Don't forget to turn off at the playground. In a few hundred meters you will see the sign "Welcome to the village Čavoj". The football stadium is the last place on the plane. The rest of the village is on a hill. At the turn to the municipal office, all the hills flow into the crossroads. Dominant in the east are Malá Magura, the deforested Obšiar hill, the forested Končiná, which continues through Šluchta, Žiar and Čierna skalka. To the northwest is a deforested terrain with the settlement of Biela Voda, from where you can go to the hill Gápel and the Western Lazy. The north of the village protects the hill Ruzin Gat. We are in the Prievidza district, you can also jump to Ilava, but we park in Čavoja. And we do well. Great village.

With the mayor in the jeep

They do not know the plane in Čavoja. To the shop, to the school, to the office and manicure, to the pub and from the pub - you go up everywhere, down the hill. Kondička is the basic equipment of Čavojčanov. Although the whole village along the main road is whole, the appearance is deceptive. Čavoj is spread on lazy, so-called grunts, which usually bear the name of the family that lived there. Pétrovci, Belákovci, Koškárovci and many others ... but also the settlement Cobrial, whose name is hard to deduce today.

The first woman, understand the mayor of Čavoja, is able to deliver useful information to every corner of the village, despite its size. As local radio is not "stretched" everywhere, it must rely on a network of informants. "If there is an event in the village or you need to be informed about important things, I know who to call, and these people will move the information further. There is reliance on them, we will all finally meet where necessary, "praises Anna Gulášová, who is at the head of the village for the second year. As she says herself, people who were born in Čavoja live well. They are used to the local conditions. However, more and more cottagers will come to Čavoja. And it is not unusual for them to choose this mountain village as their new home.

Twenty-four years ago, on the recommendation of neighbors from a block of flats, Irenka and Marián also bought a cottage in Čavoja. At first they only spent weekends here, gradually they built a place for a longer rest. After a few years, it was clear to them that they were building a home for retirement. Although they do not yet have a retirement age, they spend more and more time in the embrace of nature. Irenka became part of the local folklore ensemble Vrchárka for almost ten years. "When I first got there, I didn't know anyone. But they accepted me and we rehearsed together, performed. Later, more robots came - even around the cottage, so I had to leave Vrchárka. However, it was a pleasant time, "says Mrs. Irenka about how she lived with the locals.

No chain shank

If you come to Čavoja in the winter, you have to reckon with snow. Mandatory equipment is mandatory and pack snow chains in the car. The hosts will help you with the deployment itself.

"Verily, it was cold when I destroyed two chains and three leather gloves. You can only move around the village with chains. However, when I had to go to Prievidza during the day, I dropped the chains under the village and put them back on the way home in front of Čavoja, "says the mayor, an experienced motorist who threw the chains to many tourists. As people from the lowlands, she introduced us to chain secrets, and supposedly throwing is much easier than throwing.

When we arrived in Čavoja, the roads in the area were already sprinkled. The noticeable icing surprised us and despite the plus temperatures "down here" we were glad that we already had the car overtaken. It is a part of the region where they see travelers first and say goodbye to them last. The village is already taking care of the roads directly in Čavoja, so it has something to do. The mayor and I got into a jeep and even on dry roads it was an adrenaline ride. We jokingly suggested that they could offer such rides to tourists as an attraction. Something like driving on sand dunes in the desert. Along the way, our guide shows us the individual corners of Čavoja. He knows where he lives, where he immigrated, and we are not enough to wonder what terrain people are building or want to build. You must also buy an adequate car for the cottage in some parts of Čavoja, with a low chassis you would have to park at a crossroads and come to your fireplace on your own. Many people also use the terrain for quad biking, but for the locals it is the simplest means of transport that also saves them cars.

The steepest cemetery

You will probably also know the access road to Čavoja from the news. Last year, a few meters of the main road slid into the garden of one inhabitant. It was possible to get to the village only by one lane, even by car. The buses ended under the village and from there the passengers transferred to the minibus. However, trucks and heavy construction machines got the stop sign. In the village, they took the solution into their own hands and created the foundations of a detour road. They dumped it with gravel from the local quarry, and then the regional road workers could come and lay the asphalt. The Čavojské hands put the fencing of the cemetery together. It is the steepest cemetery we have ever seen. Our appearance was also confirmed by the mayor. "We've been looking for a supplier for so long to make a new fence for us when the crown came. All the addressed companies gave their hands away from possible cooperation. The concrete would have to be carried in buckets by hand, the mixture would be poured from the burrow in steep terrain. Digging here is not easy either, there can be no talk of machines. However, when the crown came and the people stayed at home, among the domestic masters were those who were willing to work in our conditions. Nevertheless, we at home are used to local conditions, "describes Anna Gulášová, a building vicarage. She was most amused by the press question during the inspection day on the construction of the detour road. "That or people will not be hindered that the road is uphill. Verily, this is not a hill, we are used to other elevations, "he recalls of a nice incident a few weeks ago.

Embroidered shirt and houmofis

However, local women also have handy hands. Marta Gažiková learned how to embroider Chowian patterns from her namesake. She originally went to her with a request to embroider a pattern on her shirt for her husband. "However, Mrs. Gažiková told me that she would rather teach me to embroider right away, that she no longer rules so much. This is my first shirt. Chihuahua embroidery is typical of colors. You can find it on traditional costumes, but also on utility items, and I also have a dress from it. I can handle a men's shirt in a month. However, I play with embroidery. I'll put some patterns together and create my own. It took me the longest time to learn so-called carving, "a woman who went to Čavoja and has lived here for 36 years shows us her creations. "I come from the mining village of Cigeľ, and I like it here, there is peace, clean air, nature. For the time being, the children also live in Čavoja and are not attracted elsewhere. My son is with volunteer firefighters, my daughter helps me in business, and as for village life, she is also in folklore. ”

During the quarantine, Čavoj, paradoxically, saw an increase in population. Long-term numbers confirm that this village is gradually depopulating, but the crown can do wonders. Today, less than 500 inhabitants officially live in Čavoja, in 1940 it was even more than 1700 ... Today, the one who has a cottage in Čavoja has survived three or four months in it. This is one of the reasons why the number of testers even doubled during nationwide testing. "Houmofis", a distance studio, was able to do it all from a place where foxes give a good night. And so the last sentence is not a metaphor at all. Foxes, bears and wild boars are domesticated here and they go to some houses regularly. "For example, here, at Ivan's. A bear comes here every morning and every evening. The domestic ones have already put a wooden bear in the garden. Another neighbor has a wooden bear in front of the garage, "the mayor accompanies us in places that are popular with large brown beasts.

Cottage shop is in the course

"And I took three foxes here last time. They stomped on the grass and watched me run around them, "he continues. Her words are complemented by cottage Irenka. "I was sitting in the foreground when I suddenly saw a bear with young on the hill opposite. I quickly checked to see if the gate was closed and went to the bottom. The foxes at the gate are also nothing special. "

And why do people choose Čavoj as their place to chat? For example, Nitrianske Rudno on the plain is more comfortable. "When someone sees the lazy, they'll understand. Coincidentally, so many people have already fallen in love here. Once on a general day, a Bratislava disc jockey came to play and suddenly said that he would not leave. And so it happened. He immediately started looking for a house. Another of his colleagues has also joined us, "Anna Gulášová points to the views over Čavoja and on the way we will stop under the crossroads at Bílá voda.

There is a wooden house with a beautiful courtyard and Zbojnícke chalúpky written on the gate. They are proof that even in the surrounding mountains, at the end of the region (and someone would say that even at the end of the world), you can do business in tourism. And, of course, many are attracted by nature, countless opportunities for hiking, mushroom picking, but also cycling. Yes, you can also cycle in Čavoja. It wants fitness, but there are also more capable athletes and cyclists among us, for whom straight cycling routes along the river or the main road are not enough. Therefore, Čavoj is applying for subsidies and they plan to build up to three cycle paths above the picturesque village.