bohemian switzerland national park

no.. it's not in switzerland. it's in the north of the czech republic and is named after two 19th century swiss artists. it's also the place i headed for this weekend. sometimes it's easy to forget that less than 20 years ago this country sat behind the iron curtain and was portrayed in the west as being the generic grey, drab place that all soviet countries were portrayed as. of course, as with most propaganda, the truth is very far removed from the stereotype.

the walk i took starts from the eastern end of a town called hrensko which is a few hundred metres from the german border. it would be quite a picturesque town if it hadn't been invaded by hordes of people from south-east asia who have set up endless stalls selling tacky crap. i don't know how so many of them ended up in the czech republic but it's a scene quite common along the border with germany. the walk itself is 16km and took me about 6 hours (including a stop for a cold czech beer). the scenery is simply spectacular. the initial part of the walk is alongside a river which has been dammed in parts. to continue along the dammed areas, one pays for a ride in a punt which takes you up the river. the cliffs along each side are covered in moss and pine trees and the water is cold and fresh. i was in the company of a number of germans in the boat and after we alighted from the second punt we found the pathway blocked with a sign in german telling us that entry was verbotten. being a horror movie fan i should know better than to ignore a sign like that as usually people who do so end up being picked off by inbred mountain mutants. nevertheless, i'd come that far and wasn't about to turn back... besides i'd paid for a day's parking and couldn't waste that! so i followed the germans under the warning sign and we continued walking. the scenery gradually changed into pine forest which gave off the most beautiful fragrance with the heat (yep, it was warm enough for me to be sweating!). it was different to the fragrance of the pines back home in nanga and was quite sweet.

the aim of the hike was to reach pravcicka brana which is the largest natural rock arch in europe (like nature's window in kalbarri but much, much bigger). the views of the rock were extraordinary but as often happens, my fear of heights limited where i could go.

after a few pics i headed off back towards hrensko and a nice meal at a restaurant in town.

today was spent driving back to kraków using as many back roads as possible. the motorway is so mind-numbingly boring that i'd rather spend an extra hour or so driving than to suffer it again. besides, driving through towns on the way back is always interesting.

i'm back at the apartment now and looking forward to a good night's sleep.

pics of the hike will be posted soon.