Hopefully the last enstallment of the world scout jamboree :)

Day 13 (5.8.11) - Packing up :(
Tomorrow we're leaving so we need to pack up everything, its rather sad :(
Although, so we don't have to faf around in the morning we are packing the tents sway today which means that we'll be sleeping in the mess tent to night, which might i point out IS NOT WATERPROOF, this is going to be fun. Can i point out that I think this is a really bad idea!
Tonight we went to the closing ceremony which was in a different place to the opening and cultural day ceremony's as instead of being a big stage at the front, it was a square stage where people say all around it. It was okay, but it started absolutly chucking it down. I'm not kidding, the heavens opened. We got absolutly soaked! The best bit was that Europe played. They were pretty awesome but as i thought, they were only really good at the final countdown, which was an absolute rave, however when they started playing other songs everyone was like 'what on earth is this?' You can tell that the final countdown is there only good song as they played it twice in a 4 song set... Me and a few others left early because it looked like it was going to chuck it down again and we thought we would get soaked again. When we got back to our camp (which was a feat in itself because it was PITCH BLACK) we watched an awesome fireworks display which we saw from our mess tent, it was beautiful. That night, the plan to all stay in the mess tent changed because we wouldn't all fit in. So me and 5 other girls slept in one of the tents that was not taken down. Bare in mind this tent is only a 4 man tent and it was full of bags so that they didn't get wet, and we couldn't all fit on the one ground sheet that was in there. So it was cosy, and extremely uncomfortable. What made it worse is that there was a MASSIVE thunderstorm that night, and i mean huge, the ground was shaking everytime there was thunder. It was completely misrable but i was so completely tired that i pretty much slept though the whole thing!

Day 14 (6.8.11) - Travel day
Today was pretty horrible. After only having 5 hours sleep we had to get up, pack away the mess tent, the remaining sleeping tents and tidy up while it was still raining. We got the bus from the Jamboree site at the airport which was 2 hours but i slept most of the way (sound familiar?). We then waited at the airport for HOURS. And im not kidding, we waited for a while to get our tickets because it was produced by a little machine in the airport before check in. We then had to wait for check-in to actully open. We then once it was open waited to actully check in for ever. Because of all this waiting in Queues we actully had to rush for the plane even though we were 3 hours early. So stupid! When we got on the plane i realised i wasn't sitting next to my plane buddy, or anyone i knew. A scary prospect for those who DISPISE flying. However, when i actully sat down i found out i was sitting next to two really nice guys, who luckily were confident flyers!  We landed at 9:30 in Prague airport and waited to get the bus to start out home hospitality experience! The bus journey to where we were staying however was a disaster. The bus driver had no clue where we was going and it was pitch black. So he managed to turn a 2 hour journey into 4 and a half hours... Half way we stopped off to drop of Darling patrol, which was hilarious because the people who were there to welcome them were all dressed in old clothing so looked like pilgrims. Most of the Darling patrol looked terrified, and we were terrified for them!
We then pushed on to our camp which took forever, however i slept most of the way (your getting bored of this now arn't you?) When we got there we found out we were going to be sleeping in a building! Hurrah! Unlike the other patrol who would be sleeping in teepee's, we felt even more sorrt for them at this point. We got into the building and found that we even had foam mattresess, brilliant! Living the life of luxury! The Czech's had also made us some salami sandwiches which were wonderful because we hadn't eaten since 7 and it was almost 4am! I was really happy and greatful that the Czech's had stayed up that long and welcomed us so warmly because we totally needed it after our horrible day of travel. We went straight to sleep and i had a twinge of sorrow for the other patrol who i assumed were freezing to death in their teepee's. Although, because we were now in a lovely comfortable warm cottage, i didn't have much sorrow for leaving the jamboree site, as by the end, it was absolutly filthy and i was sick of not sleeping much in bloody tents!

The room we all slept in and our wonderful foam matresses. The strange woman is my best friend, of whom im sure won't mind me having her photo on me blog :)

Day 15 (7.8.11) - Home Hospitality (HoHo)

First day of HoHo in the Czech republic started at 9, a lovely lie-in for the first time in 2 weeks! It started with a nice breakfast of bread and jam (of which the bread was really nice for some reason, it was the shape of a Croissant but was much thicker and more bread like) where i sat on a table with 5 Czech people, who were very shy at first, but slowly i got to know most of their names. The plan was then to go to the nearest town of Krasna Lipa and then go to a lake for a wash. We walked the 3 Kilometres to the little village where we found the quaintest little town which was wonderfully picturesque. We then were desperate to get into the equivalent of a little corner shop in the town, it was quite a squeeze to get everyone in, so that we could stock up on lodes of crap, i.e chocolate and crisps, which we haden't eaten since we left the UK. We were delighted to find that it was insanely cheap! I bought a milka bar, a bottle of coke and a big bag of crisps (god that makes me sound fat) for 63 czech crowns, which is the equivelent of £2! It was so wonderful to eat crisps and chocolate again, its one of those things where you don't miss it untill you are without it. We then went into a little museum in the town to learn more about the area and perhaps find things to do, where we watched a film which made no real sense to us as it was all in Czech, but it looked pretty!
We then went on the supposedly 'little' walk to the lake which was actully MILES away. But when we got there it was totally worth the trek because it was absolutly beautiful but, according to the boys that went for a swim/wash, VERY cold. Such wimps. We then trekked back to the cottage we were staying in, where, even though they didn't admit it, we got lost because there were many times where the Czech's didn't seem to know where they were going and were often in a debate on where to go. I could be completely wrong, i speak absolutly no Czech, they could have been discussing how ugly we all were, who knows! On the way back someone, of who i shall not mention their name, Jonny managed to step on a wasp nest. Turns out, wasps don't like being stood on, so everyone had to run/dance, out of the forest we were in and many people were stung. You'll be glad to know i wasn't.
When we got back we had tea which was absolutly beautiful, it was a pasta in this pasta sauce (which was amazing!) and meatloaf (which was also amazing!). At night we then had a campfire were we sang some funny songs which made us all laugh in histerics but made the Czech's look at us as if were were all going mental because they had no idea why it was funny.

Day 16 (8.8.11) - Second day in HoHo

An impressive view

The view going up the river

Today began at 7:00 with Cappy's (our leader) shouting and a promise of 'morning exercises' (a promise we were not looking forward to) which turned out not to be too hard and were some little jumpy around things and a little chant that was supposed to keep the rain at bay. In the morning we decided to walk to another town, in another direction that i can;t remember the name of, to get the bus further into the Czech wilderness to see more Czech nature. The bus ride took much longer than i thought it would: an hour, where i almost fell a sleep (getting better) but couldn't really because it was packed! Once we got there the weather was really nice and we began our walk into the nature reserve. It reminded me somewhat of Humford  (a forest close to where i live) for some reason, but it was much, much more impressive and rocky. The path went right next to a river which was set in a vally. There were very impressive rock formations, probably formed by the river that made the vally, and there were MASSIVE tree's. It was absolutly beautiful.

Once we could no longer walk on the path (as the vally got steeper, so a path couldn't be made) we got a small boat ride down the river which was 'driven' by a guy with a rather large stick ;)

On the boat with guy with big stick :)

We then walked up the vally (which was very steep and went on for ever, we lost many men) back to the bus stop. However, the bus wasn't due for another hour, and we still all really wanted to visit the rock bridge (which was apparently in Narnia, but i don't think i remember it) which really really came here too see. So this was our challange, To walk 4km in one hour, bearing in mind that to get there it was all uphill. We accepted this challenge and left! As we didn't realise how uphill it actully was, it took us 40 minute to get up (Uh oh).  However, it was completely worth it. It was absolutly amazing. The rock was good, but the view was even better! I felt like i was standing on top of the world.

The view from near the rock bridge

Although, once we seen that, we realised we only had 20 minutes to get back down and catch the LAST bus. We did make it though. However, the bus was so full we couldn't all fit on it. So the Czech leader, Romana, had to walk up a hill, to get a signal, to ring the bus company, to see if they could send another bus to pick us up. Luckily they did otherwise we would have to walk back, which would of taken 5 hours...
For our tea we had some of this soup which was really nice and these fruit dumplings with cream and buttery stuff, it was lush!
That night i played my first ever game of uno! It was pretty good actully and we had a good laugh :)

The rock bridge

Day 17 (9.8.11) - Third day in HoHo
More walking today, God HoHo is turning into an expedition weekend!

The Quarry

Today was a walk through the woods around where we're staying with a ranger from the area. We seemed to trek for ever, but it was very interesting and the ranger taught us what the landscape was made of, predominantly limestone. He also took us to see lime stone quarries which weren't what i expected  because they hadn't been dug for ages, so there was a lot of vegetation not just bare rock which i though. So it looked like a massive hole in the ground with lots of tree's. After taking us through the forrest and stopping at random points to tell us certain things, he then left us to make our own way back. Something we did in spectacular fashion via clambering down very unstable looking stairs and 'paths,' i really was terrified for my life. Nice views though :)

The group photo :)

After decending to get to a view point which was okay, but as we had decended a bit it didn't feel like the top of the world, just relitivly high with lots of tree's, we got a group photo. We then decended all the way to the bottom where people could go and see some sort of castle thing, but i was too tired so i didn't bother. We then climbed up another very unstable path, inwhich again i felt in imminent doom. When we got back, after our tea, Me and 3 lads decided to go back down to the local town to stock up on supplies from the shop and to visit a little pub that they had went to yesterday. We decided to go to the pub first where we all had a coke  (promise). It was really good just to sit and have a drink with me mates. It was really weird though because there isn't a smoking ban in the Czech Republic, so Hale and a few other men in the pub were smoking, which is stange because you never see that in the UK any more.

Day 18 (10.8.11) - Final day

The main square of Varnsdorf

Today was the last day in HoHo before we had to leave and go back to Newcastle. We were planning to go to Prague but the bus that was meant to take us to the airport that night wouldn't take us early, so we couldn't get there. It was a shame because i did really want to visit Prague, but instead, we decided to visit the town that all our Czech friends were from, a place called Varnsdorf. Which is right next to the border to Germany, infact, on the way there we could actully see Germany we were so close. And guess what our mode of transport was? You guessed it, walking! However it was a really nice, if not quite long walk, with no real uphilly bits, yipee! On the walk, we passed a spring with the nicest, clearest water i have ever seen/tasted!

One of the many churches :)

Once we got to the town, it was very pretty, and very similar to Krasna Lipa, but much bigger with much larger buildings. I went with two of my Czech friends to one of their houses so that she could have a shower, it was so nice. I got to sit on a sofa! A luxuary a hadn't had in weeks! While she had a shower, me and Raddy watched buffy the vampire slayer, in Czech, which i found highly amusing because i had no idea what she was saying. We then went to a little cafe right next to the house (handy) where i had a mahoosive vanilla ice cream, it was absolutly lush! After that we went to the local supermarket, which was pretty much EXACTLY the same as ASDA, but without the Brittish signs, here i got some Czechy snacks (which i later ate at home and they were great!). We then met up with the rest of the unit members and we went for an explore of the town, primarily to look at the many churches in their town (there was 7, 7!)
After visiting some of the churches (it would be quite a feat to see them all) we went to their scout hut, which they all said was rubbish, but i thought it was great! It felt just like a home, unlike our cold, bare and big scout  huts.
Because i was so tired and we would be traveling all night and day, i thought it was best to try to get a few hours kip downstairs, do i did.

Day 19 (11.8.11) - The final day :(
It was time to say goodbye to our wonderful hosts when the bus arrived at 1:30 in the morning. It was actully really sad and i was way more sad leaving HoHo than i was the jamboree. This is probably because, unlike the jamboree, i made real, genuine friends who i think are absolutly wonderful and i still stay in contact with them now.
I slept most of the way to Prague airport and didn't wake up or notice in the slightest Darling Patrol getting back on the bus. So i was supprised to say the least to find Abi waking me up, it was a terrifying, but nice supprise (once i had realised what was actully going on).
We waited for a while at Prague airport where many of us slept (supprisingly not me, you'll be pleased to know). Then we got our plane to Brussels for our highly anticipated 7 hour wait for the plane home...
However, the wait turned out not to be too bad as there was quite a lot to do. Firstly, i went for some much needed tea (as they don't really have tea in the Czech Republic, just this sweet stuff that unfortunatly i didn't like) in starbucks which was REDICUOUSLY over priced, and i felt like just walking out, but i really wanted some, so i paid the STUPID price. We then had a lovely breakfast (Egg and bacon sandwhich... Mmm... *dribble*) with Abi and a few others, went for a wander around the shops, tried to have a little nap (too noisy so i couldn't), then we had the biggest lunch ever (a mahoosive bacon burger with a load of chips and a bath of sauce) in which there was (dun dun dun) a unattended bag! Oh no! Everyone thought we were going to die, so we sat the closest to the bag to if the bomb (it was clearly a bomb) went of, we would die instantly, unlike everyone else who would just burn. Unfortunatly, a man came and retrieved the bag, rewining everyone's fun and noone died (unfortunate for some). We then went on a wander, then another wander, and then headed for the flight (along the cool walky thinggy's again).
 All was going well, i had images of home in my head, my bed, my house, my guitar, the TV, junk food, my dog, the nicely shaped tree outside my window, oh, and my parents, untill i realised that the plane we were going on was the dinkiest piece of shit i have ever seen (you know that moment in Star Wars where Luke gets a flight on the Millenium Falcon and when he comes round the corner and says 'What a piece of junk!' Well it was a very similar feeling but 10 times worse because it was real.). It must have only been a 43 seater because there was 40 of us, and only 3 other people that wasn't us.
So here i am, sitting on a tiny plane catching up on my Jamboree adventure at the end of my Jamboree adventure with a feeling of imminent doom as i have no idea how this tin can is still in the sky. Goodbye Jamboree, its been a laugh.