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Road Trip ; Pruhonice Park, Prague, Czech
November 1, 2014
I've been spending my weekend wisely by exploring Czech :) And usually, they were by train, by bus, by bike or on foot. And this time, it would be a road trip! Wohooo. I had my international license done when I was home last summer, so, let's make full use of it.
Last weekend, my friends and I went to a place listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Prague. It is Pruhonice Park and Castle; reachable by public transport from center of Prague (15km southeast of Prague). Take buses no. 363 and 385 metro line C 'Opatov' to the busstop “Pr?honice”. And if by car, it is not that hard to reach there (just use GPS. hihi).
Basically, Pruhonice consists of a castle surrounded by natural park; filled with grassy open spaces colored by trees, streams, ponds, waterfalls, look-out tower. Since the current owner of Pruhonice is the Institute of Botany; you can expect hundreds of local and exotic plants. :D
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| The water was not so clean that time T___T |
The area is very large - approximately 250 hectares. So, they already plan few routes for visitors. Before you can enter the park, you need to pay for entrance ticket - 30kc (student price). Then, you can take the pamphlet from the office, in this case you can choose any routes that suit you.
There are 3 routes - based on length and estimated duration of time.
1. BLUE - Basic Tour Route; 1.5- 2 hours; 2.5 km
2. YELLOW - Main Tour Route; 3 - 4 hours; 5 km
3. RED - Viewpoint Tour Route; 5 - 6 hours; 10 km
The RnR at the highway :)
There are no tolls at the highway! Wohooo, that's great! But, I don't understand why there are no lights along the road. Like seriously, when you drive at night, you are solely depending on your car's front lamps for lights. And even, you can use high beam if there are no cars in front of you (I saw cars in front of me doing it). I guess, cars on the other side of road are not really affected with that high beam as there are bushes in between the roads.
That's similar to our life. People may have different lifestyle, ways of life. But, we need to remember that we are heading to the same direction - Akhirah. We might have lots of obstacles on our way or maybe others may not have the same resistances. But be grateful that Allah gives us challenges that are within our limits. :)
Keep on moving forward, and make sure to recalculate our life routes when we find ourselves lost along the way to prepare ourselves to meet Allah. :)
Since we were looking for not-so-long-yet-not-so-short route, we decided to follow the yellow one. The marks were quite confusing for me, as sometimes I don't really know where was I based on the map. :p Maybe that's my weakness. :)
Well, since I am trying to promote people about the beauty of Czech (actually to promote students here to explore Czech. hihihi), I must say that this place is also a must; especially in autumn and spring. We went there in late autumn, just imagine, the view of what we saw during our tour was slightly different with the previous week. :D
Aha, by the way, I'm pretty sure most people with smartphone have Instagram right? And we use hash tags to classify our uploaded photos to few categories. For me, hash tags are not just for promoting or make it easier for people to like the photos. But, we can also use hash tags to have a view of how the place we are aiming to go looks like in few previous days :)
Late autumn - means it's getting colder. Yeap, it was, I can no more take off the trench coat. I even prepared a pair of gloves, in case of getting numb fingers.
Before going back to Hradec Kralove, we stopped at SAPA which is quite close to Pruhonice. I can say this place is full of Vietnamese markets - with lots of buildings for different stuffs. Like the one above, Tamda Foods is the supermarket for groceries. Of course, it is loved by Malaysians to buy things in bulk - like the prawns, squids, fish, soy milk etc at cheaper prices. Aha, not to forget, the important cili padi and lemongrass :D They are very expensive in the center of Prague and also in HK itself.
There are no tolls at the highway! Wohooo, that's great! But, I don't understand why there are no lights along the road. Like seriously, when you drive at night, you are solely depending on your car's front lamps for lights. And even, you can use high beam if there are no cars in front of you (I saw cars in front of me doing it). I guess, cars on the other side of road are not really affected with that high beam as there are bushes in between the roads.
One thing I learnt throughout the journey, is about the GPS. GPS functions well to show us the way, right? And sometimes, different GPS will suggest different routes eventhough the destination is just the same. Maybe what differs them is the distance.
That's similar to our life. People may have different lifestyle, ways of life. But, we need to remember that we are heading to the same direction - Akhirah. We might have lots of obstacles on our way or maybe others may not have the same resistances. But be grateful that Allah gives us challenges that are within our limits. :)
Keep on moving forward, and make sure to recalculate our life routes when we find ourselves lost along the way to prepare ourselves to meet Allah. :)
InsyaAllah,
wAllahualam. <3
v Khaulah,
141031
Dad's Girlfriend
October 29, 2014
After 2 weeks, finally I managed to have a Skype call with my dad :) And indirect phone call through Skype with mum. She was still at school, doing some last preparation for Sport's Day, I guess.
One sweet conversation that make me smile till now :D
My mum called my dad when I was on Skype with him. So, he put her call on speaker, so I can hear her. :D I screamed loud, but she can't really understand what I'm saying but she knew my dad was talking to someone.
<3 <3 <3
Hihihi, dad is always daughter's first love and always be, right? :D
One sweet conversation that make me smile till now :D
My mum called my dad when I was on Skype with him. So, he put her call on speaker, so I can hear her. :D I screamed loud, but she can't really understand what I'm saying but she knew my dad was talking to someone.
And she asked; "Who is that :)?"
Dad; "My girlfriend."
Mum; "Aha, you are now on Skype with Nina, isn't it?"
<3 <3 <3
Hihihi, dad is always daughter's first love and always be, right? :D
141028
v Khaulah
Hiking Trip ; Cesky Raj, Czech
October 25, 2014
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What's interesting about Cesky Raj?
What's interesting about Cesky Raj?
And when we say paradise, just imagine any of the most beautiful places that we have been. The real paradise or heaven; for sure we can not have the real view. Not yet. But, when we see somewhere beautiful in the world, it increases our expectation and hope, and insyAllah efforts to get into Jannah, our realllll paradise. Ameen.
So, that the first thing about Cesky Raj. The name itself.
What else? :D
Depends on which routes you take (or maybe not really) - you can feel you travel in different places! Emm, I mean, surrounded by different type of forests - sometimes, it can be full of oak trees, others can be simple maple trees, spruce, pines etc. Separately. Hihi. I'm still doing my best effort to learn more about the trees in the forest T_T bear with me. :)
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| Pine trees |
Since it is located at the north of Czech and not that so far from Adrspach, most of times you can still admire all the sandstone rocks :) The top rocks themselves were told (maybe) to be the base of sea, long long long time ago. You can imagine, how deep we are on the ground compared to previous thousands years. :O The main town here is Turnov - called as the heart of Bohemian Paradise. Before, I thought Turnov and Trutnov are the same place, but nope, Trutnov is more to the northeast. Check the map.
There are many castles if I'm not mistaken, but the one I went last time is Vald?tejn Castle - originally a Gothic castle. To get into the castle, you need to cross a narrow stone bridge - with some statues on both sides - it kind of similar to a smaller version of Charles Bridge.
Vald?tejn is the oldest castle in Cesky Raj. It was approximately constructed around 1260 by Jaroslav of Hru?tice from Markvartic family. He was the ancestors of lords of Vald?tejn. The castle was owned by Vald?tejn family until 1380, after that, few changes of owners take place.
From what I've been told, the last person who own it in about 19th century was the one who created all the trails to get to the castle for tourists, with some look-out points and spas there.
Aha, when you want to enter the castle, you need to pay 25 kc (student price) - you will get few papers of guides / map; they help you to understand the castle more. There were so many information on them, so, I just read first few pages. :p
Like I mentioned before, you can plan your trip here, in Mapy.cz. :)
After we spent most time at the castle, we planned to continue our walking. But, we took a wrong way, that lead us towards Turnov Mesto. Haha. We were right on the green route as planned - but after nearly 1km, I realised that we took the opposite way (helped by GPS). We supposed to go deeper into the forest, a bit more to the south of Cesky Raj. :p
But well, it is okay, we got to see how Turnov looks like. :)
The moment we arrived at the train station of Turnov, I feel worried about the tickets. In HK hlavni nadrazi, we bought 4 return seats from HK - Karlovice Sedmihorky - HK. However, since we would like to go back to HK from Turnov on the earliest train which did not pass Sedmihorky, we need to change the tickets. It was not an easy task, with our not-so-good Czech language and Google Translator, we managed to change ticket with extra +- 100kc/4 persons. So, the total return tickets costs less than 200kc per person. :) That's still nice prices for all the beautiful creatures we've enjoyed. Hihi.
Till next mission, bye!
Assalamualaikum.
141025
v Khaulah
Cycling Trip ; Vysoka Nad Labem, Czech
October 17, 2014
Another ride, and that time was to follow the flow of Labe river! It means to the south of HK, Vysoka Nad Labem about 8-9km away. It took nearly 50 minutes by bicycle if you stop a lot to enjoy the scenery. If not, 20-30 minutes will be your best achievement! Or maybe less ;)
This place, I guess more to peaceful neighbourhood and I can see a golf field on my way there.
In Czech Republic, generally there are lots of bicycle routes that you can use all over the country. And even most of them are marked with specific colours. Like the above picture :) Not only cycling, but any hiking routes will be marked almost similar.
I cycled between the faculty hospital and Labe river in the direction of Pardubice. The route was quite okay. Sometimes I needed to ride on the main roads but the drivers here are nice, it was not a problem. Just remember to use all the hand gestures to turn left / right or stop anywhere. And if there is any traffic light, stop and wait just like vehicles. Use GPS to make sure we are in the right direction if time is limited for us.
The map is stating 'You Are Here'.
After random time spent playing with the maps, I came out with this place. It was an observation tower, Milí? (rozhledna). It was reconstructed last year, if I'm not mistaken. With the height of 31 meter, it is said, from the top, people can see different mountains on different sides. Kunětická hora, Orlické hory, ?elezná hora, Krkono?e etc and also few highest points in center of HK - White Tower in Old Town and also Hotel Cernigov. Unfortunately, the moment I stepped at the top, I could not see any. It was cloudy; dark, thick one.
Before I forget, there are two ways to reach the tower - either riding the bicycle through a longer, hilly route (about 500-1000m) or just use this stairs (you can leave your bicycle locked down there or just bring it up the stairs). The second is surely shorter, but a bit steep.
I guess, that was my first time enjoying the autumn trees from top. :) Clearly seen different, beautiful colours of leaves around the tower. And even realising again how small I am from top. T_T Well, there is always a greater power than us, God :)
I would like to share 6 questions asked by Imam Ghazali to his students, when they were together.
And lets us ponder the values we can get from them.
1. “What is the closest for us in this world?”.
Some answered; parents, teachers, friends, or relatives.
According to Imam Ghazali, all those answers are correct. But the MOST correct one is “death”. Why? Because that’s is a promise of Allah SWT that all living things will die. (QS. Ali Imran 185) I think what make it closer is we don't even know when it will happen. It can be next ten years, next week or even a second after you read this sentence. T_T
2. “What is the furthest from us in this world?”.
Some of his students answered: China, the moon, the sun, and the stars. Then Imam Ghazali explained that all those answers are correct. But the MOST correct one is “past time”. No matter what we do, where we are we can never return to past time. So, that's the reason why we cannot really stick ourselves to the past when we have the present to take care of; by filling the current time with good deeds and prayers.
3. “What is the biggest thing in this world?”.
Some answered: mountain,the earth, the sun. All those answers are correct, said Imam Ghazali. But the biggest thing from this world is “passion” (or nafs) (Qs. Al-araf:179). Most of the time, people will do whatever the fulfill their passion - and sometimes even in bad ways. So, let's be careful with what we want (the passion itself), don't let it brings us into the hell. Naudzubillah.
4. “What is heaviest in this world?”.
Some answered: elephant, steel, metal. All the answers are corrects, said Imam Ghazali. But the heaviest thing is “to keep on amanah” (responsibilities) (Qs. Al-ahzab:72). Plants, animals, mountains, and the angels were not able when Allah SWT asked them to be a khalifah (leader) in this world. But human being proudly said his ability to the request from Allah SWT, so most of them enter the hell because they can not keep their amanah.
5. “What is the lightest in this world?”.
Some answered: cotton, wind, dust and leaves. All those answers are corrects, said Imam Ghazali. But the lightest thing in this world is “leaving shalat”. Just because of our love and priorities to the world, we take shalat for granted; when shalat is the moment we speak to Allah and date with Him T_T
6. Then the last question is, “What is the sharpest in this world?”.
His students answered together, sword. That is correct, said Imam Ghazali. But the sharpest thing is “tongue of men”. Because of our tongues, we can easily hurt the feeling of others.
Wallahua'lam.
That made up my last Saturday morning :)
More trips to go, more routes to be discovered, more places to step in.
Till then,
Assalamualaikum. :)
references; http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10573
Wallahua'lam.
That made up my last Saturday morning :)
More trips to go, more routes to be discovered, more places to step in.
Till then,
Assalamualaikum. :)
references; http://www.islamicity.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10573
V Khaulah
141016
Cycling Trip ; Ceska Skalice, Czech
October 10, 2014
This is the best thing I love to do ;) Spend time with nature. Yeah, I can say I spend quite much, but it feels different every single time. The journey, it will never be the same. What I get throughout the way, that's what I'm looking for. Enjoying the beauty of sky, reflected trees on the river's surface, green emerald water, fishes swimming happily, super clean environment - these are bonuses!
Cycling is my another favourite. I love walking-hiking more. Even though both are energy-consuming T_T.
So, this is about my latest trip!
?eská Skalice
It is a small town at the north of Hradec Kralove, worth 64 km cycling; return. Along the way, I went through Smirice, Jaromer and few others really small towns and neighborhoods. The good thing I observed, there were so many Czech people cycling along with us with their own destinations; in which that show how healthy life most of them are living. When few couple of elderly ride their bikes constantly faster than you, there must be something. :O Ouch.
My target of the trip; Rozko? Reservoir, known as the East Bohemian Sea. It is generally a water reservoir, can be seen if you travel from Adrspach back to Hradec Kralove by train. It's so beautiful from far! It is manmade, about 2km long. I read somewhere that this reservoir comes from Upa river and basically there are some power stations there (dams) and used to protect the area during flood. Since it's quite nice and kind of safe, it becomes the place for recreation, mostly water sports.
I love you, dear Kelly!
And this is the town of Jaromer, and in the picture if I'm not mistaken is a church. Yeah, you can see the cross on top of the roof. It is more quite than Hradec Kralove for sure. I didn't read much about this town, but it is kind of famous with Josefov Fortress; obviously a military defence area.
The fortress is intended to protect against attacks of Prussians but it was not used much as most battles occur somewhere else. And another important fact, Ceska Skalice is also famous with the battle between Prussian and Austrian armies. It is said that many people died during the battle and there are many graves there in Ceska Skalice, but I'm not sure where it is exactly
Go along this river to get to the place I told before. This is the most favourite river in Hradec Kralove - Labe. Well, as people know HK itself is beautiful with the confluence of 2 rivers - Labe and Orlice, that run along the city. No wonder most people love them so much - for me I feel like they put peace to the city.
I would like to suggest Mapy.cz if you are travelling in Czech. Of course, it is in Czech language, but it is quite friendly and even better than Google Maps. Mapy.cz also helps a lot if you want to find some routes - either walking, hiking or cycling. Download it on the phone, and insyAllah you will find your way easier and will not get lost. Hmm, getting lost is fun actually but it is not really when you are a girl. :)
See you when I see you,
Assalamualaikum <3
v Khaulah,
141010
Hey, finally I'm here!
Assalamualaikum.
I miss blogging. T_T
Lately, I realised I keep mostly everything inside or just telling certain people, it's tiring. Many things happened in short duration of time. Good things, not good things. Just, I think I experienced many different situations I had never been before. Learnt how to handle things; professionally. Learnt to consider other people's feeling, not sure to think of my own or not. Learnt to put myself into other people shoes and see things from their point of view. Learnt to be a better listener. Learnt to be a better daughter to my parents. Yeah, everything is a process of learning. Continuously.
Sometimes we can never get things the way we want. Because Allah always give us in the way we need.
I appreciated this quote so much. It supposed to be posted since July, but I'm not sure why it remained in my draft till now. Maybe, some things are better left silent?
Aha, by the way, it is autumn now! You can see leaves falling around, beautiful colours - mesmerizing! I can't really say which seasons do I love the most. I keep changing my preferences and I may love all seasons! I was doing a random quiz and I got this. That's why this entry is named that way :D
And I think it kinds of suit me. A deep person, maybe? I can't really expressed myself and often get other people misunderstand things I want to say. Sobss T_T
And autumn, you are so something!
Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. 6;59
v Khaulah
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