We are up early again today. Sofie is up at 5:30 AM and by the time she comes back from her morning routine I am already in my riding gear. We are still surrounded though.
We pack up and are ready to go just in time for breakfast.
Breakfast consists of jam filled doughnuts and chocolate doughnuts with some Turkish style coffee for me and a green tea for Sofie. Our neighbours stick to a simple rum breakfast.
In Cesky Budejovice we stumble upon this Decathlon by accident and just can’t resist. My Icebreaker merino shirt is starting to show holes and since it is my birthday Sofie offers to buy me a new merino shirt. Sofie also seizes the opportunity to get a new pair of sunglasses as she lost her old ones somewhere on the camp site in Berg.
After filling up the bikes, we turn away from the main roads, passing through an area with hundreds of lakes and ponds. On one of those smaller roads I scare a hare when I pass and in blind panic it tries to cross the road, but fails to notice Sofie. The hare smacks straight into the shift pedal of her Terra, bending the lever and killing itself.
I bend the pedal back into (sort of) its original position. The location is nice though, with pleasant temperatures in the shade and a great view.
The area we pass through is known to train enthusiasts and Sheldon Cooper fans because it has an original narrow gauge railway track that is still in use. We cross it near one of the smaller stops.
Closing in on lunch time we stop for some provisions. Sofie gets them from a Coop shop in Jindrichuv Hradec where we also find a nice bar to have lunch. The menu of the day consists of soup and risotto for not even 10 EUR.
After that the lakes and woodlands are replaced by more open landscapes with distant views. Occasionally the beautiful views are disturbed by industry, like the large nuclear power plant in Dukovany.
Around 4PM we deviate from our planned route to find a camp spot near the Palava lake.
On the way there we cross the little town of Pavlov. I wonder if the dogs here start to salivate when I honk my horn.
In the end we find a nice camp ground at the eastern tip of the lake. It looks very quiet and we are allowed to set up our tent in the area that is normally reserved for caravans and camper vans. Very cheap and friendly camp ground. We take the opportunity to do some laundry and then head for the bar/restaurant.
The menu is entirely in Czech so the Pechene we ordered weren’t exactly what we expected, but very tasty nonetheless. Sauerkraut with cooked ham.
And since it is my birthday I deserve a nice copious desert. Actually, I think I deserve 3 deserts!
We hit the sack early.
