Day 32: Retreat in tranquility - Mikulov, Czech Republic

(Him: Charlie)

There is no better way than celebrating one month on the road in Mikulov, Czech!

Instead of taking on more old towns and history, we chose to get off the beaten track and spend a few days in Mikulov, a small town sitting on the Austrian-Czech border. With a population of less than 8,000, Mikulov is sleepy at times, but certainly not lack-luster, because it’s at the heart of Czech’s wine country!

Czech is traditionally a beer drinking country. There are countless varieties of beers in Czech and people drink it just like water. In fact, beers in Czech are cheaper than almost all beverages, including soft drinks, and Czech has the highest per capita beer consumption in the world. Perhaps for that reason, Czech wines have never been very popular. However, after significant improvement in the last two decades, Czech wines, especially white wines have garnered international attentions.

The place we stayed at was Fontana Pension. Pensions are a popular type of accommodations in this part of the world. They are like B&B minus breakfast. When hostels are not available, we have to rely on pensions as budget accommodations. Our host, Michael, at Fontana Pension is a very warm and welcoming person. He does not speak much English, but he liked to talk to us. Every time he spoke to us, he would spit out English words slowly, but instead of silence in between words, the fillers were all Czech words in lightning speed. It’s hilarious how we had to pick up what he tried to say among gibberish! Our conversations ranged from hockey (he’s very proud of Czech’s national hero Tomas Kaberle), to dissing Slovakian wines, to our Euro-Asia trip. Michael is like a grown-up kid. His smiles and his genuine personality made us very relaxing and really feel at home.

For city people like us, the Moravian region (Mikulov and surrounding region) is serenity. On our bike ride to explore the wine country, the trail was flanked by endless crop fields and vineyards. With the sun putting a golden touch on everything, with wind brushing lightly on our faces, and with birds chirping in the background, tranquility is only word I can think of to describe the moment.

Day 29: Perfect Prague, Czech Republic

(Him: Charlie)

Picture perfect Prague is such a charming city! Nostalgic buildings, bridges, street classical music, everything is a living proof of this beautiful and romantic city. The city is so picturesque that couples from afar come here to take wedding photos.

During the 4-day stay in Prague, we explored the charming old town, strolled along river banks, hiked up the magnificent castle, but the highlight in Prague has got to be sitting in a classical concert in the majestic hall of the National Museum.

As much as we enjoyed this lovely city, we feel that there is something missing. Jo said she likes the city, but the excitement does not seem to go beyond the attractions (unless of course you are looking for pub crawls here). To me, Prague exceeds my expectation on every count, including a not so positive aspect – it’s very touristy. At any given time at the old town market square, there are hordes of tourists admiring the historic buildings. Tour buses line the side streets, while their customers squeeze Prague into cameras. The area around the old town and castle saturates with souvenir shops, money exchange, over-priced restaurants, you name it…

So what’s wrong with a place being touristy? After all, we are tourists as well. Well, we prefer to think that we are a breed of tourists and differentiate ourselves as “backpackers”. However, the problem in Prague is that, because tourism in Prague is so well established, it almost “insulates” the tourists from the "real" life in Prague, as everything a tourist would ever need has been prepared specifically for tourists. Backpackers see exactly what other packaged tourists see, no more and no less.

Here’s a definition of “Backpacking” on Wikipedia, which I agree.

“Of importance in backpacking is a sense of authenticity. Backpacking is perceived as being more than a vacation, but a means of education. Backpackers want to experience the "real" destination rather than the packaged version often associated with mass tourism, which has led to the assertion that backpackers are anti-tourist. There is also the feeling of "sneaking backstage" and witnessing real life with more involvement with local people.”

If we go by this definition, Prague is not very fulfilling. In order to experience authenticity, a backpacker would have to try quite hard to see the non-touristy side of Prague. But for us, for 4 days, we are pretty happy to give in as packaged tourists.