The view from Drábské svetnicky © Ricky Yates
Ceský Ráj, which literally translates into English as ‘Czech Paradise’ or ‘Bohemian Paradise’, is beautiful area of sandstone rocks and forests lying between 70-100 kilometres north east of Prague. Yesterday, on my first proper day-off for about a month, I took an 18 km walk through the western edge of Ceský Ráj, starting and finishing in the small town of Mnichovo Hradište.
After walking four kilometres from Mnichovo Hradište railway station, crossing the railway line, the Prague – Liberec motorway and then open fields, I reached the small village of Zásadka, which lies at the foot of the rocks. Here I enjoyed a traditional Czech lunch of Smažený sýr a hranolky, accompanied 0.5l of Svijany beer. Thus fortified, I set off further along the red waymarked route.
Valecov Castle © Ricky Yates
My walk first took me past the ruins of Valecov Castle, originally built to take full advantage of the sandstone rock towers on which it is situated.
Path between rocks © Ricky Yates
Then the path went between further rock outcrops……
Path through the forest © Ricky Yates
……and along forested valleys. My apologies for the sky being ‘blown out’, (as photographer Sybille would describe it 🙂 ), but there was such a contrast between the shade provided by the trees and the very bright Autumn sunshine.
View from Klamorna © Ricky Yates
A short detour from the path, took me to this viewpoint at Klamorna…..
Looking down to the village of Dneboh © Ricky Yates
…..looking down to the village of Dneboh below.
Shortly afterwards, I reached a series of rock pillars known as Drábské svetnicky.
Inaccessible rock outcrop © Ricky Yates
Some are inaccessible…..
Viewpoint at Drábské svetnicky © Ricky Yates
…..whilst others are connected by a series of bridges, steps and ladders.
The blue route – note the waymark on the right © Ricky Yates
My return journey was along the blue waymarked route, which passed through this gap in the rocks.
This walk was my first wearing my new walking boots. They proved extremely comfortable except that I gained one blister on the back of my left heel. May that be the first and only one!
Drábské svetnicky © Ricky Yates
Hi Ricky,
Fantastic scenery and your great photographs do it justice, I wish I were there. Glad to see you are keeping up the walking habit. God bless, Sean.
Thank you, Sean – I did choose a very sunny Autumn afternoon which helped with the photos. I certainly intend to maintain the walking habit & get my feet used to my new boots.
You captured Cesky Raj beautifully, Ricky! Ah, that makes me want to take a trip NE. Good for you for the taking on the arduous hike. You’re a pro now! I agree that fried cheese is the perfect meal after a long walk in the wilderness 🙂
Thank you, Em! This was a case when I needed to let my photographs do the talking. And certainly do plan to take that trip north east 🙂 I shall certainly return to explore further east from where I was last Thursday.
I was in Mnichovo Hradiste last autumn, but did not make it to the rocks… The town is quite interesting itself, with winding narrow streets, a château and monastery at the outskirts and even some woodwork houses in the town!
Although now that I see the photos, I can’t shake a feeling that I’ve been there. Probably a long time ago. Or maybe all these sandstone formations, of which there are many, look very similar. 🙂
Travelling by train to Mnichovo Hradište and back to Prague the same day meant I didn’t get the chance to explore the town, Hana. Certainly there are other similar sandstone formations elsewhere in Ceský Ráj which I’m looking forward to discovering on a future visit 🙂
That is a truly spectacular walk, Ricky and your photos capture it beautifully. Sorry to have taken so long to read and comment, but I’m only now managing to catch-up a bit with my blog reading.
Thank you, Perpetua. Ceský Ráj is spectacular and fortunately, I did choose a very good day weather-wise, which helped a lot with taking good photos. No need to apologise for not visiting & commenting until now. Moving house is both tiring & time consuming 🙁