Upper Gemer, Slovakia · Saturdays & Sundays · Since 2009

Silence, bees
and the forest.

A day on the meadow and in the woods: a slow walk through old forest, meditation under the open sky, and rest beside the hives. You take home calm — and maybe a jar of honey.

What the day looks like Book a date
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The Day

A Day on the Meadow and in the Woods

A half-day programme in a small group — no rush, no phones, no performance. Three things that together make one slow day.

Forest

Forest walk

A slow walk through old woods — no hurry and no talking. The forest does its work by itself; some call it forest bathing.

Silence

Meditation with Oto

Simple sitting and breathing under the open sky. Led by Oto, who lived six years as a Buddhist monk. No esoterics — just quiet.

Bees

Resting by the hives

The scent of the hive, its warmth, the hum — the body rests all by itself. The air of the hive is thirty-six degrees and smells of wax and propolis. Going close is never required; it works from a distance too. Resting by the hives is sometimes called apitherapy.

  1. 1

    Walk through the woods

    We start slowly — a forest path that airs a whole week out of your head.

  2. 2

    Meditation on the meadow

    We sit down in the grass. Oto guides you through simple sitting and breath.

  3. 3

    Rest by the hives

    Whoever wants comes closer to the bees. Whoever doesn’t, listens from a blanket.

  4. 4

    Tea, honey, farewell

    To finish: tea, bread with honey, and conversation — if you feel like one.

About Oto

Before I built my first hive, I walked half the world.

More than twenty years ago I set out from Gemer and went — on foot, much of the way barefoot — across countries and borders all the way to Korea. Along the road I earned my bread with my hands: driving people in Turkey, stitching books in Afghanistan. It taught me one thing: when you don’t hurry, everything important comes by itself.

In Korea I met my teacher. He had been an ordinary man — he worked with wood, stone and iron. Then he died, came back, and saw. So he decided to test whether the way of the Korean monks lets you see the “after” while still alive. Beside such a man I lived six years as a Buddhist monk.

In 2008 — a year before I built my first hive — my teacher flew to Slovakia and blessed this place. A friend drove him across the whole country from the Vienna airport. For a few days there was sitting, breathing and silence here. And in between, my teacher did what he had done all his life: he worked with his hands. With a friend he built a footbridge over the stream. The footbridge and the silence are both still here.

Today I live with my wife and son on a meadow below the forest — and with the bees. A day spent with us is a piece of that same road: silence, slow walking, and respect for something greater than yourself.

  • On footfrom Gemer to Korea
  • 6 yearsa Buddhist monk
  • 2008the meadow blessed by Oto’s teacher
  • Since 2009with bees on the meadow
A photograph of Oto
coming soon

Neighbours

The people from over the hill

When dozens of people sat here in silence around Oto’s teacher in 2008, the neighbours from the village over the hill came too. On foot, over the hill, the way they always go. They brought milk and honey, stood for a while — and walked on.

They didn’t ask what was happening. They saw and felt the same thing everyone else did — they just didn’t stop for it. Uphill, downhill, day after day the same. What others search for, they simply live.

That, too, is why we are here. In a country where calm is an ordinary thing — people carry it in their legs, not in their words.

“For them it was just part of the journey. For me, back then, it was the goal.”
— a friend of the meadow, remembering
Old coniferous forest in evening light
The old forest behind the meadow — the walk goes through here.

The forest

Behind the meadow, a century-old forest begins

Our nearest neighbour is not a village — it is a forest that was growing here long before us. And just over the hill, on limestone crags, a piece of true old-growth forest survives to this day.

~120 years

The forest behind the meadow

The wall of trees where every one of our walks begins. It has grown for over a century without asking anyone’s permission.

the forest walk goes through here

Old-growth

A piece of true old-growth

Fir and beech on limestone, some trunks over three metres around. Steep crags kept the saws away — it is the forest that was here before people.

documented old-growth · about 39 hectares

991 m

The peak above the old-growth

A limestone summit with a view — on a clear day all the way to Kráľova hoľa and the High Tatras. An eagle circles the crags.

a half-day hike from the meadow

No fields

Clean country

There is no industrial agriculture in the wide surroundings — only meadows, old orchards and forest. Our bees forage in that same cleanness.

our honey lives off this

The forest is in no hurry — that is its whole secret. And if one walk is not enough, we will gladly show you the way up.

Booking

Arrange your day

No booking system — one e-mail is enough. We walk in small groups, so the date is always yours alone.

When

Saturdays & Sundays

Mornings, about three hours. Another day? Write to us and we’ll arrange it.

spring to autumn

2–6

A small group

We walk in silence and in small numbers — booking ahead is required.

a private date for your group

€10

Price per person

Children aged 10–15 for €5. The programme is quiet and slow — children from age 10, accompanied by an adult.

cash on site

  1. 1

    Write

    Send an e-mail: how many of you there are, which weekend suits you, and whether anyone is allergic to bee stings.

  2. 2

    We agree on a date

    We reply, settle the day and send you the exact meeting place.

  3. 3

    You come

    Sturdy shoes, a calm mind. Everything else is on us.

Payment

Cash on site — €10 per adult, €5 per child aged 10 to 15.

No deposit. If something comes up before your date, simply write.

Book by e-mail
A wooden room with an altar, a painting of the Buddha and hand-painted flower panels
Oto’s room of silence.

Stay longer

A day, a weekend — or the whole journey

The day on the meadow is a beginning. For those who want to go deeper, we are preparing longer stays — up to five days in which we show you our whole country.

Available now

A Day on the Meadow and in the Woods

A Saturday morning: forest, meditation and bees. Exactly the day this whole website is about.

€10 per person · Saturday or Sunday

In preparation

A Weekend on the Meadow

Two or three days with an overnight stay: evening sitting in the room of silence, mornings by the hives, and more forest than fits into one day.

2–3 days small group · overnight stay

The vision

The Way to the Meadow

Five days from the airport to the meadow: a manor house, caves, a day of nowhere — and at the summit of the journey, an ordinary day with us. The world slows down by itself.

5 days airport to the meadow and back

What five days look like

  1. 1

    Manor and castle

    From the airport straight into the old world’s finest rooms — Betliar and Krásna Hôrka. In the evening, the first fire.

  2. 2

    Under the earth

    A day underground — an ice cave or an aragonite cave. A silence older than all of us.

  3. 3

    A day of nowhere

    The bus stops where the asphalt ends. Food from the fire, no programme, no signal. Just a day.

  4. 4

    The day on the meadow

    The summit of the journey — forest, meditation and bees. In the evening, a honey dinner under the stars.

  5. 5

    The return

    One last stretch through a country of old iron mines Oto has studied for years — then the airport. You go home slower.

Want to be there?

Write and tell us the weekend or the whole journey tempts you — you’ll be the first to hear when dates exist.

Tell me more

From our meadow

You’ll take honey home

At the end of the day you taste honey straight from our hives — and whatever you fall for, you buy on the spot. We also post honey, pollen and candles via Packeta, across Slovakia and to the Czech Republic.

Honey

Mixed forest honey

Dark, thick and full of the taste of the forest. We jar it small and large — as much as your pantry needs.

€11 950 g jar (0.7 l) 0

€50 5 kg (3.5 l) 0

From the hive

Bee pollen

Fresh flower pollen straight from the hive. A spoonful a day — tiny grains full of meadow energy.

€4 100 g 0

From the hive

Beeswax candle

Cast from the pure wax of our bees. It burns slowly and quietly — and smells like a hive in summer.

€5 each, by size 0

From the yard

Free-range eggs

From hens that roam free. Deep-orange yolks and shells that have only ever known grass, sun and fresh air.

€3.50 10 eggs 0

Your order

Nothing yet — add honey, pollen or a candle with the + button next to a price.

Postage per the Packeta price list is added in the confirmation e-mail.

Delivery
Payment

How an order works

  1. 1

    You choose

    Build your order with the + buttons and send it in one click — a ready-made e-mail opens.

  2. 2

    We confirm

    We reply with the final price including postage per the Packeta price list — usually within a day.

  3. 3

    You pay

    By bank transfer with a QR code from our e-mail, or simply cash on delivery.

  4. 4

    Packeta delivers

    The parcel waits at the pickup point you chose — thousands of points across Slovakia and Czechia.

Postal orders

Write what you’d like and how much — we reply with the postage via Packeta. Payment by bank transfer or cash on delivery.

Payment details come in the confirmation e-mail.

Order by e-mail

The region

A day with us, a weekend in a land of wonders

The meadow is the quiet centre of a region worth travelling: limestone caves, castle crags and mountains are all a short drive away. Turn one day into a whole weekend.

Over the hill

The cherry village

A village just over the hill where thousands of old cherry trees bloom each spring — the largest gathering of cherry trees in Slovakia, with hundreds of heritage varieties.

blooms at the turn of April and May

UNESCO

Caves

The Dobšiná Ice Cave, the Ochtiná Aragonite Cave, Gombasek and Domica — World Heritage limestone wonders, each one different, all close by.

UNESCO World Heritage karst

History

Betliar & Krásna Hôrka

A manor house with a famous library and a castle on a crag — two afternoons of Gemer history.

manor · castle · mining country

Mountains

Slovak Paradise

The gorges, ladders and lookouts of the national park begin just beyond our woods.

national park

Košice and Poprad airports are both about an hour and a half away by car. We’re happy to advise what fits into a weekend — just write.

Get in touch

Write to us

Best to write ahead — we’ll reply and arrange everything.

Write to us lucnydedko@gmail.com We usually reply within a day or two →
Where we are Upper Gemer
Slovakia Exact meeting place after your date is confirmed
Dates
  • WeekendsA Day on the Meadow and in the Woods (book ahead)
  • Other daysBy e-mail arrangement