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Published: July 13th 2011
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chairlift up to Mt Radhost
Kc65 = $3.80 not bad for a cool ride up the mountain Today is Sunday, a beautiful sunny summers day and Lenka has offered to take me for a drive. After about 1 1/2 hours of driving through lots of quaint little villages and open farmland we reached outrdestination of Raztoka. In winter this area is a ski resort but in the summer is very popular for hiking and family days out.
Being a ski resort of course we were at the base of mountains and I was more than relieved to see we would ascend the summit via a very long chairlift. Obviously this chairlift is used to carry snow skiers to the snow fields in winter, when it would be blanketed in an unknown depth of snow, but it seems just as popular in summer for day trippers to travel to the top of Mt Radhost at 1129m.
We purchased tickets and when Lenka asked if it was ok to take Tara (the dog) they agreed as long as she took responsibility and hold her on the chair on the way up. This looked easy and as Tara is a very obedient dog I didn't think this would be a problem. We took separate chairs so that Lenka could
have enough room to hold Tara.
The chair lift was one of the longest I have been on, perhaps only the one in Cameroon Highlands in Malaysia is longer. Remember that one Lyn?? Anyway it was a pleasant trip up and it must have taken about 15 minutes? Not sure as I did not time it. At times we were very high up which seemed a little scary just sitting on a chair lift, riding up and down a few hills and valleys. Once at the tip the view was very rewarding and when Lenka pointed out a church in the very far distance that was quite a few peaks away I thought she was kidding when she said we would walk to it.
Soon I realized she was not kidding and to tell you the truth by the time we reached the little wooden church the distance did not seem that far at all. Good thing was that we walked along the crest of the mountains so there was not much up and down. Along the path we came across a stone statue of a pre-Christian mountain spirit called Radegast (after whom the local beer is named).
Lenka informed me he was the god of adundance - my kinda guy.
On our way back the path had really started to get crowded as groups of friends and family's enjoyed the lovely weather and a day out in nature.
After our round trip which only took a couple of hours I was rewarded with a cold beer which was enjoyed with lunch near where we started our walk after getting off the chairlift.
We opted to walk back down to where the car was parked rather than taking the chairlift. This might sound easy but going down is sometimes just as difficult as climbing up a mountain. I just took it slowly and soon could see Lenka and Tara miles ahead of me waiting at the bottom of a particularly steep ski run. Glad it was not winter not only for the weather but also as Lenka may have suggested we ski back down. lol.
The way down seemed to be much shorter than the way up on the chairlift so I suppose I did ok.
On the drive back home Lenka suggest we stop for the best ice cream in Czech. Not
one to argue with a suggestion by a local and being a great lover of ice cream I readily agreed. We parked on the side of the road at a little nondescript village. The only thing out of the norm was the long line up of people at a little hole in the wall on the main street. This literally was a hole in the wall, with a guy sitting there in a little shack behind an ice cream machine. This ice cream was obviously famous as people were coming from all directions in cars, bikes and push bikes to line up for this icy treat. Yep it was great ice cream but the most amazing thing was the crowds that it drew.
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Lenka
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Mosnov
The nondescript village with the best ice cream is called Mosnov and it is famous not only for the ice cream but also for one of few airports which are in the Czech Republic :-)))) Anyway, I enjoyed reading this article much :-) Glad you liked it here and around :-)