Saturday, August 04, 2018

Traveling in the Czech mountains

For those who don't know,  most roads in Europe were designed by people several hundred (or thousand) years ago who, for some strange reason,  were unable to foresee the advent of the automobile.  As a result, those of us from the U. S. find it hard to believe just how small a two lane road with parking on both sides can be.  You can conceivably fit two cars on such a road, and it does happen all the time.  Once in Hamburg,  I finally felt like I was on a decent 2 lane road,  only to discover it was really 4 lanes.

Not in the Czech mountains.   They are not,  by any stretch of the American imagination,  2 lanes.  I (a bonafide U.S. citizen with a passport, voters card, and Washington State divers license to prove it) happen to think they are barely 1 lane.   Plus they twist and turn and go straight uphill.  Unless it is too much of an incline, then they make hairpin turns.  And I mean hairpins that are brand new from the store and haven't yet been bent out of shape.

Plus, the Czech national pastime is walking.   On those roads.  With kids and the occasional stroller.  With cars.  In fact,  a hike through the mountains will involve walking through villages, past people's front (and occasionally back) yards, and the reasonable possibility of stopping for liquid refreshment of your choice along the way.

Not so in the great state of Washington.   Even a day hike of, say, 4 miles (6.4 km) will involve carrying all your own water,  lunch that doesn't spoil,  and suitable precautions like first aid kit,  jacket,  food,  and other things just in case you are lost in the woods overnight.  But enough digression (for now).

So today,  they chartered a bus that took us from camp back to Prague.  The first turn was worrisome,  since missing it meant going straight down the hill through trees, but the driver is good (that is what the drivers assistant said) and it was a piece of cake.

Then we got to the hairpin turn,  the one that looks like brand-new never used hairpins.  Before they have been put on the paperboard card.   A couple of us had seen a large truck back and fill to make the turn, and simply assumed the driver would do the same.

Nope.

He pulled straight into what passes for a parking lot in small villages, which was filled with cars of people consuming solid and liquid refreshment...and watching us... and proceeded to back down the road.

The Americans started chattering.

The Czech ignored it.

At least one was asleep.

Until he reached a wide spot in the road, where he could turn around.  (Although we wouldn't ask a bus to turn around in that space in the U. S.)

The Americans cheered.

The Czech kept sleeping.

Like the assistant told me, he is a good bus driver.

(His name is Karel. )

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