Diary
Day 00 (2019-12-13)
- daily stats: 204 km by train; 13.2 km, +260 m, -260 m, 3:15
- sleeping: Broumov, monastery
- sitting in the train with a respirator, not very relaxing travel
- following the plan and visiting the nearby quarry and border (Poland) hills
- overcast, so I only imagined the table mountains on the horizon
- relatively warm thanks to steady air/tailwind (real temperature around 2°C)
- evening return to the monastery, apparently, I was the only g(ho|ue)st there
- traditional headache after irregular sleep and lengthy travel
Day 01 (2019-12-14)
- daily stats: 24.1 km, +700 m, -700 m, 7:30
- sleeping: Broumov, monastery
- slower warmup in the morning, likely due to missing sugars in the breakfast
- climb uphill and into mist/clouds, fortunately drops falling only from trees not the sky
- rests of snow in the upper parts of the ridge
- despite that the path among rocks was passable (but hiking poles helped)
- the mist dissolved in the afternoon and allowed some views of the landscape
- my overall pace was slower so I omitted Božanovský špičák
- I met only one group (3) of tourists on the return path
- hurried up in order to get out of the rocks before sunset
- Broumov square sightseeing
- studied an exhibition about recent demography changes
- negative population growth (migration), low education, local services
hardly compete with big chainstores (located in Poland)
- situation likely similar to other border promontories
- visited café in the monastery
Day 02 (2019-12-15)
- daily stats: 13.3 km, +576 m, -536 m, ~5:30; 227 km by train
- sleeping: home
- short train ride to reach region of Adršpach-Teplice rocks
- misty and windy day, quality warm up in a climb from Teplice to Lokomotiva
- I was the only tourist in the region, the segment from Lokomotiva to Kraví
hora was the most enjoyable (labyrinth of rocks and small trees)
- slightly worse passable (glazed), the hiking poles paid off
- later I got to the “commercial” part of the region, taller rocks and wider
flatter pathways
- even met low number of tourists in this region (usually crowded in the summer season)
- Vlčí rokle, Adršpašské skalní město
- scheduling the route so that I don’t miss the train and I don’t have to
wait for it too long
- the return train was surprisingly crowded (Tuesday, direction to Prague)
Natural sights
- Broumovské stěny (Broumov walls)
- sandstone rocks on tabletop mountains
- interestingly, the steep hillsides are only on the west, the other side
are “boring” flat hills
- Vlčí rokle
- wooden planks to walk over peat bog
- Adršpašské skalní město
- it must be extra crowded in the summer (given the infrastructure) but
relatively abandoned in the winter
Manmade sights
- Broumov monastery
- magnificent building in the landscape, visible from far away (cf. prefab high-rises)
- contrast between reconstructed and run-down sides of the building
- thick walls and powerful heating system (felt even overheated)
- deserted during weekend (and coronavirus), not so much during workdays
(various evening lessons)
- historically and (IMO) recently important institution in the area
- I recommend the accommodation there
- basalt quarry near Rožmitál
- it’s still active but it’s possible to officially visit the unused area
People
- accommodation manager
- unsure about handshake so we did elbow bump
- kitchen maid
- the serving I got was more than one person could consume (although I was
the only guest), I had a dilemma whether to eat as much as I can or leave
some food unused (and likely wasted)
- more people in the town center wore masks than in the street of Prague
- encounter with a desperate? girl in one of the monastery corridors (she was charging her phone)
Lessons learnt
- reading Kindle on such vacation doesn’t work (reading Wikipedia instead)
- arrange Christmas presents before vacation (!)