Sleeping in a Smart Car, Czech Republic
Hello again! This is a sort of special post to me because it is my first post using smugmug! Which I totally love! Thanks to smugmug all my photos are now back online! So now I am going to write up a report for where I have been the last week or so, the Czech Republic.
Patrick had purchased my ticket to Prague and after spending another long night in the airport (Geneva is a terrible airport to sleep in) I was off to Czech. I had heard good things about Prague so I was excited to be heading in this direction. I arrived on a very hot day in Prague and headed to my hostel. I found navigating the subways and buses quite easy, maybe I'm getting used to this! I was also super excited to find that bus fare was very cheap. I arrived at the hostel and put all my stuff in my new room, it was a nice room with big windows and a good bed. It would take a little while to get healed from all the days of sleeping in the car! While in the hostel I met some nice people including some Canadians who were traveling around Eastern Europe which is the way to go if you want to save money! They were climbers and were excited to see if their was any climbing around town. Searching on the internet I found several places which looked fun and we headed off. The Boulder Bar was our target, its suppose to be a bar with a bouldering wall in it. That sounds fun. The only problem is its not where its supposed to be! We spent the morning looking for it and stumbled upon a different gym through a back alleyway. We climbed in town as well at a place called Hlubocepy Platy. No ropes though so it was only bouldering. It was interesting to note how my travels had changed my perception of heights. I was climbing and didn't really feel any fear at all of my height however the guys were admitting openly to their fear of how high they were. I hadn't noticed the change but then I could see it.
The next thing we did was go and watch a movie! Hey I haven't seen any English language films lately and im missing them. We watched Die Hard 4, which was awesome. On the way I had a good sit and talk with the Simpsons family before the phone rang and I needed to go.
After spending some time around town I got my usual restlessness and decided to rent a car and head to Northern Czech. I couldn't believe the cheapness of the car and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I was going to need someone else though to help pay for the car and help out just a little bit. I met a guy in the hostel named Christopher who was wanting to go towards Berlin and fly off to Madrid. He was excited when I told him I could get him a few hundred kilometers closer and he would have a chance to climb the tallest peak in the country. After a little thinking he was in for the challenge and we headed off to the Hilton to pick up our rental car. There was a snag however, the fine print which I admit I didn't fully read. We had to put a 25,000 crown deposit down on the car! Thats $1500 and I barley had that on my card 3 months ago when I started this trip. Christopher was a great sport though and put the money down on his card, luckily he just happened to have enough. We picked up our car, a smart car, and headed off to Northern Czech. Another snag! Christopher had left his pine cone (which he picked up in Italy) on the ledge at the Hilton. This saddened him and he would think about this pine cone for the rest of the trip. It was off to Sneku.
We arrived later then we had hoped to and when we finally got to Pec pod Sneku it was 5:30pm. We opted to ride the tram up to the first point and hike the last few kilometers to the top. As we waited for the tram to open a quick storm built up and rained heavily down upon us. I was in my shorts and t shirt and had only brought my camera, hopefully the rain was not going to be long. Christopher and I discussed the possibility of taking the tram all the way to the summit and then walking down but I wanted to hike a good portion of the peak, I just couldn't allow my self to say I had ascended it if I took a tram to the summit! The hike was great and the views were awesome, we were both very glad that we had not taken the tram up. The sun opened up and shed its wisdom on us and the wind was there to keep us cool.
Out of all the summits I had stood on during this trip this one was a bit unique. When we walked over the top we walked into Poland. The hut on the right of this photo is Polish and the landscape before us was Poland. What an interesting thought!
The hike down was also very enjoyable. It was nice to take a leisure stroll through a mountainside as the sun went down. The summit behind us and the rocks coming off the mountainside were looking very appealing.
We took our time down the mountain and were treated with quite a few photo opportunities. This flower let off a brilliant color or purple.
More flowers to please the senses.
We came across this old water plant in the side of the mountain. I had already been amused by the waterfalls around since they seemed to come out of no where. I was sure there could not have been that much water in the rocks all year round so I assume it is an underground well spouting up through the mountain. Anyone know?
This was to be my first attempt at a LPS Contest entry. I wasn't sure when the recent contest ended however and I was to late when I had returned. Oh well! It was fun to mess around anyway.
It was dark when we finally made it to the car and the moon was high overhead. We knew we wanted to get to the climbing area however and we soon were back on the ride driving through the night.
While walking down the trail we stumbled on a waterfall area that was of astounding beauty and I could see just by looking at it that it is the kind of area I have always wanted to try photographing. The smooth and consistent waterfalls, the low light. It all seemed great. I didn't take a perfect shot but I really enjoyed trying to get the best pictures I could before the light was to dark.
We were both running around like kids trying to find angles to take. I had about a 3 inch tripod and Christopher was just sitting it on the rock.
We stopped in a pull off which I saw from the road and drove down a dirt trail into the woods. It was the perfect place to spend the night! We both chatted for a bit about getting the tent out but neither of us were in the energy to do so, so we slept in the smart car. The seats didn't recline at all or very much so it was a sleep sitting up. I am 5'10 and was very cramped, Christopher is 6'4! We were saddened that we hadn't found the climbing area but resolved to find it in the morning.
We woke up to a beautiful surrounding of field, trees, and rocks! We had stumbled on a climbing area.
We had just one problem. Christopher had decided just to stay around and climb the whole time instead of going to Berlin and so he needed a harness and shoes! We drove around for a while and ventured into the towns finally finding some cheap shoes and a harness. Christopher was a great sport about it though and never complained about buying anything. The rental car came with 300km free, after that we had to pay 25 cents per kilometer. We had just rolled over our 300th kilometer and knew we would be paying more. Oh well no time to think about that now, its off to the climbing. Our first route we tried looked really old and I had to sling a large boulder and a tree as our anchor. It didn't look like it had been climbing in a while. I hopped on it and popped off 4 pieces of rock before I finally gave up. I didn't want to keep breaking the rock and destroy the natural beauty of the place, I would rather it go unclimbed by me. I was able to get a bit over half way before finally coming down.
We hiked around the area a bit and although it was really beautiful we felt the climbing wasn't right. I head read that there were a lot of routes on really good rock and this just didn't seem to be it.
So after a bit of discussing we got in the car and headed for some internet to find the areas. The internet is really hard to find sometimes...I think we spent 4 hours trying to find internet. We finally did find some and headed on the drive north about 20km to where the internet had said the climbing was. We headed toward an area called Suche Skaly once again picking our way across Northern Czech at night and once again not being able to find the climbing areas. I parked on a high hill in some grass and we debated pulling out the tent. We are so lazy...another night in the car. I suppose it was only fair since only one person would fit into my tent anyway and the other still got stuck in the car. We woke up in the morning to find we had parked about 2 minutes from the climbing trail head. It was looking like a good day! We walked up to the rocks and I had to free solo the first climb to get the rope up to the top anchor. Unfortunately I don't have any other gear so thats the only way to do it. Luckily the moves weren't harder then 5.8 or so and I didn't have to much difficulty climbing the 60 or so feet. I setup the anchor and Christopher was the first to climb.
The views were great all around us. We were on rock formations sticking out of a hill where tree's surrounded in all directions. A very weird formation indeed.
Beyond the rocks and tree's the hillside was lined with farmland.
Christopher had not climbed anything in such a way before and learned nicely. He didn't seem to mind being so high and hanging from ropes either. Here he takes pictures from our anchor and belaying system. I didn't have much gear but I felt I made a pretty good and safe system.
Traversing across the rock summits Christopher felt a little less sure footed. Thankfully for the rope he was more then willing to do the climb.
We climbed a few more routes and really enjoyed it. Both of us were completely satisfied with the days events.
We finished up climbing and headed back to the car for some food. We had gained a friend, someone else who realized salami tastes good.
Oh he looks cute but later on he bit my fingers while trying to get the food I had in my hand...okay I was dangling it above his head but he didn't have to bite!
And finally a little nap. Christopher shows just how small our rental car was. Ya we slept in there for 3 days.
Christopher had to be on a plane the next day for Geneva where I had talked him into going to Lauterbrunnen. We drove again that night and slept in the car one last time at a rest stop 20km outside of Prague. Driving into Prague in the morning however was a terrible idea and it took us 3 hours to drive that last 20 kilometers. Getting lost, stuck in traffic, then lost again. When we arrived at the rental shop we had put on an extra 280km to the car but there it was, sitting on the ledge, the pine cone which Christopher had been so saddened at leaving. From that point on we both knew it was going to be a good day. We were in luck because the guy behind the counter was awesome and said "I am not going to charge you for the extra kilometers, special discount." Awesome! That saved us about $70 and we left feeling great about the entire journey. I am now stuck back in Prague and I am actually to poor to leave. I am going to be taking a bus or plane back to London on the 2nd and will be back in America by the 4th. I may take some pictures of Prague but I don't know yet. So this may also be my last post for this trip! Its been great hearing everyones comments and I have really enjoyed telling some of my story to all of you. Thanks very much for reading!
Kelsey
Patrick had purchased my ticket to Prague and after spending another long night in the airport (Geneva is a terrible airport to sleep in) I was off to Czech. I had heard good things about Prague so I was excited to be heading in this direction. I arrived on a very hot day in Prague and headed to my hostel. I found navigating the subways and buses quite easy, maybe I'm getting used to this! I was also super excited to find that bus fare was very cheap. I arrived at the hostel and put all my stuff in my new room, it was a nice room with big windows and a good bed. It would take a little while to get healed from all the days of sleeping in the car! While in the hostel I met some nice people including some Canadians who were traveling around Eastern Europe which is the way to go if you want to save money! They were climbers and were excited to see if their was any climbing around town. Searching on the internet I found several places which looked fun and we headed off. The Boulder Bar was our target, its suppose to be a bar with a bouldering wall in it. That sounds fun. The only problem is its not where its supposed to be! We spent the morning looking for it and stumbled upon a different gym through a back alleyway. We climbed in town as well at a place called Hlubocepy Platy. No ropes though so it was only bouldering. It was interesting to note how my travels had changed my perception of heights. I was climbing and didn't really feel any fear at all of my height however the guys were admitting openly to their fear of how high they were. I hadn't noticed the change but then I could see it.
The next thing we did was go and watch a movie! Hey I haven't seen any English language films lately and im missing them. We watched Die Hard 4, which was awesome. On the way I had a good sit and talk with the Simpsons family before the phone rang and I needed to go.
After spending some time around town I got my usual restlessness and decided to rent a car and head to Northern Czech. I couldn't believe the cheapness of the car and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I was going to need someone else though to help pay for the car and help out just a little bit. I met a guy in the hostel named Christopher who was wanting to go towards Berlin and fly off to Madrid. He was excited when I told him I could get him a few hundred kilometers closer and he would have a chance to climb the tallest peak in the country. After a little thinking he was in for the challenge and we headed off to the Hilton to pick up our rental car. There was a snag however, the fine print which I admit I didn't fully read. We had to put a 25,000 crown deposit down on the car! Thats $1500 and I barley had that on my card 3 months ago when I started this trip. Christopher was a great sport though and put the money down on his card, luckily he just happened to have enough. We picked up our car, a smart car, and headed off to Northern Czech. Another snag! Christopher had left his pine cone (which he picked up in Italy) on the ledge at the Hilton. This saddened him and he would think about this pine cone for the rest of the trip. It was off to Sneku.
We arrived later then we had hoped to and when we finally got to Pec pod Sneku it was 5:30pm. We opted to ride the tram up to the first point and hike the last few kilometers to the top. As we waited for the tram to open a quick storm built up and rained heavily down upon us. I was in my shorts and t shirt and had only brought my camera, hopefully the rain was not going to be long. Christopher and I discussed the possibility of taking the tram all the way to the summit and then walking down but I wanted to hike a good portion of the peak, I just couldn't allow my self to say I had ascended it if I took a tram to the summit! The hike was great and the views were awesome, we were both very glad that we had not taken the tram up. The sun opened up and shed its wisdom on us and the wind was there to keep us cool.
Out of all the summits I had stood on during this trip this one was a bit unique. When we walked over the top we walked into Poland. The hut on the right of this photo is Polish and the landscape before us was Poland. What an interesting thought!
The hike down was also very enjoyable. It was nice to take a leisure stroll through a mountainside as the sun went down. The summit behind us and the rocks coming off the mountainside were looking very appealing.
We took our time down the mountain and were treated with quite a few photo opportunities. This flower let off a brilliant color or purple.
More flowers to please the senses.
We came across this old water plant in the side of the mountain. I had already been amused by the waterfalls around since they seemed to come out of no where. I was sure there could not have been that much water in the rocks all year round so I assume it is an underground well spouting up through the mountain. Anyone know?
This was to be my first attempt at a LPS Contest entry. I wasn't sure when the recent contest ended however and I was to late when I had returned. Oh well! It was fun to mess around anyway.
It was dark when we finally made it to the car and the moon was high overhead. We knew we wanted to get to the climbing area however and we soon were back on the ride driving through the night.
While walking down the trail we stumbled on a waterfall area that was of astounding beauty and I could see just by looking at it that it is the kind of area I have always wanted to try photographing. The smooth and consistent waterfalls, the low light. It all seemed great. I didn't take a perfect shot but I really enjoyed trying to get the best pictures I could before the light was to dark.
We were both running around like kids trying to find angles to take. I had about a 3 inch tripod and Christopher was just sitting it on the rock.
We stopped in a pull off which I saw from the road and drove down a dirt trail into the woods. It was the perfect place to spend the night! We both chatted for a bit about getting the tent out but neither of us were in the energy to do so, so we slept in the smart car. The seats didn't recline at all or very much so it was a sleep sitting up. I am 5'10 and was very cramped, Christopher is 6'4! We were saddened that we hadn't found the climbing area but resolved to find it in the morning.
We woke up to a beautiful surrounding of field, trees, and rocks! We had stumbled on a climbing area.
We had just one problem. Christopher had decided just to stay around and climb the whole time instead of going to Berlin and so he needed a harness and shoes! We drove around for a while and ventured into the towns finally finding some cheap shoes and a harness. Christopher was a great sport about it though and never complained about buying anything. The rental car came with 300km free, after that we had to pay 25 cents per kilometer. We had just rolled over our 300th kilometer and knew we would be paying more. Oh well no time to think about that now, its off to the climbing. Our first route we tried looked really old and I had to sling a large boulder and a tree as our anchor. It didn't look like it had been climbing in a while. I hopped on it and popped off 4 pieces of rock before I finally gave up. I didn't want to keep breaking the rock and destroy the natural beauty of the place, I would rather it go unclimbed by me. I was able to get a bit over half way before finally coming down.
We hiked around the area a bit and although it was really beautiful we felt the climbing wasn't right. I head read that there were a lot of routes on really good rock and this just didn't seem to be it.
So after a bit of discussing we got in the car and headed for some internet to find the areas. The internet is really hard to find sometimes...I think we spent 4 hours trying to find internet. We finally did find some and headed on the drive north about 20km to where the internet had said the climbing was. We headed toward an area called Suche Skaly once again picking our way across Northern Czech at night and once again not being able to find the climbing areas. I parked on a high hill in some grass and we debated pulling out the tent. We are so lazy...another night in the car. I suppose it was only fair since only one person would fit into my tent anyway and the other still got stuck in the car. We woke up in the morning to find we had parked about 2 minutes from the climbing trail head. It was looking like a good day! We walked up to the rocks and I had to free solo the first climb to get the rope up to the top anchor. Unfortunately I don't have any other gear so thats the only way to do it. Luckily the moves weren't harder then 5.8 or so and I didn't have to much difficulty climbing the 60 or so feet. I setup the anchor and Christopher was the first to climb.
The views were great all around us. We were on rock formations sticking out of a hill where tree's surrounded in all directions. A very weird formation indeed.
Beyond the rocks and tree's the hillside was lined with farmland.
Christopher had not climbed anything in such a way before and learned nicely. He didn't seem to mind being so high and hanging from ropes either. Here he takes pictures from our anchor and belaying system. I didn't have much gear but I felt I made a pretty good and safe system.
Traversing across the rock summits Christopher felt a little less sure footed. Thankfully for the rope he was more then willing to do the climb.
We climbed a few more routes and really enjoyed it. Both of us were completely satisfied with the days events.
We finished up climbing and headed back to the car for some food. We had gained a friend, someone else who realized salami tastes good.
Oh he looks cute but later on he bit my fingers while trying to get the food I had in my hand...okay I was dangling it above his head but he didn't have to bite!
And finally a little nap. Christopher shows just how small our rental car was. Ya we slept in there for 3 days.
Christopher had to be on a plane the next day for Geneva where I had talked him into going to Lauterbrunnen. We drove again that night and slept in the car one last time at a rest stop 20km outside of Prague. Driving into Prague in the morning however was a terrible idea and it took us 3 hours to drive that last 20 kilometers. Getting lost, stuck in traffic, then lost again. When we arrived at the rental shop we had put on an extra 280km to the car but there it was, sitting on the ledge, the pine cone which Christopher had been so saddened at leaving. From that point on we both knew it was going to be a good day. We were in luck because the guy behind the counter was awesome and said "I am not going to charge you for the extra kilometers, special discount." Awesome! That saved us about $70 and we left feeling great about the entire journey. I am now stuck back in Prague and I am actually to poor to leave. I am going to be taking a bus or plane back to London on the 2nd and will be back in America by the 4th. I may take some pictures of Prague but I don't know yet. So this may also be my last post for this trip! Its been great hearing everyones comments and I have really enjoyed telling some of my story to all of you. Thanks very much for reading!
Kelsey
My Pictures can be seen at http://prezwoodz.smugmug.com
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
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Comments
Yes morning and evening rush is quite the bitch around Prague.
Hope you take time to see a little of Prague.....there may be a bit of climbing towards Troja Zamek....there is a big Park (Stromovka ?)below Prague 6 on the way towards Troja........ actually if you hike aroiund the Vltava River there should be some sort of climbing below .....
ONCE AGAIN A GREAT SERIES OF PHOTOS.......
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
We did climb to the west of Snezka. I think it was in the Cezky Raj region.
I have seen a lot of Prague I just can't take myself to bringing my camera out heh. I dunno all the nature makes me not want to photo the city! I might take a walk or jog around the parks though and check out the places you mentions. Thanks!
Thanks for the reply schmooo! I take a lot of pictures just to post them on dgrin so I think I will be posting them for a long time here.
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
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