Yesterday I came across the artwork of Japanese - American artist Chiura Obata, and I loved his way of trying to bridge and to understand different cultures through his artwork. Besides that I really enjoyed his writings about how human always should go with nature:

“Ten means heaven, Chi means earth, Jin means Human. These are one great unit in the universe. The idea Ten-chi-jin is nothing other than “Go With Nature”. It explains simply and strongly that we humans, without knowing the rhythmical activities of heaven and earth, cannot live our harmonious life. Nature gives us endless rhythm and harmony in any circumstance, not only when we are on a joyous pass, but even in the depth of despair we will see the true greatness and beauty of strength, beauty of patience and beauty of sacrifice. Think of the fact that it was more than thirty centuries ago when the sequoia trees sprung out from tiny seeds. You can imagine what tedious hardship and experiences — wind, rain snow, drought and avalanche — the trees have gone through during their life without crying.”

PS: As for the issue how we should try to go with nature - we saw yesterday a documentary “Manufactured Landscapes” on the world and work of artist Edward Burtynsky who is making large - scale photographs of ‘manufactured landscapes’ (landscapes wholly altered by humans, especially rubbish, mines, factories, quarries etc.) to show us our impact on the planet without being judgemental. He is just trying to tell us that there are no easy answers. It is really spooky to see how much of our products we use and other industrial waste are not biodegradable. I recommend also artwork of Chris Jordan who did some spectacular work on similar issue regarding consumption and industrial waste. And I am wondering - what can we do to go  along with nature again?

The explorer Jean Michel Cousteau says that his favorite place on Earth is a lost corner of Peru where he 25 years ago met a remarkable man, namely chief Kukus. I read this in a book My Favorite Place on Earth written by an award-winning author and National Geographic Traveler writer Jerry Camarillo Dunn. He interviewed people such as Dalai Lama, Robin Williams, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Donald Trump, Jerry Seinfeld etc., and asked them just one question, namely about their favorite travel discovery. The answers are  really surprising ranging from U.S. Virgin Islands  to a well-used bench at San Francisco’s Crissy Field. If Jerry Camarillo Dunn asked me about my favorite place, I would probably say that I did find it one december day on  East 8th avenue in Vancouver.

my magic box

So Gorida went rafting on Vltava river last week, and we loved it. Our route was between the towns of Cesky Krumlov and Borsov, approximately 35 km long.  It was not as much about sport as about recreation and leisure. The river flow on this route was  really gentle, and the route offered beautiful natural sceneries and landscapes which were rich in cultural and historical sights located even on the rivers or nearby. On the way down we found several camp sites and restaurants, but we decided to stop at Maringotky to taste Czech whole wheat pancakes with plum jam, cinnamon and yoghurt. I tried to copy Milans recipe and made some pancakes at home, but unfortunately with no luck. We visited Divci Kamen Castle (”Maiden’s Stone”) built between years 1350 - 1360 and located thirteen kilometers from Cesky Krumlov, or just 15 minutes paddling from Maringotky camp site. Our day on the Vltava River was peaceful, but the guy from Malecek Boat Rentals mentioned that in high season it can be as much as 5000 boats a day.  We were really lucky and met only four other boats. Here are some photos from our tour: