Coedwig Bohemian a Choedwig Bafaria - dau barc cenedlaethol

Day 22 - June 27th: Flossenbürg - Georgenberg - Waidhaus - Eslarn - Tillyschanz - Pleś - Waldmünchen 75 km

The day starts with an unpleasant surprise. Our bike navigation system, which was charging overnight in the laundry room, is gone. Even intensive searching and asking around doesn't help, now we have to manage without the navigation. Before we continue, we visit the memorial site of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. The former camp, where 100,000 prisoners lived, mostly deported from Eastern Europe, who mainly worked in the nearby quarries extracting granite for Hitler's monumental buildings, is a good example of how we deal with the past. At first, there was no hesitation to build homes on the premises and establish industries in the buildings. Only in the 90s did a change of thinking occur, and finally in the year the declaration of the monument and the implementation of an exemplary design for a concentration camp memorial. One of the most famous of the 30,000 victims is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed shortly before the end of the war. The death march to Dachau left a trail of more than 5,000 corpses by the wayside shortly before the end of the war. They were recovered, placed in coffins, and honored and buried in a funeral service by the local population. It is almost unbearable for us to visit the crematorium and the laundry room for the prisoners, imagining how the people were treated.

Shortly before noon, we cycle in the intense heat on side roads to Georgenberg, Waidhaus, and Eslarn. There we head to Tillyschanz on the German-Czech border. We rely on our bike guide and turn onto an unsignposted forest path that leads in the right direction. We go uphill sweating and plagued by flies and mosquitoes until we find ourselves in the middle of the forest with no proper path to be found. Using our mobile phones, we orient ourselves and realize that we still have a good distance to go up to reach an asphalted path. With tremendous effort, we alternate carrying the bike and luggage uphill. Unforgettable! The asphalted path takes us to the border, where the way is signposted - still 40 km to Waldmünchen and it is just before 4 pm. We have lost a lot of time with this action. We struggle through small villages, bad and steep forest paths, but also well-asphalted sections, fighting against flies and horseflies, and exhaustedly reach Waldmünchen around 7 pm, where we have a nice accommodation. The wheat beers at the market square partially compensate for the efforts.

Day 23 - June 28th: Waldmünchen - Furth im Wald - Eschlkam - Svata Katerina - Zeleznà Ruda 65 km

A challenging tour through the Bohemian Forest, the Narodni park Śumava established in 1991, awaits us today. The Bohemian National Park is the eastern extension of the German Bavarian Forest National Park. So it is clear that it goes up, up to 1100 m, and in between, we lose some altitude. In the evening, we have earned 1400 meters of altitude.

We cover the first 300 meters of altitude right in the morning on the way to Furth im Wald. From there, we go on good bike paths via Eschlkam to the border and further to Svata Katerina. On steep paths where we have to push our bikes several times, we go uphill and shortly after downhill again. In the late afternoon, we pass by Ćerne jezero (approx. 1100m), which with its dark water and the dead trees in the background provides an unreal image. Via the rather unattractive ski resort Spičak, we reach our destination Zelezná Ruda on the German border (Bavarian Eisenstein). The beautiful Bohemian Forest partially compensates for the hardships. We are glad and proud that we have mastered this challenge.

Day 24 - June 29th: Zelezna Ruda - Prasily - Modrava - Bučina - Strazny - Haidmühle 85 km

Another day in the Šumava National Park, which means beautiful scenery and challenging climbs. It often happens that we can't believe how infinitely long and difficult the climbs can be. At the end of the day, we are glad to have completed this stage, but we are also proud that we are physically and mentally capable of it. We often complain about the agony of the climbs, but we always manage to ride, push, and puff our way to the next descent. In between, we also enjoy the breathtaking scenery and agree that as Europeans, we don't have to go to Canada when such areas are almost right at our doorstep. Particularly impressive is the plateau of Modrava with the large moor area. From there, we have to conquer several climbs on bad roads until we are rewarded with a rapid descent from Bučina to Strazny. Only two more easily manageable climbs separate us from the border to Haidmühle, where we arrive just in time before heavy rain. In an old inn, built in 1914, we are warmly greeted with a handshake, led to our room, and served a delicious dinner.