I forgot to organise breakfast at the guesthouse so that meant I was out there with the early tourists looking for something to eat. It was surprisingly quiet at 8am, but the ‘Authentic Cafe’ in the main square was open and it did the job. As I left there were lots more people up and about.
I wasn’t sure where I’d end up today. Still not feeling any better than 80-90% but I’m used to it by now. The change in the weather is welcome though. It’s so nice to see the sun and be warm all day.
I’m not really extending myself until I shake this cold / sinus thing, and that means that 60kms is about as far as I want to go each day. Unfortunately, there aren’t loads of accommodation options at that point today, but we’ll see.
I left Český Krumlov but had to take more photos on the way. The road immediately went upwards. Cue flashbacks, nightmares, … Noooooooo…
And that continued for quite some time. In fact, progress was so slow that I only made the 30kms to České Budějovice by lunchtime. I did have the obligatory coffee and pastry along the way though, beside a camping ground. It looked like a great place beside the river.
I had some lunch in the large town square of České Budějovice, then had a call with Minou, Timo and Kath which is always great.
The next section was nice and flat beside the river which was a dark brown colour like other rivers I’ve seen here. I’m not sure what causes it, but it didn’t deter anyone from swimming in it.
Of course, along the way, there was a small town with an old building on top of a hill – the usual beautiful sight.
When I left the river, I followed quiet roads through forested areas until I emerged at Radonice at the 58km mark. I’d pinpointed a hotel not far away and was looking forward to stopping. On leaving Radonice, the road was completely blocked by earthworks. They’d dug a three metre trench and looked to be replacing a bridge. The detour looked to far and at this stage of the day, you simply don’t feel like doing extra kms. An old lady on the other side looked at me but didn’t offer any suggestions. I went under the barrier and noticed a narrow track down this side and part of the fence open on the other side, so I thought I’d give it a go.
Then a guy came out, waving his arms to say get out, go around. I shook my head and pointed to track, and he repeated himself. I just shook my head again and pointed again, and he threw his arms in the air but stayed to watch. I’ll show him.
I walked around a tree and wheeled my bike to the edge, picked it up and walked down the steep track carrying it – until the last metre and a half. I hadn’t noticed this when I checked it out.There was no option, I had to jump with my loaded bike under one arm. I had to stick the landing too because of the audience. I made it. I gave myself 10 out of 10, looked up at the guy and smiled at him. He gave me the look that says – nobody likes a showoff, then he turned and went inside, leaving me to scramble up the other bank.
I cruised into Dolní Bukovsko to discover that the hotel didn’t look like a hotel at all, so I stopped and looked at other options. There was a Penzion on the other side of the small town, so I went there and hoped for a better outcome.
Language is an issue for me here, but luckily the old guy could speak German, so we got by. His wife continually talked to me in Czech for some reason. They had an interesting discussion after I asked for the price. The old guy and I had been talking in German for a while and I think he took pity on me. It seemed like his wife wasn’t being so generous about the price.
Being Monday, the local restaurant is shut, so I raced back to the supermarket and got noodles, mashed potato etc – just add boiling water. So dinner wasn’t inspiring, but I do have a great breakfast coming up.