First stop in Bohemia

Again its been a while since the last update, we just dont seem to be getting regular internet access at the moment. Its not too bad though as it's a welcome break no being on the computer day in day out, at work and at home. We crossed into the Czech republic about two weeks ago with little hassle. There are border crossings into the eastern states, whereas with holland and Germany there are none. The guard at the border pulled is in and we had to wait for about 5 mins whilst he checked our paperwork. He then came over and us me if we had any drugs, guns or knives then let us go. As if I was going to say 'yes actually I've got 10 Kilos of coke in the back and some uzis under the bed, you've rumbled me, if only you hadn't of asked..damn.....'

Then we were on our way again and what a difference, noticible immedietly. Run down villages and houses, poor rutted roads and rather crap signposting (so much so we had to by a new map, fully detailed). It really felt as though we had gone back in time. and it felt good. Quaint villages and beautiful scenery were order of the day en route to Cesky Krumlov. Unfortunately we never made to Cesky Krumlov as we didnt take the turning we needed as neither of us even saw it. We settled instead for Ceske Budejovice, the next big town north of Cesky Krumlov, which turned out to be another stop on the beer trail - they brew Budweiser Budvar there, which is infinetely superior to Amercian Budweiser! We stayed there for 4 nights, explored the town centre, went up the black tower and wandered around the local markets. Everything is so cheap here, even in Prague where its the most expensive, its cheaper than the UK. Out of the the big towns though, its peanuts. Oh and the beer is uber-cheap, and is actually cheaper than soft drinks in bars and cheaper than juice in the supermarket!

From Ceske Budejovice we got the train into Cesky Krumlov. It was a fair old walk from the campsite to the station so we were glad to get our tickets without too much trouble. One problem we have encountered in Czech is that it can be very, very difficult at times to understand notices, signs and train times etc and virtually impossible to understand announcements. The train was pretty old with old fashioned conductors, with whistle stop go conducting at each station and some of the stations were very run down , others just a signpost and others, what appeared someones house. It took about an hour to get there and the town itself was quite nice, nice old fashioned eastern European houses, cobbled streets, Vlatava river all with a castle backdrop. It would have been even more beautiful if it weren't for all the ......yep you guessed it - the tourists. There were hundreds. Coachload upon coachload of Germans, Americans and Japanese. We walked about the town for a while then, went to the museum of torture and an excellent National Geographic photography gallery. We also went into the castle grounds but didnt pay for a guided tour around castle. We opted for the bus back to the station as it was a pretty hefty walk, which is always an event in itself - the buses dont often have numbers or anything to indicate where they're going and the driver never seems to understand where you want to go. after a few hairy moments of 'is this the right bus?' we got back to the station.

Although Cesky Krumlov being the UNESCO world heritage site is probably the 'nicer' place, Ceske Budejovice seems so much more real. It was mostly locals, harldy any tourists and parts of it were very gritty and urban, yet most places are accompanied by a warmth and welcome you dont always get elsewhere.

by Matt