Cesky Krumlov - where?????

When travelling on the underground in Prague, be warned that the escalators move at a speed approaching Warp Factor 1. The inertial momentum of a backpack mean that a firm grip on the handrail, attained after the run-up required to get onto the things in the first place, is essential for safe passage. Also, when disembarking, don’t just stop when you get off. The ability of the fully laden backpacker to stop, in order to avoid collision, is like a speeding semi-trailer approaching a yellow traffic light.
The next lesson is to know that the location of the bus terminal is not marked in any language, including pictures. Finding other English speaking backpackers was our only guidance to the terminal. Secondly, a bus due to arrive at 1300 will be lucky to get there before 1310 and won’t leave until at least 1330. This delay provides ample time to get a reservation for the bus which itself is a pointless exercise. In true Czech style, the locals line up and get their tickets directly from the driver and then grab any seat they choose, with no mind paid towards reservations. Hence people who get onto the bus later in the queue may find themselves without a seat, even if they had a reservation!! Luckily this didn’t occur to us as, after squeezing our bags into the luggage hold (followed by the last 2 bags belonging to a Japanese couple), we found two seats at the very back of the bus. As the Japanese couple boarded, the driver wasted no time in speeding off from the terminal. In fact he hadn’t even taken the time to shut and lock the luggage compartment, a fact quickly noticed by the Japanese couple!! Luckily our luggage hadn’t fallen off and so, after closing the luggage door, the bus took off bound for Cesky Krumlov…….via every pothole between Prague and there!!
Finally, we arrived in CK, a small UNESCO listed town in southern Czech. Had it not been for Robin, I would have never heard of it and therefore never gone. CK is a beautiful, small town with not much to do. After the hectic pace of the last couple of weeks it was exactly what we were after. The main part of the town was nestled in the wide S-bend of a river that ran through the town and my mission to walk every street of the town was quickly completed within the 5 days we ended up staying. It was hard to understand how some people we met felt jaded by the relaxed nature of the town.
Despite the overall “couldn’t be bothered” attitude of hostel and restaurant staff (with the exception of a great guy at the vegetarian restaurant) the people in no way ruined our experience. Our biggest problem was finding out what “Quark” is. Apparently it is a word in English and edible. Anyone know what it is???
During our time there we had two time consuming activities. The first was the ever present need to do washing. Simple maths would suggest that 3 fast washing machines plus 2 slow dryers was not conducive to efficiency. Then again, for a chance to have clean clothes, who gives!! Our other activity was rafting. After travelling up river, by car, for about 30 minutes we were left on the bank with raft, 2 paddles, 2 lifejackets, dry bag and map. The only safety information regarded the location of the pubs along the way! In truth, the lifejackets were largely redundant as we could often touch the bottom with our paddles and the rapids were just areas where the water was channelled. After the required beverages at each of the pubs along the way, our greatest challenge was getting to the next pub to use the toilet. The peace and tranquillity, attained after an initial teething session related to co-ordinated paddling, seeped into the pores and through to the soul. After 6 hours, and not all of it paddling, we arrived back in CK to face the final 3 rapids. Well accustomed to the attraction of rafting to the tourists, the locals were well placed to jeer us hoping that we would fall in. Unfortunately for them, but fortunate us, there was no unplanned swim by either of us as we finally reached our destination.