Greetings from the Bohemian Forest - Monica McCormack
My Czech Boyfriend Hello One and All, Fellow U3A Hikers I’m writing this long-winded hiking ‘blog’ from my forest sanctuary, a relatively remote area in middle Europe called Hamry na Sumava. Hamry is a small village of 140 non-permanent residents spread over about 10 kilometres in the depths of the Bohemian Woods in the Czech Republic (CR). It lies just over the border from Bavaria/Bayern, in Germany. I’ll deal with that side first so you get the picture of two quite different countries, which - until 1989 – were separated by barbed wire and armed guards. You can still see bits of wire in my area, and hear stories of young Czechs trying to cross in the middle of the night crawling on hands and knees, to get to ‘the other side’ during Communist times. This rural area, off the beaten track in many ways, is a paradise for hikers, bicyclists and skiers. Which is why I’d like to sell the concept to you, in case you ever get the urge to visit an area not over-run by Chinese, Russian an...