STARY SMOKOVEC STATION (SLOVAKIA)

Slovakia resort offers breath of fresh air

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Norikazu Tateishi

By Katsuo Kokaji

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

The most beautiful thing in the town of Stary Smokovec, Slovakia, the locals say, is not the snow-capped peaks of the nearby Tatras mountains, nor is it the crystal-clear water cascading through the forest--it's the air.

Central Europeans, Germans and Britons have begun flocking to a century-old sanatorium near Stary Smokovec Station to take advantage of the mountain resort's crisp, clean air.

"The town is located about 1,000 meters above sea level--if it were any lower, the air would be worsened; any higher and it would be too thin to breathe," explained 60-year-old Maria Ivanova, who traveled 250 kilometers to come here to treat her asthma.

Visitors to the mountain resort are not limited, however, to patients with respiratory problems. Schoolchildren often come to the town on field trips or with their families.

While clearly content with the pure mountain air, visitors also wear expressions of shock and horror at the damage that has been inflicted on the mountains, with felled trees scattered about the slopes.

Last November, a tornado ravaged the area, killing one person and knocking down about 3 million fir and pine trees over 12,000 hectares.

The air, too, fell victim to the catastrophe.

"There used to be almost no dust in the air. We could go a year without ever washing our supermarket's windows," a grocery store clerk recalled. "But since the forest was devastated, it hasn't been the same."

To reforest the area, locals began planting trees two months ago. They say it will take 20 years to recover from the disaster.

Now it is time for the citizens of Stary Smokovec to take care of the air that has taken care of them for so long.