Czech Republic: Adrspach-Teplice Rocks

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Tuesday May 30th

So, onwards wo go. Up north and away from the crazy city stuff, to nature and the mountains again. To the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks, a protected landscape region close to the Polish border. Once again we chose to use the bus, being cheaper, and once again we travelled through some totally beautiful Czech countryside. At a town called Trutnov we changed busses and continued to the small village of Adrspach. From here we caought a tiny single-carriage train which wound and whistled it's way along the single track to a town called Teplice. The train kind of made me think of Noddy in his little toy car, bumping along on the windy little railtracks. We arrived in the pouring rain and the temperatures here have dropped significantly. For the past few days in Prague we had a fair amount of rain but it was never cold. This is the first time we've felt the need to use all our warm clothing - even the down jacket! We booked into a bungalow in a campsite and boy was it cold. The down sleeping bas that I've been lugging around since the trip started, has been brought out for the first time!

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Wed 31st May

Last night was freezing!! Who said summer's on the way? In fact we saw on a TV weather channel that the temperatures for the next few days could drop to 1 or 2 degrees. There was even a forecast of some snow!! My thermals even got used and David dug deep into his pack and pulled out the beanie! We can only hope it clears up as we've booked to stay here for 4 nights. The scenery in this area is described as beautiful and bizarre. We wish we could see it al - hidden behind the low misty cloud. Thick layers of stratified sandstone have been eroded by water and ice to form giant towers and pinnacles offset by deep, narrow chasms and gorges. All the main hikes in this area take you through pine forests and loop in and out of these pinnacles. Steep ladders and stairs help you up the dodgy points. We've planned 3 hikes and are now just waitig for the rain to stop.

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In the evening we ventures inside the attached Pension to get warm and to have a meal. What a meal it was!! David had a large trout for the incredible price of approx R25. Beat that!! My chicken and mushroom concoction was also only R25. The prices are amazing here.

Thursday 1st June

Woke up again to grey skies and heavy drizzle. Should we hike in it or not? The decision was "yes", we'd take a chance. Our route required a short trip on the 'toy train' to the trail head at Teplice Skaly. There are many trails to do here, but the one we chose took in the most scenic spots in the area. We paid our small entrance fee into the protected area and were immediately inside the "Kingdom of Rocks" of the Adrspach-Teplice Rocks National Nature Reserve. The first major point of interest was the ruins of a medieval guard castle. To see the ruins you have to climb approximately 100m up very steep, almost vertical staircases and ladders. Pretty challenging near the top. The views from here of the rocky cliffs and hilltops are astounding. Well worth the nervy scramble up the ladders. Unbelievably, the old castle was built up here in the middle of the 13th century by the Lords of Skalice, part of Czech history that unfortunately I know nothing about. The castle is believed to have been destoyed during the Hussite Wars during the late 1400's. Today, all that remains are old rock walls and remnants of staircases and holes for wooden beams, as reminders that this grand castle once towered above the endless forests below. Once we'd nervously [at least for me] nogotiated our way back down all the ladders, we walked past never ending high vertical sandstone rock pinnacles, many of which are challenging rock climbs for the mountaineer types. They have wonderful names such as: Rock Gate, Rock Bride, The Watchtower, The Rock Crown, The Cathedral, The Sphinx, The Herring, The Boar, The Toothpick, The Polar Bear. The Sphinx in particular is a breathtaking tower, first climbed in 1947 and is still a sought after climb by rock climbers today. Our hike led us through large rock labyrinths, gatweays through deep, cold canyons and narrow gorges between high rock massifs. The biggest of these gorges is called Siberia and for obvious reasons. It was freezing and a huge amoutn of snow was still lying around - yes - on June 1st!! Somehow I don't think the sun ever gets down here. After 3-4 hours or marvelling at this incredible place, we ended our trail by walking out through a deeply forested area, still surrounded by the rock pinnacles. The path we took was very steep in places and choka blok with lovely mud and slippery tree roots!! As is usual when hiking in this country, we finished up with a pub staring us in the face. In we went, had our well deserved ale and walked back to our little village for some warmth and some dinner. The lady in the Pension, a real Czech girl, seemed to take a shine to us - at least she did to David!! Also she wanted to practise her English on us! She kept on bringing out her dictionary. We had another cheap meal. Salmon and chips also for approx R25.

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Friday 2nd June

The sun shone today for the first time in ages. We got right out there onto the hiking paths again before the weather decided to change it's mind. This time we headed for the Adrspack Rock Town, as opposed to the Teplice Rock Town of yesterday. Wow!! We thought what we've already seen was awesome but today was total blow-your-mind stuff. The breathtaking formations overpower you the minute you walk through the entrance gate. The mazes and labyrinths zigzag up and down for 3.5km. It's difficult to describe the feelings as you walk through it all. The forces of nature that created these gigantic rock towers and pinnacles is hard to imagine. I remember when I was in Yosemite Natioal Park, U.S, a few years back, thinkig how incredible the vertical rock faces of El Kapita and Half Dome were. Well, this place puts Yosemite to shame! We watched 2 climbers today, scalig one of the rock faces here. Way above our heads they clung to the crumbly sandstone pitches like geckos to a wall. Just watching made me nervous. The tallest rock massif in this area is 100m high - it's called "The Lovers" and has a huge 10m high window between them. Our route took us through the narrowest of tunnels betwee these monoliths, down into the gorges, up again to the Panorama viewpoints and onto the huge 1,5km glacial lake where the trail ends. We're so glad we came here because initially we didn't really know what it would be like. The main motivation was to just hike a bit, away from the city madness and the fact that this place is only 20km from the Polish border, our next stop. Tonight we met some new people. A group on a company team building trip, who are all learning English from a local Czech teacher. An adventurous and fun bunch of hikers and cyclists. We socialised with them until midnight and they invited us to their communal barbeque tomorrow night around the big campsite fireplace. We'd actually planned on leaving Czech tomorrow but being totally flexible with time, decided to stay another day and spend some time with them. I think they plan on teaching us the finer art of drinking Becherovka - a high alcohol local spirit made from herbs! Very health with medicinal properties we hear!! We'll see.

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Saturday 3rd June

Didn't do too much today. Just enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Something we've been missing for a few weeks. In the evening we spent our last night in Czech in grand style. We joined our new Czech friends at their BBQ, as as predicted, we samples some of their favorite tipples. Becherovka, Moravian wine, Vodka, Spiced Gold and of course beer! I was careful not to mix too much as I really didn't want to leave Czech with a heavy head! The night was full of fun and laughter around a huge campfire that the pyrotechnicians would be proud of. We spent a lot of time chatting to all the Czech folk, learning much about their country. This weekend for them is elections time, so things were interesting. The country is still a young democracy, much like SA - and most of the people are in a state of change, still trying to let go of the old communist clutches, and get to grips with the new democratic ways. Anyway, we were entertained by our new friends, who played and sang local Czech folk songs on their guitars for us, and made us feel very special. Once the Czech people get to know you a bit, and the barriers come down, they are incredibly warm and hospitable folk. Both of us agreed that this is a country we'd return to one day.