Some "me" time
This is the story of my Trek into Czech.
It began in Prague, at 6 am I left.
I rode a bus, a train, and took walk after walk
thank god for google translate or I would have gotten lost
I ended up on a farm in Nové Město,
I was tired and hungry, the area was nice though
The next day I biked, and biked, and biked
57 km later I was tired and my tired legs began to fight
back home I went, to eat rice and cucumbers,
the next day I would leave
my days here were numbered
To Mala Skala I would go
to meet with a new friend
she would show me more rocks
places to climb, and then
we would talk about life
and bid each other fair well
After goodbye I sat down by a river
watched it flow by, hour after hour
not ceasing or slowly no matter the obstacle
a lesson to follow, for rivers
and life in general
So if you made it through the "poem" you may be wondering, what the hell is this guy doing? He is a blogger for DIS, not a poet. Sometimes it is good to break from the monotony of life and try something you have perhaps never done before, or something you have burned into your conscious as "something you are bad at". Screw that, do it, try it, embrace your fears. Growth does not come from staying in your comfort zone.
Anyways, So I will break down this trip into a less abstract way. After the Czech Trek with DIS, thanks to the helpful guides Honza, Honza, Honza, Tom, and Sarka I was able to stay in the Czech Republic and explore further!
First off, download these apps/add these websites if you wish to navigate the public Transportation system here
1.) Navigating the Trains App= Můj vlak
Website= http://m.cd.cz
2.) Having a map that isn't google maps. App= Mapy.cz
3.) Organizing routes using busses/trains/metro. App= Pubtran
Another little side note, download google translate, you can use the app to translate webpages and stuff like that on your phone which is super helpful if you don't actually speak Czech.
I went from Prague to Nové Město pad Smrken and then to from there I walked to an Air B n B, (the farm). Seriously if you haven't downloaded the Air BnB app yet, do it. It makes things much cheaper and the people are usually incredibly helpful with navigating, suggesting local food, and other spots.
So I was at the farm for a total of 2 nights, 10 dollars a night. I walked to a town nearby called Lázně Libverda. This is where I rented my mountain bike, it ended up being around 35 dollars for an entire day. Super affordable and a very nice full suspension bike. The trails were super nice, nothing too technical and had a nice flow to them with superb views (once you got to the top). It was called BikecentrumLibverda. I attached the website there for ya, if you are interested in mountain biking that is!
On this trip I learned about permaculture from the Air Bnb, learned a few Czech words, like Děkuji, and a few others that I can't remember right now. But this area was super fascinating, like many Eastern European countries the effects of WWII are still very visible. The town the farm is in I guess was once upwards of 2,000 people before the war, but after has been on a gradual decline and now has around 100. There are also tons of old churches some abandoned some not, empty houses, and a very cool eerie feeling (it is probably the old trees..). All you history buffs out there, I would recommend checking out this area.
On my way back to Cope I made a pit stop in Mala Skala to do some more hiking with one of the guides Sarka, we ended up having some great conversations, and she showed me some other places to climb and hike in the area. The climbing there is quite difficult, but who doesn't love a challenge right?
After the hike I sat by a river for a while, it really got me thinking. It's persistence inspired me. Reminded me that the best thing is to just keep on going, to keep moving. There is beauty in persistence.
