Canoeing on the Vltava river

Canoeing is a very popular sport in the Czech Republic during the summer. I believe that nowhere in the world is canoeing so popular as here from June to August. :) It isn't because Czechs are so good at it (some are, of course :)), but because it's more of a social event than a sport.

Just a couple of days ago, I came back from one of these social events. I spent 5 days with a group of people canoeing from Vyšší Brod to Boršov nad Vltavou, with stops in Rožmberk, Český Krumlov and somewhere around Zlatá Koruna (closer to Boršov), sleeping at campsites by the river. The weather wasn't the greatest this year, especially the first day when it was raining (it's much less fun this way), but it was fun, and lots of fun... Only when I got back I found out who was one of the people canoeing with us. Quite an important person at my university and also the funniest guy on the river. :)

What does it look like when Czechs go canoeing? :) We take it easy. No hurry, lots of wine (you need a plastic bottle and a string to attach the bottle to the canoe so that it's kept cold and you don't lose it :)), lots of stops at various campsites and "pubs" by the river, lots of alcohol, but not just to get drunk, it's somehow part of it, and nobody is forcing anyone. Anyway, we agreed that nowhere in the country is so many drunk people for a square kilometer. :) Most of them are fun, though. One guy took a picture with me so that he could tell his mum that he has a girlfriend so that she wouldn't bother him with silly questions. :) He didn't even know my name... :)

What was new to me was a "drive-in" pizza place. You simply don't have to leave your canoe to get a delicious pizza (and also a drink, we had mojitos :)). Which reminds me that canoeing is also lots of unhealthy food.

And sure, lots of water, too. What you get on the Vltava river that you probably don't get autanywhere else is the history of the places you go through. It's beautiful. I especially like arriving in Rožmberk since the castle is amazing.


Český Krumlov is registered at the UNESCO heritage list. I think it't much more beautiful from the river than from the city center. It seems it's more taken care of for those on canoes, kayaks and rafts.

And the nature... Going through a forest with no cars around, just you, your canoe and the water... and well, sometimes some other people, but all of them very nice and friendly. Who wouldn't like that?

I miss the river already, although I believe that 5 days are just enough (also because sleeping in a tent in summer is not the best thing, sometimes... It can get cold at night, so you want to have your sleeping bag and your tent closed, but it gets warm in the morning really fast... and inside the tent, it gets even warmer even faster, so you jump out of the tent to save your life because it's so hot that you think you wouldn't survive staying there for another minute... that was my last morning there :))