Category: Czech Republic

KRAKOW and AUSCHWITZ

With the rain coming down we leave the camp but checked the toilet/water dump from last nite to check for floaters but all ok. It is a 2-3 hour trip so not too far and careful in the rain. We found the camp quite easily which is new and sort of part of the Hotel complex. It was still raining so quickly set up after checking and watching a wedding reception going in for their celebrations. We are pretty much the only ones here. I have checked out the bar so am going to see if polish tv has the rugby on as unfortunately the van reception is nil. I made a green Thai curry but got a bit heavy handed so quite hot which Vicki can’t handle so now I am cooking extra veges and adding coconut milk to ‘cool’ it down. Now we have enough for 3 nites. I walk over to see if the game is on at 6pm but only volleyball but have a beer anyway. Then back to the van for tea and a beer. Then at 9pm back to the bar and see if the other game is on but no luck but what the heck better have another quality Polish beer and had a nice chat to the young bar lady. She is studying Theology so quite fascinating trying to find out what job comes at the end of study. Vicki is still sick so a quiet nite for her.

Next morning the weather was sunny and reasonably warm so started walking the 3ks into Krakow but a little bit down the road we went back and got the bikes as it is much quicker but until you start walking it is hard to judge if biking is feasible. Oh for bikeways like Belgium & Holland where bike is king. However the bike lane here quite quickly went down to the Danube for a picturesque ride into the city. We locked up the bikes, again not bike friendly, very little racks. We wandered the streets but priority was an ATM and a place to get a sim card as our first Polish one only lasted 5 days and it ran out while we were in Czech rep. We had to go to the new shopping plaza which is so out of place in the old town. We got what we wanted and did some exploring of this old town which is similar to the others but has a green park surrounding the whole city which is quite unique. Around 2.30 we sussed out a bar that had the rugby on(you can see a pattern here of my priorities) and though the Wallaby game was on it was the next game we were going to watch. Trouble was it was live streamed so not a great picture. We walked around a bit more and sat in the square in the sun and I had a Polish sausage & beer and Vicki had a hot mulled wine. We started to chat to a Polish lady(her grandmother survived the war as even though she was on the list to go to the camps the grandfather, being a cobbler, persuaded the person to take her off the list in exchange for making shoes for them as of course they were in very short supply. Such a fine line between life & death) and asked her a few questions about what we should see and she recommended Zakopane which is south nestled under the Tatra Mountains and is meant to be very stunning with lots of walks and sightseeing. We were not sure whether to take the van or bus or train for a day trip so had to do some research. We said our goodbyes and made our way back to the bar but did stop on the way to see some very clever young men busking a great break dance and singing routine which was entertaining. We got to the bar but they had moved the game to the back room tv where a bunch of Scots and one pom were watching. The picture was really poor so everybody decided to do to the English Football pub down the road for the second half. We were invited along so went into this amazing underground cellar like catacombs with about 6 rooms for different viewing. We ended up watching the first half again as they couldn’t find the 2nd half live on the telly then found out there was no 2nd half for that channel. What a balls up but we had a great time chatting to the guys. They were over on a bucks nite as one of the guys was marrying a German. The poor pommy was getting hell from the Scots for losing to Wales so of course we were digging in that the Aussies will beat them as well and they will be out of the cup. We could have stayed longer but they were going for pizza and Vicki has a long memory regarding the last time I started drinking with Brits in Riga so prudent that we left.  It was getting a bit dark so went home and had an early nite as we had to be up early the next morning to be collected to go to Auschwitz & Birkenau for our tour. Not sure what to expect tomorrow but sort of looking forward to it but how can you ‘look forward’ to something as horrible as this.

We were collected on time, 20 of us in a minibus for the 1/1/2 hour trip to first Auschwitz then a short drive to Birkenau. We had only just got underway when the guy (about 35-40) next to Vicki (they were in the back row) said to the chap next to me one row ahead that he was going to be sick and pass him a bag! The guy next to me who happened to be his dad sort of ignored him so he asked again then took some food and fruit out of a plastic back and proceeded to vomit into the bag, Great way to start the day, needless to say dad was not impressed. I ended up getting the bus driver to stop and the guy ended up sitting with the driver up the front. He blamed it on being bounced around in the back but I get the feeling it was alcohol related from the nite before as dad was not impressed.

We parked at Auschwitz amongst other vans and buses and met our guide. It is all pretty rushed as there are lots of groups all having to follow each other in sequence so they can’t stuff around. Well Murphy’s law stepped in and they wouldn’t let Vicki’s bag through.  They do advise you that you can only take a small bag 30x20x10 in but we determined that Vicki’s handbag was no larger than that.  The lady on the metal detector (yes they put you through one, although we have absolutely no idea why) took a dislike to Vicki and she had to take her bag back out to the bus driver and get him to lock it back up in the van.  Not a good thing as it had our passports and important documents in.  They did let my bag in which was actually the same size or slightly bigger – go figure.  The tour group hardly waited for Vicki to come back before they had taken off.  We all got headphones and a receiver box to hear our guide.  He had a hilarious way of talking – a bit like the guy off Believe it or not where he would almost whisper his final word in each sentence.  Auschwitz is a sombre and hard to describe place but it was a bit like walking around an old prison with the razor wire and brick buildings. Everything is pretty much unchanged but you only get to see through a few places and not a lot of time as the other groups are behind you all the time. There were rooms with items collected from Jews by the Nazis as they were delivered to the camp. They were told to bring all they could as they were going to be rehoused in other places. Unfortunately the showers were gas chambers and so all their belongings were warehoused and sent to be reused. For example their hair was all shaved off before they were murdered and made into textiles and goods for the war effort. However in one room there was enclosed two ton of hair that hadn’t been used (out of 8 ton still there) just huge mounds of hair. There were also rooms with thousands of children’s shoes and another with thousands of adults shoes. There were Combs and brushes, shoe polish and even suitcases with names still on them. Words can’t describe the feeling looking at them but have a look at the attached pics. There was one area in the basement where 4 people would be put in  a 1 x 1m cell with no windows where they had to crawl in through a little hatch and live for weeks or until they died as a punishment.  Just unbelievable.  And yet these activities took an amazing lot of clever planning and money raising. We saw where they shot people and also where they hung them up by  their arms that were tied behind their backs till their shoulders dislocated. There was a reconstructed crematorium that still had the original equipment plus the gas chamber where they dropped the pellets through the roof and could take hours to die. The problem was they couldn’t burn them quick enough. The area was declared a monument in 1947 and has been open to visitors since.

Whereas the enclosed area of Auschwitz is small, Birkenau is around 200 hectares and though a lot of the long huts are gone the remains of a number of the brick buildings are standing but unfortunately they are sinking into the ground due to the high water table but these are being restored. The government own the area but admission is free (but you pay to go on a guided tour) but upkeep is by funding methods. The remains of the two huge crematoriums are still there after the Nazis tried to remove the evidence by burning and blowing them up but they ran out of time. It still amazes me how the Nazis were so dumb to think they could get rid of the evidence. It would have been hard enough to physically remove things but they were fastidious documenters and wrote everything down. However some were clever enough to remove themselves to other countries before the collapse or just after but many were tried and executed.

As you enter the site you can follow the railway line where all the jews and other prisoners were bought in then unloaded and with the whim of one nazi it was to the left if you were old, infirm, disabled, pregnant, a child or unfit to work which meant a walk straight to the gas chambers or to the right if you were fit to work. The hut living quarters were primitive to say the least and I would hate to know what it was like in the winter. This part of the tour wasn’t as depressing as Auschwitz but probably due to the openness and size of Birkenau it is hard to gauge how it must have been. I can see why this has become a pilgrimage for so many to witness the greatest extermination in the known world history. Supposedly it is to make sure it never happens again but what I see in the world today I don’t have much hope.  The guide said that Auschwitz was the better camp and it was considered a punishment if you were to be sent to Birkenau.  When you see the difference between the two you can understand why.  The bunk rooms in Auschwitz were inside brick buildings and the Birkenau bunk rooms were unlined timber with cobbled floors and rooves.  Nothing would have been air tight and I can’t begin to imagine what it would have been like in winter.  They housed many hundreds of people in each building that should reasonably only hold maybe a hundred at the most.  The soldiers looking after the prisoners also had to live in the same conditions the prisoners did at Birkenau.

We got back to camp around midday, had a small nap-Vicki still had a migraine that she just can’t seem to shake- & rolls that we had made in the morning but didn’t  have, somehow didn’t feel like eating, and biked into town to have a look around the main feature here the large castle and church that is surrounded by high walls. It is a great view over the Danube over to the new city so after a look around we sat and had a drink and fruit tart at one of the restaurants and enjoyed the vista. Prices are very good here so you feel you are getting value for money. We wandered back into the old town to see if we had missed anything but not really so had a mulled wine in the square, somehow managed to get a free beer yeehaa, then biked back to camp. Altogether quite a busy two days and a bit emotional at times. We will look back at Krakow as a quite a nice place but I think the feeling is that it was too close to us being in Prague and that has spoilt the experience a bit as Prague was awesome on many levels. Plus, for me, I have always thought of Krakow in a negative sort of light because of the camps and war history but really I would say it is well worth the visit especially as we didn’t go to Warsaw.

We have decided not to stay a third day as we thought and we are going to drive south  to Zakopane a popular holiday, winter sport and hiking destination. We hope to do a small excursion up the valley and get a hike in but we will be a bit limited to distance as we hear it can be challenging but still want to experience the wild mountain scenery. It is on the way to Slovakia which is on the other side of the Tatra Mountains, which like the Czech Rep, seems to be a friendly & peaceful country that punches above it’s weight and also has beautiful scenery and is small enough to experience a lot in a short time. We are aware of the weather starting to cool and still have Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to see before heading to the slightly warmer climes of Greece hopefully seeing a bit of Italy and Croatia on the way.

CESKY KRUMLOV, CZECH REPUBLIC

Wednesday 23rd September

We head down though all the lovely little towns towards Cesky Krumlov which we had heard was a great place to see.  The Czech Republic is a really lovely country scenery wise.  We love driving off the highways here as the roads aren’t too bad and the towns are great to drive through. This proved the case when we spotted a large castle in the hills and when I saw the sign for it plus a motorcycle museum we quickly turned off as often we hesitate and miss out. After forking out 150K to park- rogueing buggers- we walked up the hill to the castle, no mean feat for Vicki as the cup of concrete hadn’t worked much but she is one to soldier on. It was a grey day rain holding off but we decided not to pay up to $40aud to look inside so walked around it instead. We came upon an enclosure in the moat where a rare black bear resides. It was really a horrible place and filthy with a water pond that was nearly empty and green. No trees or grass. The pictures near it showed what it was like probably ages ago but nothing like it now. The bear was in his little hideaway and we heard a comment from a guide that she hadn’t seen it move out for weeks. It is so cruel and we were both really sickened. Other tourists were going on how ‘cute’ it all was and we were saying it was disgusting and the castle should be ashamed of themselves. Not sure what they thought of that. Anyway we took photos and am seriously considering sending them to WWF or similar.

I couldn’t wait to leave so headed down to the bike museum. After thinking it was closed we went around to the hotel entrance and a young girl let us in so I had a look around the bikes on my own. This is one of the best Jawa (they are Czech built) collections around and had some really neat bikes including speedway solos and legends of the sport including NZ’s own Barry Briggs & Ivan Mauger. As I had read Barry Briggs Autobiograpy when we had to fly back to NZ in June I found it very interesting.  We were chatting to the girl about travelling etc when the owner arrived and of course he wanted to show me around and we chatted about speedway and bikes & NZ & Aussie racing which was a treat. In hindsight I wish I had asked him more questions and learnt more even with his limited English. And we didn’t get charged so bonus there. We had a coffee before taking off to Cesky Krumlov. But I didn’t buy a bikeT shirt he had for sale as they were in red which is not really a colour I wear. Bugger.

We were a little late arriving in town here since we had left Prague a bit late and it is quite a distance to drive, along with the stop.  There were a couple of places we could park up which we checked out.  Both looked quite dreadful and rundown derelict places so we decided we weren’t staying there.  We went out of town a bit to a campsite called Camping Paradijs – and we though yeah right sure it is.  It was 6km out of town and on a little river in the middle of nowhere really.  When we pulled in, they had the most beautiful gardens and what a lovely place it was.  They were entitled to call it what they did.

We chatted to the owner who understood a little English and with a few handsignals we parked in a secluded garden area on our own. The owners are very friendly which makes a nice change from some as you get the impression that they don’t want to help. Again we got great tv reception and we watched NZ play Namibia. Also there is a great retro channel playing music videos. So a few beers and a turkey meal in bed watching tv –heaven after reading a thousand books.

The camp is in a valley surrounded by forests with a river running through and it is indeed paradise. There are heaps of apple trees, raspberry vines and colourful flower beds. We reluctantly drove into the town next morning all packed up in case we do not decide to go back to Camp Paradijse (6 kms to far for us to bike on very busy & hilly roads) and start to explore this quaint and obviously busy tourist stopover. After our obligatory stop at practically the first café we see for a coffee and apple strudel (which reminded us of Holland) we explored another fantastic old town with architecture we just can’t get enough of so old and sometimes derelict but functional and full of charm. Vicki bought a bright orange T shirt and I am still on the lookout for a bike or beer one.

We had to go back to put more $$ in the parking for the van and sometimes you do not know how much to put in as it is a foreign language so better to side on less to start. We quickly made a sandwich on the run then headed back to town this time heading to the castle. We meandered our way through the enclosed walls dodging bloody tourists ( we never cease to be amazed how the guides just stop in the middle of the main thoroughfare to deliver their spiel and stuff everybody else) Again we saw an enclosure with two bears this time that seemed a hell of a lot better off than the lone one from the day before but still very sad and listless but at least these ones had fresh water and a bit of green. I would love to put the powers that be in their place for a week and see what they thought! The view from up here was brilliant and I have some great views to kick-start my art career. I had a quick ale costing a $ and then walked back down. I was keen on visiting the Eggenburg brewery but couldn’t find the map to it so walked around the river (which is a little like a small scale Brisy) only to find it closed for renovation. Duhh!  I wanted a refreshing ale but since we had done extra miles for nothing best to be prudent and not. Then we were running out of time and we still hadn’t seen the last bit of the old town but due to the extended walk etc  etc had to get back the van. Vicki was feeling pretty low by now so we headed back to camp early doing a shop on the way. I felt a bit bad as there was a bit of crossed wires but it allowed us to get our washing done and relax down by the river so peace was restored. As we reflected we toasted some canoeists floating down the river and thought how lucky are we. The camp lady washed and dried our washing for us which was lovely and the owners sister Maria who looks after the garden let Vicki pick a large bowl of fresh raspberries and didn’t want anything for them. Along with a handful of gooseberries and fallen apples we felt very privileged and it definitely lived up to the title of Camp Paradisje.

As we left at 10.30 which is quite good for us (read Scot) we decided to push on and make a good fist of getting close to Krakow as we had booked in for a day tour of Auschwitz. Our first stop was a small picturesque village called Telc which after parking found the obligatory market square where, even though we wanted coffee but ended up with soup where my Goulash was ok but Vicki’s chicken soup was ordinary. It was a shame as we walked around the square there were some quaint cafes. Just goes to show when will we learn not to go to the first one you see.

On the road again and a long drive today but finally ended up (7pm) at a very clean and quiet camp and we think they didn’t charge correct but we weren’t complaining. The drive was a mix of highways and country roads. It is funny but no matter how much you plan, and the tablet is a crucial navigating device, just when you need direction the most , yes that road is closed off and quickly please find an alternative route before the truck runs us off the road. But again the countryside is so unique and we love not being on the motorway. Luckily the roads are in great order and we cruise through small villages and wonder at the life they lead and what they do. Much too soon we are back on the main road  but as it is getting dark , beats cruising, and it is dark as Vicki miraculously finds our stop. The lady speaks English at the camp but not enough to find out where to empty the toilet, so I go and ask and she says ‘I think it is here’. It is dark and raining and we really have to empty it if we want to use it so I empty it into the sink where I figure it is(no signs anywhere) and wonder why it is not going anywhere except on my feet.  Then I see the hole in the ground and have a Homer moment. Shit I have emptied it in the fresh water fill up. So I quickly go back to the van and get a paper coffee cup and empty out the sink hoping the toilet paper has dissolved enough. Thank god no one crapped in it and I had to dig out a turd. However next morning all looked ok. Lesson 101 leave this stuff till daylight and thank god men do it and stuff it up.

 

PRAGUE/PRAHA, CZECH REPUBLIC

It is late Saturday afternoon and we know that the rugby world cup has started today so once we sort the van out; take the bikes out, plug the electricity in, set up the bathroom, set up the tv, take all the stuff off the bed and put in it’s appropriate place; Scot then figures he will see if we can get tv reception so he may be able to see the games.  So he turns on the tv, tunes it in and Voila! He gets the start of the South Africa vs Japan game and he is stoked.  I am sure everyone would have heard him In Aus and NZ he was so happy (and rightly so after 5 months with none).  So we watched that game, or at least Scot did, I watched the first half and then got chatting to the next door GB neighbours and didn’t get to see the last part.  That was an amazing game – Japan won which was the hugest upset of all time.  Unfortunately the channel we were watching didn’t play the second game.  We had a great tea and had an earlyish night so we could get into the city early in the morning.  The camp we are staying at is on an island in the middle of the river just a short ferry ride away from the city. We could hear music booming reminiscent of Stockholm and it got louder and louder, it turned out to be a large party boat full of revellers with a disco full on lights and all. And then we were treated to a cool fireworks display.

The next morning we get up and head off to the ferry.  It is a very small boat that can take only about 9 people.  The last ferry goes at 8.09pm which is a tad too early but if you want to get home the easy way you make sure you are there.  Apparently though if there are more people than seats, you get left behind.

So we get off the ferry (and yes we did pay him but wish we hadn’t paid him until he had got us home again – more later) and started walking into the old town.  We needed money – Czech krowns, a sim card and a city map, well a better one than we had.  We are walking along one street and we come across a Cat Café.  So me being me, we had to go in and check it out.  They charged one flat rate for the first hour which included as much coffee, tea and bikkies that you wanted and free wifi which was a good deal as it was only aud5 equivalent each.  There weren’t enough cats though which means they don’t come near you very much since they are probably already sick of people.  Never mind we stayed for a bit and left to get our list sorted.  We were actually quite a bit out of the old town but didn’t realise it as all the buildings are amazing.  They ornate architecture is just amazing and is everywhere.  After a lot of searching we eventually found the avenue where Wenceslas square was and then found an information place.  No wonder we weren’t in the right place, where we had been was very quiet and where we arrived at was packed.  We found a place for a data sim and money so we were set.  After walking a bit we found a lovely quiet island on the river where we could sit and eat our sandwiches.  Whilst sitting there a couple came and asked us if we knew where the pink tank was.  Huh??  We had no idea so we researched it and as it turns out it isn’t even in Prague.  It is a tank from the war that was coloured from green to pink and back again many times – it’s a long story and I won’t go into it here.

We leave the little island garden and then walk up the esplanade and find the most walked over bridge I have ever come across. It is absolutely packed and they are all tourists.  Holy crap where did they come from???  Anyway we make our way through them and have a look at the stalls on the side of the bridge as we walk across.  At each end of the bridge are great archways – I never got to learn about their history but they are obviously very old and at the far end you can walk up the stairs to the top which we did.  Great views over the old town and around the other side of the bridge.

We walked around the other side of town for a bit and eventually decided to go and find a bar that would be playing the All Blacks game that night.  We figured that any of the Irish bars would be playing the game so we found one on the other side so got our seats ready.  The game kicked off at 5.45pm and we needed it to be finished by 7.30 so we could get the ferry home.  A great game was enjoyed with a few other Kiwis that were in Prague.  One couple sat with us and they were from Auckland but lived in Sydney.  They were travelling around for a couple of months.  Not a good idea to get chatting really as when the game ended we finished up our chat with them but by this time it was 7.45.   So we had to make a very fast exit.  We ran most of the way, but it was a really good couple of kms away.  Scot ran ahead of me but when I got there the ferry wasn’t in sight.  We were on time – it was only 8.05 and it wasn’t supposed to leave until 8.09, however we figured that being Sunday night the ferryman must have wanted to get home so trusting him was not a good thing.  We could see his ferry light on the other side but when it went out we realised he had gone.  We had to face the 4+km walk back to the camp in an area I would rather not have walked really.  It wasn’t late though so was ok.  The island didn’t have any street lights so was very black walking trying to avoid the pot holes on the road.

The next morning we decided we would bike into the town and not worry about the ferry.  That way it wouldn’t matter about getting home.  We biked along until we came to a part we thought it was ok to leave the bikes.  We stopped for our morning coffee at a lovely place on the river.  Then we went in search of the John Lennon wall.  It was more difficult to find than we thought it would be, but it is a piece of a friary wall that  people had started to put up Lennons message of peace etc around the 80’s and the friars kept on painting over the graffiti.  But the people persisted until eventually the friars gave up and now there is all sorts of graffiti on the wall, but some of the John Lennon stuff remains.  There is a lot of crap there as well now, but does make for a colourful photo.

We spotted a lot of cars that were convertibles that you could hire for touring the city.  They were obviously stretch replicas of old looking cars. Although not the real mccoy they were still cool looking cars. A bit too expensive for us though.  We decided to buy our lunch today and as per usual we found it difficult to find an appropriate place, but settled on a goulash type soup in a bread bowl.  We then walked up the hill opposite the old town to find The Strahov Monastry which was up a huge hill past a whole lot of beautiful buildings and souvenir shops etc.  It was quite a walk but the view from the top was great.  We didn’t go into the Strahov Library even though it was supposed to be amazing, but it was expensive and you couldn’t actually go in, you could only look from the doorway, so I didn’t see the point.  We did go into the monastery and have a look at the paintings and painted ceiling there.  Quite cool really.  We went to the brewery up at the top and Scot had a beer of course.  Then we went back down again and had stopped on the square to have another drink. By this time I was starting to feel chilled and unwell.  I just thought is was from having a big day and it cooling down early but how wrong was I. After the drink we decided it was time to find the bikes and bike home before it got too dark.  We had remembered our lights though.  Prague or Praha as it should be called is quite a big city and the normal 2 days just wasn’t going to cut it.  We still had seen hardly any of the old town so we decided we had to spend another day there since all the buildings here are just so beautiful.  I had to stop taking photos as there are just too many buildings with amazing architecture.  We both just love this city and we can understand why there is a massive amount of tourists here still at this time of the year.  It would be amazing to come back when it snows.

The next day I was sick.  I had picked up some kind of flu and was horridly achy and I had the start of an inflamed throat which I believe turned out to be strep throat (something I don’t reckon I’ve had for over 20-30 years).  So I took my double cup of concrete, many drugs and we put our bikes on the ferry as this was the only way I was going to get anywhere today.  We got off the ferry and biked along to the old town.  We wanted to find some art supplies for Scot and then there were a few things in the old town we hadn’t yet seen.  So we went right up to Wenceslas square this time, found the art supply shop and then found the Astronomical clock that was very widely painted all over.  The clock was amazing and on the hour it plays a tune and has a little characters coming in and out above the clock.  We got there just before the hour and wondered why there were so many people just standing staring at it.  Then we realised it did it’s little ‘thing’ on the hour and then everyone moved on.  This must be the most photographed and painted feature in Prague.  We did quite a bit of walking, visited a soup kitchen for lunch which was fabulous – 94 krowns 6aud for a plate of soup, a piece of quiche, a glass of juice and a sweet pastry for desert plus all the bread you wanted to have with your soup.

My cup of concrete was wearing off so we decided we had to get home so I could go to bed.  It is so difficult being sick on holiday.  You can’t not do anything because you know you want to see everything and time is marching on, it really is crappy.  We rode back to the ferryman who didn’t leave without us this time – only because we were well before the last ferry.

The next morning, I didn’t feel like going anywhere, but I got myself up, drugs taken, cup of concrete etc.  The showers weren’t working – no water – so my wake up shower wasn’t going to happen.  My throat today was so swollen I didn’t feel like swallowing anything.  I started wondering whether I should see a doctor but really didn’t want to be bothered, although you just never know what kind of germs are hanging around a huge tourist city like this.  I had been taking our colloidal silver which I make here to try and kill any bacteria but it seems it wasn’t working enough, so I decided to step up my dose in a huge way and really attack that bacteria.  We got ourselves packed up and headed out of Prague down south towards a place called Cesky Krumlov.

Note: Prague was such a full experience that it was impossible for us to remember everything we did especially since we couldn’t get to write about it straight away, but it is a measure of the city that there is so much happening and to see.  I took more photos than any other city but it would be ridiculous for me to put them all on the blog, so what you will see is only a handful.  If you want to see more – get off your butts and come and see for yourself – it would be one of the best cities in the world for sure!

PANERIAI AND ONTO POLAND

Monday 14 September

We pack up the van and switch the fridge to battery, of which there is little power left, but we hope there is enough to keep the food cool until we get to a campsite to power up again.

We head out of Vilnius city.  A lovely place and was absolutely worth visiting.

We head south to a little village called Paneriai which is where the Nazi’s did most of their killing of the Lithuanian jews plus some Russians and others they wanted to exterminate numbers around the 100,000 but no one really knows exactly how many people died.  This village is only about 10kms out of the city centre and when you stop here you can understand why they used this place.  It is on the train line, far enough from the city, but in the middle of a large wooded area.  We had to park at the train station and walk about 1km to the memorial. There are about 5 pits that they used to kill the people and a pit for burning the bodies when eventually they decided they needed to hide the evidence.

We hadn’t realised but the museum here was closed on a Monday, but that was ok as we could walk around the pits without any other tourists there, it was just us and that made it very real.  It had that same eerie feeling where you felt like you had to look behind you just in case you were the next one to go into the pit.  Sounds weird, but although I want to see these places as they represent what happened and the history that I am interested in learning about, I feel I want to run away from this place when we arrive.  In a forest like this you would normally hear birds or other noises, but this place was silent.  There were no birds or other animals and there was no beauty.  Fear, horror, terror is what I feel here.

As we head south out of Lithuania, I think of all the little things we observed in the Baltic countries that were different.  Cows are not enclosed in paddocks they are chained to spikes in the ground like we do to dogs at picnics, quite funny really.  Lithuanians are particularly keen gardeners and you see their little gardens often in a community area away from the houses and then you see them on the side of the roads selling their produce to make a few bucks.  Cats rule here, they are everywhere and dogs would be scared.  The Baltic cities are all amazing and well worth the trip to see them.  Lithuania would be my favourite for countryside.  Farming is huge in Lithuania and people try to keep their yards looking nice even if their houses are quite run down on the outside.  We think the freedom that people feel here since the occupation finished is very palpable and shows in all that they do.  In the whole of the Baltic countries we didn’t experience road rage in a huge way nor that many problematic drivers as we had been lead to believe.  We would come back here in a heartbeat.

We drive south over the border into Poland and see similar little plots of peoples gardens they are tending to and it looks like a neat country similar to Lithuania.  We know we aren’t going to be able to get too far so we stop in a town called Augustow which is on a lake.  We pull into the marina and talk to the guy.  We didn’t have any Polish zlotys and we had not known what the exchange rate was so the guy wanted to charge us 60zlotys but he said he would take 25euro.  What we didn’t know was the exchange rate between the two currencies meant he charged us double euro which we paid as we didn’t have anything else….bastard taking advantage like that.

Anyway as per normal we were the only ones at the marina staying and they had to give us our own key to the handicapped toilet and shower.  Although they told us they had wifi it wouldn’t work for us – so what’s new.

In the morning before we took off I had made the decision that we needed to go into the town and find the information centre and buy a sim for Poland so that at least we could find places to stay – freebies preferably and of course some zlotys.  So we biked into the town and what a lovely town it was – the small kind that I really like as they are more personal.  We found an ATM, got money and then found a T-Mobile.  5 zloty it cost for a sim for the tablet for 1GB – $2aud, so cheap.  We had a bit of a look around and then had a coffee at a lovely café recommended by the information place staff.  We biked back to the marina and packed up the van and headed out of town.  Driving out confirmed what a lovely place it was – the kind you just want to spend a bit more time having a look around but unfortunately we don’t have the time.  Whilst we had been parked in the marina we had looked at the front tyres and they didn’t seem to be wearing well and one front tyre was ridged and worn badly so we determined that once we got to Gdansk we would find a tyre place and replace both front tyres.  In Belgium they reckoned we would get another 10-15,000 miles out of them and we had already done 8,000 miles – 13,000 kms so it was worth getting them done.

We hit the road – we had about 390kms of highway to drive before we got to Gdansk so it would be a long drive.  We arrived in a little settlement out of Gdansk called Stegna which is right on the beach but also surrounded by forest.  The forest goes right up to the beach dunes.  The campground was lovely and the owner couldn’t have been more helpful to us.  We stayed two nights and we did our washing and went to the beach and Scot had a swim – of course (in the Baltic sea).  The beach, unlike Scandinavia was very clean and there were lots of birds and shells showing an abundance of sea life.  There were a few people around on the beach sun bathing but no one was swimming as the sea was a bit cold.  We had a coffee and then biked into the little town of Stegna which was very small.  We got some fresh berries and vowed to come back and get some of the farm veges on our way out.  We got the lady of the camp to phone the tyre place 45 minutes drive away to see if they could fit us in the following day on our way out which was fine by them.  There were a lot of stray cats at this camp which seemed to get their food from the campers who felt sorry for them.  They were quite skittish and didn’t want patting but were happy to receive any scraps we had.  Washing finished, bed remade, ironing done (yes I bought a travel iron and I iron my pillow slips and hankies)  we had tea and an early night.

We got up quite early and had a walk along the beach which was so nice.  This is our last seaside walk for a while as we will be inland for a while.  We headed off for the tyre place just outside of Gdansk.  When we got out of the van when we pulled up our tyres were pointing outward and I saw the inside of one side and metal threads were all sticking out of the inside of the tyre.  I nearly died of fright.  Here we were travelling at highway speed for 390kms two days ago and had that tyre blown we would not have survived.  My god we have some amazing angel looking over us.  The other tyre was just as dreadful.  They guy in the tyre place was a bit shocked I think, but they had worn where we couldn’t see them and we had done the right thing by making a decision to replace them when we thought they weren’t that bad.  Anyway we sat for about 3 hours whilst they put new tyres on, did an alignment and we also got them to change the oil and filter since it was nearly at 10,000 miles.

It was late when we got back on the road so we didn’t make it very far and stopped for the night at Znin.  We went to a campground – empty as usual – but it was such a half star place.  The kitchen was out of the 60’s and the showers and toilets were unbelievable, but you deal with what they have and it’s only one night.  The surrounds were old and quite run down as well.

The next day we decided we would drive over to Germany and find a camper store and see if they had a van hinge to replace our broken one.  I had found a store that looked quite good, so we headed over west to Frandfurt an der Oder.  It took most of the day as the roads are quite slow.  Poland is a very pretty country with lovely treed countryside and cute villages.  A little run down in a lot of places but still a lovely country.  We found out that the road rules in Poland aren’t followed too well.  On roads with a single lane each way and a small side area for pulling over vehicles are expected to drive in the pull over lane so others can pass when cars are coming towards them.  And if the car passing can’t fit in their own lane the vehicle coming towards them has to pull right over in their side lane so all 3 vehicles can fit side by side.  We watched as huge trucks would overtake someone not caring if cars were coming the other way or not.  Hilarious for us watching, but not so when all of a sudden you are confronted with a truck coming toward you and you are expected to pull over as far as you can out of their way, but that is how they drive and you either play the game or lose!  On the highways heading out of Poland there were heaps of young girls in skimpy gear standing on the side of the road either near truck stops or in areas that trucks could pull over.  We called them the truck roots on the truck routes.  There were heaps of them and I guess because there are literally thousands of trucks that pass each day they are bound to make enough money to live on.  You can tell that Europe moves most of it’s products by truck rather than train as there are just so many of them.

We arrived at the German camper shop in the late afternoon and asked about hinges.  The guy really wasn’t’ interested in helping us, it was late Friday afternoon and he really couldn’t be bothered with us which was a pity as we had travelled a long way, but they had nothing at all.  We left feeling very disappointed.

We then had to find somewhere for the night so we travelled down a bit further south in Germany.

We needed to stop at a supermarket and as we drove through this small town I commented to Scot that it looked very ethnic, quite unlike Germany. We saw a supermarket beside a McDonalds so we pulled into the car park and had a look around us.  We realised that in the small wooded area beside this shopping centre there was a group of maybe 40 refugees living there.  They were sitting and walking all through the car park and were looking very ominous.  In amongst the pristine countryside of Germany these refugees had accumulated the most disgusting pile of rubbish strewn everywhere in the wood (There were rubbish bins not being used).  I was horrified.  Here these people are wanting to be given a new life in a new country and they treat it with such disrespect and contempt.  A lot of the guys had phones, were smoking and drinking and obviously were having McDonalds.  If they are so hard done by then how come they can afford these things I ask.  For me they deserve everything they get if this is how they are going to treat Europe for trying to help them.  I would march along with all the others that have around Europe in protest about them coming into Europe.  I think they should send them back, the bunch of complete ungrateful assholes!!   28 European states are looking at housing 120,000 refugees yet this is only 20 days worth of immigrants.  Funny enough, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and one other don’t want to help because they have no muslim population.  They can only see problems.  Several of the countries have already put in border controls and Hungary has built a fence.  It is not good and as we get nearer the problem areas we aren’t sure what we will be confronted with.  There has been rioting etc, so is definitely a concern for us.

We drove straight out of this carpark after locking our doors and drove onto a camp ground.  They were closed for the night and the gate was closed so we camped outside in the car park for the night for free.

Saturday 19 September

We were up the next morning and headed out early before anyone in the camp ground woke up.  They couldn’t do anything about us anyway as we had arrived late and it wasn’t our fault we had to stay outside for the night.  We were undecided where we should go next and initially decided we would drive towards Krakow.  We got on this road that took us into Poland but the surface was so dreadful we thought it would shake the van to pieces.  There was no other road to travel on and we went probably 60kms on this horrendous road – see pictures below.  We stopped about midday at McDonalds McCafe for a coffee and at that point we decided we wouldn’t go to Krakow – we would go into Czech Republic first and then go back up into Poland after doing this country.  Poland is so big we can’t do all of it.  So we headed slightly back the way we came and down into the Czech Republic.

It is a lot hillier in this country and for the first time we headed up and down windy hills.  It is very pretty countryside here.  We had to buy a vignette on the way in.  This is a sticker for your windscreen which pays for the road tax/tolls for the period of time you are in the country.  We bought one for 10 days.  The police are very active here in checking for them and if you get caught without one the fines can be quite severe.

We decided to camp at the marina on a little island in the middle of the river near Prague city or Praha as the Czechs call it.  We arrived at the camp about 4pm.