Strong men. Pristine nature. And a tough competition. Have been yoke one thousand two hundred and eighty five meters above sea level in the foothills of the high touch russ northern slovakia the starting point of the sherpa rally a spectacular race in which each competitor has to carry a heavy load up a mountain ten am in an hours time the race will begin with a rush job go to check the participants are making their final preparations each load has to weigh exactly one hundred kilogram. It consists of a fifty liter be a barrel wine mineral water food and a carrying frame everything has to be just right. Because theyre back to its vital for the way to be distributed evenly that the big os at the bottom of the wine at the top wine like. Each entrant has his own preferences but one thing applies to everyone but should that young age and even your center of gravity must be just right if you are just too high it will pull you forward and you will take long strides if it is too low and pull
going on. one of the many spectators lining the route is wojciech wagner he belongs to the german minority in slovakia the german minority with an eventful high. story. change of scene we ve come to meet wojciech in question mark a small town of seventeen thousand inhabitants in the foothills of the high tatar us many of the buildings especially in the town center have a german past. these are hard to have it many of these houses were built by german craftsmen who came here in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the first houses were a single story a gabled roof with wooden shingles is a typical feature but their cool. stroll round town wojciech gardner told us about the history of germans in the region they call themselves cup a theon germans after