For those interested in birds, Redbacked Shrikes and Redstarts are common and now we are also seeing Harriers again. For those interested in socks, we pass this array out in the middle of nowhere - we have no idea what this is about!
There are hares everywhere. The only traffic in the lanes are old, speeding tractors with rattling wooden trailers.
POYSDORF would be an attractive town with it's yellow ochre Rathaus and church, if it weren't for the Polish heavy goods lorries thundering through the centre.
The only place we find to cross the border into the Czech Republic (our 6th country) is at MIKULOV, where we have to join a busy dual carriageway to get past the abandoned border posts. The attractive town centre is full of day cyclists, enjoying a beer. It is on the intersection of several cycle routes, so a popular spot. We leave approx west on the Vienna to Prague route, and by late afternoon come to the tiny village of NOVY PEROV where there is a lovely farm campsite. It is owned by a Greek who speaks perfect English. He has set up a home made barbecue in the courtyard and is cooking fish, kebabs and sausages for passing day cyclists' lunch. When he fires it up again in the evening we eat carp at a trestle table with a young couple of students on a walking holiday from the north of the country. Thomas speaks good English and tries to help us with Czech pronunciation. They fall about laughing at our attempts at 'r'. Whilst they round the evening off playing a complicated game of dice, we stroll around the village. It appears to have avoided all development, being faded cottages, each with at least 1 acre of cultivation. The funny peach/plum we discover are called Erdbeeren.
If the dawn chorus doesn't wake you at 5, the church clock ringing for 5 minutes at 6 (which sets the donkey braying) does.
We are tempted to stay another day at this perfect camp, but feel we ought to pedal on to take advantage of the great weather.
The village shop is frequented by cycling oldies again, and there are four ladies in homemade aprons, sitting at a worn metal table by a cottage front door, as we cycle past out of the village. They were sitting in exactly the same spot when we cycled in yesterday.
We are heading roughly west. At the tidy village of SLUP there is a restored water mill with 4 wooden undershot wheels. The mill house is palatial, which shows how important Millers used to be (milling records here go back to 1305). Combined Harvesters going from village to village are holding up the small amount of traffic there is. The route we have been following deteriorates into a rough steep track through a forest, unsuitable for tourers, and the few mountain bikers we meet are pushing their bikes! We give up after 10 miles, rejoin the nearest road and call it a day at the small village of LESNA where we camp in the orchard behind a motorbike museum! The biggest thunder storm we have ever seen lights up the west horizon like sun rise for at least an hour from 2am, we get ferocious wind but no rain and it is all back to sunshine by morning. One fallen tree nearly blocks the road next day but no other sign of damage.
We are now heading to VRANOV NAD DYJI and by good luck the road is shut to cars for repairs, but bikes can get through so a very peaceful pedal down into the gorge where the castle has a magnificent setting
high on a cliff over the river - as good as on the Danube.
It's a bit of a haul out of the valley but this takes us on through beautiful hamlets stuck in a time warp. The one little place we find open for a drink is opposite the local storks nest. They have 2 chicks in a big nest precariously on top of a disused factory chimney- how did they survive that wind?We stop for a long lunch break as it is too hot to cycle. The Inn looked at first glance as if it were long redundant, but through big barn doors we found a very welcoming host in his best vest, serving drinks to a group of chaps. One of them agreed to knock us up a Schnitzel, I had a nap on his grass then we were off through rolling hills to TELC. This is wonderful, the whole town is immaculate, from the large colonnaded square to the church and fountain.
We book into a B and B early to allow time to explore.
Miles to date 2,361
Location:MISTELBACH to TELC
