Czech Republic: Hrensko, Janov and Mezni Louka

David and an old wartime army vehicle in Hrensko
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An early start today. Straight to the station to buy our 3rd Wochenende ticket, to the Czech border. We've planned to go to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, which is just over the German/Czech border in the NW of the country. The train from Munich goes via Dresden to the border town of Schona. Then a little 'penny ferry' takes you to Hrensko - a 3 minute triip across the river [which is the actual border]. The trains took us through brilliant green hills and valleys, quaint villages and many picturesque rivers lined with 1000's of yellow daisies - it's spring in Germany. Picture postcard stuff. We arrived at Nurnberg, one of 4 stations changes. An easy change but discovered that the platform number had changed, so everyone made a frantic rush across to the new one. This was a really tiny regional train and it was jam packed. It was obvious that Germans are not used to standing on trains...! Lots of unhappy and frustrated people. We just watched with a chuckle. Being a fast train we all bounced along at a rate of knots, swaying from side to side. Our next change was at a small village station with only 4 minutes to get across the tracks. Once on board we could relax for an hour before change number 3. Last change was Bremen to Schona, the beautiful little village on the German side of the German/Czech border. The train ride from Bremen to Schona was more picture postcard stuff! Scenic, narrow gorges with rivers and sandstone rockfaces all the way along. The train runs parallel to the river all the way, about an  hour of it.

Memories of wartime in Hrensko
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At Schona, the last stop, we were the only 2 passengers left on the train! Directly across from this tiny station was the 'penny ferry' to take us to the other side - the Czech Republic. With our first steps onto Czech soil we were confronted with a friendly border control guy asking, in German, for passports.We walked through Hrensko, the stunningly beautiful Czech border village opposite Schone and wandered up the narrow streets looking for accommodation. Sandstone rock cliffs towered overhead. Pretty awesome. Accommodation here is pretty expensive so we opted to walk to the cheaper 'pensions' in the trees above where we were. Our first encounter with the Czech language happened when we tried to find out how far these places were - 3km up a steep road!!!Without giving ourselves time to change our minds, we started to walk. It was now about 8pm and getting dark. On we plodded through some magical forests and eventually we saw lights ahead. Kind of like the Rocky Horror House emerging out of the darkness...!! Somehow, the beauty of the area made the 3km walk disappear very fast. We found a place in the quaint village of Janov, high above the village of Hrensko where we had arrived. Now for that first Czech beer - Pilsner Urquell - and good it was!! Peace and quiet is what this area is all about, such a relief from all the madness and craziness of the city backpacker lodgings. Climbing and hiking is the main activity.

Sandstone Rocks and Beautiful Hiking

Our favorite street cafe in Hrensko
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Sunday 7th May

After a wonderful deep sleep, with fresh mountain air pouring in the window, we had a breakfast fit for a king. For the first time, we dress in shorts! The weather being warm and just so perfect for hiking. Before we hit the hiking paths, we took a stroll around our little village of Janov. It's only about 1 square km but so pretty and typically Czech. Today we hiked part of a well known circular route up the Kamenice River Gorge, which leads up a trail taking in ledges, walkways, tunnels and trout filled streams. The sandstone cliff faces towered above making this gorge quite narrow in places. Really spectacular. We rewarded ourselves afterwards with a well deserved Czech beer or 2 at a local pavement cafe, back in Hrensko. Very cheap. Approx R4 for 500ml ! An expensive beer here is a whopping R7!!! Eat your heart out guys. Across the river in Germany a beer is double this!

Wandering around the village of Janov
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Whilst hiking we noticed that all the Germans we past never ever greeted you, even tho' we greet them! The Czechs tho' at least attempt a smile or 2 but I think it's more to do with us being 'foreigners' and the language barrier. NO-ONE here speaks English, everything is sign language. The challenges have begun! Back at our lodgings we ordered some real Czech food. I had a game goulash mopped up with bread-like dumplings. Really good and cheap. David had a fishy thing with local potato croquettes. Yum.

A quaint B B in Janov
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Monday 8th May

After a 2nd night in Janov, we moved onto an even cheaper place 5km up the road. At breakfast we had our very first conversation with a Czech guy, who believe it or not, teaches English! He'd heard us talking and wanted to know where we came from as English is hardly ever heard in this neck of the woods! A wonderfully helpful man. He gave us a full rundown on Czech, where to hike, what the best and most worthwhile places are to go, and where not to go... It's amazing to see that as soon as the locals notice that us 'strangers' are actually not that strange, they want to talk. In fact they can't stop talking! They just want to keep on offering advice...

Religious shrines all over
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We made our way up to our next village, Menzi Louka, where there is a campsite with bungalows at a really cheap price. We had to once again hoof it up a 5km hill, heavy packs and all, as it turned out to be a public holiday, and our bus didn't materialise. It was again, stunning scenery so the walk was very pleasant. Exhausted, we book a bungalow which worked out at approx R60per night. Not bad considering all bedding is supplied, it has electricity and a fridge. Tonight we chilled out and soaked up the relaxing surroudings. Prague and the city stuff can take a backseat for a while. Mountains and rivers are what we want right now.

Sign posts in Janov village
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Tuesday 9th May

Woke up in the middle of nature, with birds chirping in the trees and the breeze whispering through the branches - oh so poetic - but that's how it is here. We were here during the week, quiet and peaceful after all the German long-weekenders had gone. Ahhh... this is the life. I did spare you all a thought, sitting the traffic on your way to another day in the office! Have fun... earn lots... you could be here too one day...!

We hike 12km circular route today which started at our campsite at Mezni Louka, through cool forests with fresh spring leaves blooming everywhere. The scenic route took us to Pravcicka Brana, a natural rock bridge or arch, not at all unlike our South African Cederberg Arch. The difference between the two is that the Czech version is surrounded in brilliant green trees and in a setting very similar to our South African Blyde River Canyon. The Czechs have constructed a zigzag of paths up to the actual arch. Nestled in a rocky nook beneath the arch is an ornate 19th century chateau, Falcons Nest, which is now a museum and restaurant. The return path meandered beneath the huge sandstone rockfaces back to our campsite. Back at base, the path ended directly at the beer garden of a local pension - perfectly placed!! We had dinner here too with a fellow camper, a German, who had pitched his tent right behind our bungalow. He was a mine of information about camping in the Czech Republic and also knew how to drink beer in HUGE quantities. I thought David drank a lot of beer but Mike was amazing. Wow.

Janov village homes
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Wed 10th May

Today we took a break from walking as we felt the need to give the legs and feet a rest. We just chilled in Hrensko and sampled some more local Czech food. Really nice and oh so cheap. In the evening we made a huge camp fire and sat around with Mike the tentman for a while - drinking beer of course.

Thursday 11th May

Another long hike today. Approx 20km circular route. We visited the vilage of Jetrichovice, with it's typical Czech buildings and houses, walked through a logging area in the forest and went to the spectacular rockfaces of the 'Kridelni Steny'. There are ladders, cracks, crevices and scrammbling here to test those with a height problem. I could only make it halfway up as the giddiness of vertigo got to me pretty bad. At this point we'd done about 15km and the poor feet were shouting 'howzit' in a big way. A pretty tough day's hiking but so worth it. The best part was that we saw a total of about 6 people all day! Such a relief from all the mass tourism of the bigger villages and cities roundabout. Back at camp we joined Mike for a few very welcome ales and hit the sack quite early.