Wednesday 9 July 2014 Brno

Cool and cloudy 20C

We set off early this morning for the Moravian Karst to visit the Pynkva Cave and Macocha Abyss. We had reserved tickets for the tour at 10am and needed to arrive 40 mins early to pick up the tickets. We caught a train from Brno at 8.30 then a bus from Blansko to the ticket office. When we arrived there seemed to be a problem that they called a technical issue and the Pynkva Cave was closed – not sure when it would be open but come back later.

So instead we visited another cave called the Catherine Cave about 500m from the ticket office. It was enormous inside, very interesting tour with an English speaking guide. The usual stalactites and stalagmites but in the main chamber they played music to show how good the acoustics are. It also has a formation called the witch where a broken stalactite was stood up in the witches hand and represents her staff which makes it look very realistic. I hope you can see it in the photo.

We returned then to the ticket office but still the Pynkva Cave was closed and no idea when the technical problem would be solved so we had a coffee and waited a short while. 20 mins later it was opened and we took the Eco-Train up to the entrance and entered the 11,20 tour unfortunately in Czech only.

This cave was very beautiful and you climb up through the cave then descend down to the bottom of the Macocha Abyss. This is spectacular as you look up towards the top (where we later visited). The 2nd half of the tour takes you on a boat ride through the cave and there is not much head room. The temperature inside the caves id 7C and I came prepared with gloves, woollen jumpers and scarves. Seemed to keep humming "Small World" for no good reason that we could think of (?).

After exiting the cave we took the cable car to the top of the Abyss to the top viewing area, enjoyed lunch at the café, then walked down to a lower viewing area and finally back to the road train. After connecting with the train back to Brno we arrived home after 4pm.