. I never heard anything else about the fellow woman traveler.