Day 138: Into an Impromptu Canoe Trip

We had the option to go back into the Bohemian Paradise National Park to do a few more activities, but struggled a bit to locate a new hike that was easily accessible (less than a two hour bus). Mary, with her love of water, started looking into canoe and kayak activities in the region and lucky enough, it was possible to canoe the Elba river. Furthermore, the camp we passed on the highway overpass two days ago offered canoe rentals!

The catch was the only canoe rental option had a set time and was starting in 50 minutes. GO TIME.

We scramble to brush our teeth, deodorize, pack our bags, hit the store for sandwich making material/beer, and walk 20 minutes to the canoe rental pick up. We kill it and arrive with 10 minutes to spare. No one else signed up for reservations so they asked us to wait until 1pm for the canoe guy to show up and unlock the canoe shed. It was no problem and we were extremely grateful; used the time to call Mary’s parents who were casually awake at 4am for no reason and was messaging us ☠️

With our paddle and canoe in hand, we floated down the Elba river and made jokes by switching over the German and Czechian border many times. We saw some good ducks, turtles, and cranes. There are ferries along the river that pedestrians use to cross between bus routes and train. At times, it felt like we in a model train set with the mountains, little houses, and trains bussling by the river. We ended in Schmilka, which was on the German side. We walked back over the border back to Hřensko and passed an abandoned border station.

Solid day of impromptu canoeing!

Spots:
Elba River
Schmilka
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