Scooter travels and getting stuck
Sunday 29th July
Yesterday, at the suggestion of Honsa, I took his scooter to
see some ‘wonderful countryside.’ I’m not sure how far away it was in
kilometres but it seemed a long way to take the scooter. Nevertheless, I set
off with some directions and a map. I knew it would not be easy because I would
be travelling along country roads and couldn’t be sure of the signposting. And
I found myself off course at Liperovice, the town I had visited before. The sun
was beating down and I realised my bear arms were burning a little. I managed
to find a superstore and bought some sun cream and some lunch – rolike, cheese
and non alcoholic beer. I headed for Terezin which was 4km away where I knew
there was a shady park and I could have lunch in relative cool. Afterwards, I
set course for the region Honsa had suggested. He said it was mountainous but
actually it was just hilly, with some nice villages. It wasn’t anything
particularly special and when I heard the sound of thunder and saw dark clouds
looming, I decided to head back. It seemed a straightforward route but of
course it was not. I kept having to stop and consult the map on my phone. This
entailed changes glasses each time, which was a bit of pain. I had been out
many hours and the pleasure of just riding around was wearing off; I wanted to
get back. I had not seen anything much worth stopping to look at or photograph.
Perhaps I have been spoilt with all the beautiful sites I had seen so far. I
then came across a town where it was worth stopping at and taking a rest.
At Velenice, there was a fair in progress: live music, rides for the children, food and of
course beer. It was a lively and merry country scene near a very colourful and
beautiful church. An old coach from the sixties brought people to the fair. I
bought some fresh juice and some chips, and sat to listen to the music.
Refreshed, I set off again, however constantly having to stop and check my
route was a drag. It was not approaching evening time and when I entered the
forest region, the temperature dropped considerably. On several occasions I
found myself going the wrong way and get back on course. The dampness of the
forest chilled me and I had to stop and put on a tee-shirt under my shirt for
extra warmth. I had used up a tank of fuel and the bottle of fuel under the
seat, so had to stop and fill up. Finally, I got back at turned eight-thirty,
having set off at eleven-twenty. Reckoning I had stopped for rests for a couple
of hours in total, meant I had been riding for over six hours. Although at
times it was joy to ride along empty roads through lovely countryside, I can
say I’ve had better days.
Today, I am leaving. Honsa invites me for coffee and
something to eat, a rich sausage stew with bread. Not the sort of thing I would
normally have for breakfast but I didn’t want to decline it. We ate silently,
knowing this is our final time together. I’ve just been with them two weeks but
it feels I have developed a bond with Honsa; we’ve certainly had some good
conversations and he has been exceptionally kind to me. He’s such a good caring
man and he is so easy going, what’s more he is always full of praise. No matter
what job I have done for him, he always says “Perfect” and makes you feel that
it is so. Jana is more reserved and of course, it is natural the two men would
spend more time together. I am a little sorry to be leaving except for – the
primitive mess they live in and their toilet. It’s something I could never get
used to. I wonder what their next workawayers will think about it?
We say our goodbyes and they give me a carton of Jana’s
cheese and Honsa’s fish in a jar. I have some candies for the children,
although they are away with Honsa’s mother.
My original plan for today was to go to Prague again but I
changed my mind and drove to Kokořín; to go to a very small campsite by a lake.
It is cheap, has a loo and is surrounded by trees, and should be cool. The fuel
reserve light had come on the dashboard but at least this was on the way to the
nearest petrol station; I could get fuel tomorrow.
On the campsite is a small caravan, which doubles as an
office for the owner or caretaker of the site. It was shut up when I arrived,
so I decided to park up under the trees and wait for someone to come. I turned
to reverse toward the trees, put on the reversing camera and backed up.
Suddenly there was a thump and the van lurched. I tried to continue reversing
but the wheels just spun. I tried going forward but again the wheels spun. Had
I gone into a soft area but no, the ground was firm. I tried again to move
forward and back but Stella was not going anywhere. What the hell!? I got out
and looked underneath. There seemed to be something catching the underside of
the van but there was a lot of grass and it was difficult to see. What became
clear however, is that I was in a predicament. At one end was the wheel shaft
and in the middle was the exhaust pipe and both of these were below the height
of the obstacle underneath. I went to fetch some wood which was beside an old
campfire and put these in front of the wheel and over these I placed some
plastic heavy duty mats, which are designed to get you out of muddy terrain. I
tried driving forward but still no joy. I was well and truly stuck. Shit! There
was only one thing for it – phone Honsa but now I had the problem of using my
phone – I couldn’t. Honsa had leant me a sim card from his work but I had given
it back to him. I approached a man who had set up a tent nearby and asked if he
could make a call for me. He could and he did. Honsa was said he was in Doksy but could be
with me in one hour. There was nothing for it but to make a coffee, light a
cigar and wait.
 |
| before |
Honsa had a new approach to my predicament. I had already
jacked up the van a little to view more clearly the situation and he suggested
we jack it up more and place some wood directly under the wheels. This was fine
on one side but the tree truck which I was stuck on was preventing jacking up
the other, and so he placed bigger wood in front of this wheel. This was enough
and after some slow moving forward, the van got clear. When I looked at the
tree trunk, it was quite a size and I wondered how I didn’t see it but as I
said, it had grass all around it and I was reversing into shade. This is a good
lesson – when reversing to park on a campsite, it’s better to get out and check
visually before backing up.
 |
| after |
I decided not to stay on this campsite, I was in need of a
shower and beer, and neither could be had here. I drove the short distance to
the campsite I stayed at before; there was a different girl at reception, maybe
the woman’s daughter. It was surprisingly empty for a Sunday. I asked for a
bottle beer but they had none. The girl said she could fill a litre Coke Cola
bottle – it would do.
I’ve now had a shower, drank some beer and am parked up
under a shady wooded sandstone cliff at the campsite and all is peace. I just
hope, having used up unnecessary fuel trying to clear myself from the tree
trunk, I can get the petrol station tomorrow, especially as I can’t make any
calls.
I am feeling tired. I sit in my van to meditate, yawn a lot
and fall asleep. It’s what usually happens when I meditate. Afterwards, I go to the restaurant, they have wi-fi and I want to sort out this phone situation of
mine. I figure that perhaps I have run out of data and if I buy more, all will
be well. I ask the lady, the one I met the first time, if she could help me.
She says she can put money on my phone and I give her the cash. It seems so
perfect, as Honsa would say. She asks me how much I want to put on my phone.
Without considering it too much I say five hundred, figuring that this will
give me more data. She goes on her computer and in a few minutes it’s all done
– except it’s not done. I don’t get a message from Vodafone and as according to
the website, I still only have 3kc credit. Eventually the website says I’ve got
503kc credit but still no message and no sign of any data to surf the net.
Anyway, this is too long and boring to rattle on about it but I decided to the
take the sim out of the little wi-fi box and put it in my Chinese phone and hey
presto! I get a message from them and I have the data.
I think we’ve all come to realise how complex and confusing
modern technology can be and yet if we stop to consider it, it is amazing it
all works at all. The great problem is that everything is developing so fast,
things are not tried and tested over time and hence we customers have to deal
with all the faults and then the developers have to fix them. We are a testing
ground for all the systems.
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