On the Border

We are now at the border with the Czech Republic and in the campsite meet our first English people in over 2 weeks. They persuade us to delay our departure and climb up to the top of one of the sandstone outcrops that are a feature of this area known to the Germans as Saxony-Suisse. Not only are these outcrops truly remarkable, but steps have been built to allow you to climb up to the to top and emerge through the canopy of the forest.

The area by the border has been known as Sudetenland and was infamously ceded to Germany by the "Allies" in the Munich agreement- without the Czechs being present. Not long after the Germans took over the whole country anyway, and at the end of the war some 2.5 million German speaking people were forcibly expelled, with around 20,000 dying on their trek back to Germany . Another area which has seen great upheaval. The towns in this part of the Czech Republic seemed very different, and it was not just a different language and currency, but also that things seemed much poorer with less sign of recent investment.
Our campsite was on the banks of the Elbe at a canoeing/ sailing club. It turned out to be rather noisy , with train tracks on both sides of the Elbe and very frequent loud goods trains rumbling past all through the night.