A slow day along roads through villages and then into wooded hills.
My back was fortunately not as bad this morning as I feared, although I had difficulty getting my right leg into my trousers because of it. However, my left knee was painful and I had a headache. After completing my morning exercises and a couple of painkillers I felt considerably better. I stood on the terrace of the hotel waiting for breakfast to start at 7:30, where I admired the house martins swooping over the surroundings, periodically returning to their nests under the eaves. As soon as 7:30 arrived there was a rush for the buffet, blocking my access, but I was happy to wait, not wanting to push myself too much today.
Up until 1 pm I was principally walking on roads, mostly quiet ones among fields of rape and other crops. Four villages were on my route. I stopped at the Coop supermarkets at the first two. At each one I bought a 500 ml can of non alcoholic Radler, the equivalent of shandy in Britain. It is less stickily sweet than alternative soft drinks. I made a point of drinking them as I thought my headache this morning might have been due to not drinking enough yesterday. The downside of this was while I was sheltering from a vicious hailstorm in a picnic area at Kazimir, the third village, I was desperate for a wee. The picnic area was beside the ruin of a castle. Only one wall remained of the building which was on top of a mound. There were two heavy showers today, interspersed with cloudy skies and periods of sunshine.
A little before the final village of Byšta I unexpectedly came across a restaurant which claimed to be open. On entering there were a few people around, two of which were engaged in fitting a new green baize to the snooker table, another two were busy preparing a hamper of some kind. Nobody was eating and I felt rather self conscious, however on asking I was told they were doing a limited food offering and I ordered a kebab (it was that or a pizza). This came with chips and salad, a larger meal than I was anticipating, however I am wild camping tonight so it will save dipping into my food supplies too much.
After Byšta my route took me into wooded hills, many oak and beech. There were many uphill and downhill sections as I crossed small valleys along the side of a ridge. I was serenaded by numerous birds, mostly unseen and saw a few fire salamanders.
Around 4 pm I reached a lake in the hills, surronded by trees, called Jezero Izra. A pretty spot with a few people enjoying its peace, and I sat a while looking at the reflections. Sadly the café that once existed was now a dilapidated building, the roof caved in and partly burnt.
After the lake the trail became difficult. Trees spread across it, some had been cut down, others had just fallen bringing others down with them. Climbing over or around the trees caused me considerable delay.
At around 6 pm I decided it was time to find a spot to camp. Being on the side of a ridge flat spots were difficult to find and there were faded "no camping" signs. I picked a spot away from the main track on a patch of ground only slightly sloping. The pegs did not hold too well in last year's beech leaves however there is little wind to disturb them so I am hoping for a quiet night.
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