Rafting the Vltava

We are going rafting today on the Vltava River. The river winds through Cesky Krumlov and then to Prague and beyond. We are going as far as Zlatna Koruna, where we will visit an Abbey. The raft company then drives you back to Cesky Krumlov. The trip guide says it is a 3 to 4 hour trip. The river itself is not a rapid River in this neck of the woods. There are three spillways that you have to navigate but other than that, it should be a mellow float. We sleep in a bit and Carol makes another egg and cheese sandwich with cappuccino for breakfast. It is a nice leisurely start to our day.
We head out through the square and back up the small streets to the raft company which is near the Horni Bridge. We pay for our two person raft which is like a cross between a kayak and a raft, probably more raft than kayak. They explain which side of the river the spillway bypasses are and where they are, and also tell us where to get off the river. We can call them when we are done with the Monastery and they will come pick us up. That’s all for the briefing and we walk on down to the river and our awaiting raft. We are in the raft and on our way a little before 1000.

On Our Way

We pass below St Vitus Church and come to the first spillway. Wheeee, down we go and bump into the walled bank at the bottom, somehow managing to stay upright. One down, two to go. We wind through the town and take the second spillway bypass. Much better than the first. Continuing on we go under the last bridge into town and float along. Carol is in the front of the raft and I am in the back. About twenty minutes of smooth floating go by and we come to a bridge with some small rapids. Carol starts saying there is a rock in front of us. She doesn’t say go right, go left, just says about twice that there is a rock in front of us. I can’t see the rock and before you know it we are pinned right against it. We are stuck! We can’t go forward, we can’t go backward, rocking the boat does no good and the current is pretty swift in this spot. One raft goes by and I am sure they were chuckling at Carol, knowing there was no way I would have got us in this mess. I get a bit frustrated trying to get us out, while Carol is remaining calm and probably amused. We are stuck for about 10 minutes before we are able to finally push ourselves off the rock enough to where we can rock back and forth and break free. Of course when we do, we are going backwards for a short while.
Back to having a pleasant journey, we start to float in the Czech woods. After an hour and a half, we come to a camp along the river where they sell grilled klobasa and cold Czech beer.

Beer and Grilled Klobasa

We want to fit in with the locals so we paddle on in, beach our raft and find a picnic table. As an added bonus, they have pit toilets, and they do not have machines to put your coins in. Pee Free should be the next revolution in Europe.
We enjoy relaxing with our klobasa and beer. We go back to the river, take a few pictures, and then back in our raft. I forgot to mention that the raft company also provided a dry bag for all our gear so that is nice. The woods and forest get thicker as we paddle on. After a bit, I see a slow spot on the side with a small sandy area and we pull off. I have been carrying two beers from Croatia as part of my weighing my pack down to lose weight program and now is the perfect time to end it.

Cool Water, Cold Beer

We have them packed in ice we made in our apartment and open up one while we sit in or on the edge of the river. Very refreshing in more than one way. People float by and many say “ahoy”,which I later learn is not a boating thing but a Czech way to say hello. I also have to mention that we have switched places, with me in front and Carol in back. It seems to be working better for us although Carol is trying to make us get more float for our buck by serpentining back and forth across the river. Pointing straight downstream is apparently not good for her.

This is Nice

The rest of the float is nice and relaxing with several paddle splash fights along the way. She is really being mean splashing me from the back of the boat. Hard as it may be to believe, I might have instigated a few of the battles. We finally make it down the last spillway, go under a bridge and pull the boat out at our ending point. Our 3 to 4 hour float has taken 5 hours and it is 1500. We don’t know when the last tour of the Abbey is, but decide to walk up and find out. First, we have to have the last beer which goes down nice.
We walk up to the Abbey and inside and ask for a tour in English. There is none but they have a written guide in English for each room. The tour is still escorted but we will have to read in English while listening in Czech. When our guide comes we realize that we are the only ones on the tour. She is very nice and in the first room tries to tell us what to look at. She says that her English is not so,good but when I tell her that it is fine and much better than my Czech, I think it relaxes her a little. For that point on she tries to explain what we are looking at as best she can. Combined with our written guide, we get a good feel of this interesting place. It is really quite well preserved considering how many times over the years someone tried to destroy it. It was started in the 13th century and last used in 1785 by the monks. It was used as a school and a factory after that before being restored in the 1990’s. Our tour complete, we head back down to the river. I see a van with our raft companies logo on it and ask the driver if we can ride back with him. He talks to a guy in a car and says you can ride with the boss. The boss is who we talked to yesterday when we got information on the trip. He is very nice and tells us about his whitewater endeavors. I ask how far we rated and he said about 15 kilometers which is about 9 miles but I tell him we probably did closer to 20 kilometers because we went side to side a lot.,
Reaching Cesky Krumlov, we go back to the room to relax and freshen up. We see some old cars go by and find out there will be a rally here tomorrow.

Lagonda

It is a Loganda rally, a brand I am not familiar with. The cars are very cool looking. Speaking of cool, we stop for an ice cream along the way. Deciding to eat at the KRMCA Markt again, we brave the heat and walk up the hill. Another great meal of grilled meats and cold beer. Our meals with beverages are averaging under 20 dollars for both of us. Great value here in the Czech Republic. On the way home we buy another Trdelnik for dessert and actually remember to take a picture of it this time. So enjoy the photos and good night.
Expenses
Raft Trip from Malacek Company 720 CZK
Beer and Lielbasa Lunch 160 CZK
Zatna Koruna Monastery 200 CZK
Ice Cream Cones 80 CZK
KRCMA Markt Dinner 440 CZK
Trdelnik 50 CZK
Museum Vltavinu Apartment. 55E
Walked 5.5 Miles