The rock looks like a huge mushroom. And the yellow painting – it is actually lichen !! Apparently, unlike moss, lichen likes the sun.

The good news is if it were to topple, we had nothing to worry. The river is barely a foot and a half deep. The water is crystal clear and we could easily see the bottom. There were some eels swimming around. The boat driver did not even bother rowing. He just kept pushing the riverbed with a long stick!

Ready to laze around in the river checking out the rock formations on either side.

We are deep in the canyon. The whole area is very damp and cool. The moss all around us is thick and lush green.

Really not looking forward to that steep climb that we have to go UP on our return.

Pronounced Kamey-nitza – almost like Chichen Itza in Mexico – it means stony river. That is because of the steep sandstone rocks on either side of the river. This river flows lazily into Elbe finally.

We drove to the village of Mezna. And now there is a 20 minute of steep walk down followed by another 15 minute hike along the river. The walk down is very steep with steps all the way…

If you carefully notice, the picture is taken thru the gap of two mountains on my either side. It is a sheer drop going thousands of feet down.

Petr taught me a lot about the local flora and fauna. He showed me very small strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. They need another couple of weeks to become bigger and ripen. And then he jumped over the fence and picked up a few blueberries. We tried them out. He said they need another week or so. Meanwhile, what I am stunned by is all these berries growing in sandstone at such a high altitude.