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Some ten miles west of Ceske Budejovice in southern Bohemia, Czech Republic, lies a small village of Holasovice. The village is a well-preserved collection of village dwellings built in the middle of 19th century and offers a perfect day trip from Prague.

With characteristic stucco decorations on the gables built in style of folk baroque, inscribed with dates from 1840 to 1880, some with a touch of rococo and classicist features, the dwellings are grouped around a village pond, preserving a ground plan dating from the Middle Ages. This vernacular style of peasant architecture is known as the South Bohemian Folk Baroque. For its unique character and compliance with preservation regulations Holasovice village was added to the list of UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage sites in 1998.

In all there are 22 buildings that surround the fish pond and the village square, with a small chapel on one end. The main entry doorway of each house leads into a large interior courtyard. The houses are large, typically with a number of rooms in the front part of the house and farm animal and implement barns adjacent.
Although similar architecture is found throughout South Bohemia, where many farm houses have been turned into vacation homes, at times disrupting the original vernacular style by addition of contemporary design features, Holasovice as village and the property owners abide by strict rules and maintenance guidelines to retain the cultural continuity of the vernacular elements of the village folk baroque period.

Holasovice is also a wonderful stop to inlcude in your Czech Republic bicycle trip, namely Vienna to Prague and Salzburg to Prague, or it can be combined with a trip to Cesky Krumlov, another Czech Republic UNESCO World Heritage site, on the tour of best Bohemian and Moravian greenways.

Rooftops of Zhaoxing village, Guizhou

Wooden Drum Tower, Zaoxing

Guizhou is one of lesser-visited provinces of China. This is largely due to its remote mountainous character and bad roads, especially in its southeastern corner, where a number of fascinating ethnic minorities such as Bouyei, Sui, Hui, Zhuang, Miao and Dong are found. Although much of these ethnic groups live in poverty, Dong relatively prosper and construct intriguing compact villages of truly remarkable architecture. Of all the Dong villages, Zhaoxing has been hailed as the most beautiful village and is certainly quite picturesque.

Resting under a drum tower, Zaoxing

Set in a basin when approached from either direction and viewed from the surrounding hillsides, Zhaoxing skyline strikes as coherent blend of rooftops above which protrude unique pagoda-style towers, five of them in all. Interspersed throughout the village the drum towers were built by each clan as if one per neighborhood. The pagoda tiers, intricately carved, mounted atop massive timber columns, are decorated with village life images and harbor a drum which is beaten to summon villagers to a meeting, warn of fire and in the old days sounded alarm when the village might had faced an approaching attack. Although the benches below the drum tower serve as a gathering area to hold village meetings, villagers use its soothing shade to rest, play cards, games and chat; the drum towers indeed thus constitute an urban design element that can be incorporated by any contemporary culture.

Drum tower and an ecological village pond, Zhaoxing

A small river passes through Zhaoxing and its banks span several covered bridges, called Wind and Rain Bridges. The name is eloquent as its purpose is not to channel pedestrian traffic on either side of the river alone but to protect the villagers from inclement weather while resting on its benches that line both sides of the structure. Similarly as the drum towers, the covered bridges are a gathering place to socialize as well as nap, and much of the time they are busy namely with the village elders.

The dominant architectural element of the village are the houses. As the drum towers and the covered bridges the Zhaxing house architecture uses no nails and the structures are built entirely of notched timber post and beam construction. The skeleton of the structure is completed first and the rest of the house follows. It’s astounding to see that a massive three-storey structure can sit on simple flat stone footings often as if haphazardly set inside a steep hillside. The Dong vernacular style of architecture undeniably belongs to one of most fascinating tribal architectural styles found anywhere. 

Skeleton structure of a Dong house architectural style

Dong notched post and beam timber construction

Construction detail, Dong architecture

Large house sited on a steep hilside, Zhaoxing village area

Footing of a Zhaoxing house, Guizhou Province, China

The oldest Tibetan house in Zhongdian, over 400 years old.

Traditional Tibetan house improved with contemporary windows

Characterisitic front elevation of a Tibetan house in Zhongdian

The Tibetan architecture of temples as well as houses is always manifested by solid structures no matter where they are found, whether in Central Tibet, in Sikkim or Bhutan and elsewhere in the eastern Himalayas, the Nepal Himalayas or in the far western reaches of Tibet including Ladakh. In the old Tibetan town of Zhongdian in Northern Yunnan, in southwestern corner of China, a region that historically was part of Kham, or Eastern Tibet, the houses are the most massive of all. In Kham, the Tibetan house design is characterized by massive timber posts that support the structure physically and dominate it visually. Typically two-storey high the front elevation is repeated in the contemporary house design although people mix in modern design features. The lavish woodworking and striking embellishments however are always retained, leaving one at awe of the impressive architecture.

Massive timber pieces used in Tibetan architectural design

Rooftops of the Old Tibetan Town in Zhongdian

Following end of Vietnam – American war and its postwar alignment with North Vietnam’s communist system of government, Laos fell into obscurity. With the fall of Berlin Wall and dismantling of Soviet Union, Laos as Vietnam slowly opened its borders to international tourism. Vientiane, the capital, became the first target as a result of easy access from well-developed Thailand to the south. But it was not long before tourists started to venture up to north central Laos to visit Luang Prabang, the former capital of Lane Xang, the first independent Lao kingdom founded in the 14th century, a role it shared for centuries with Vientiane right up to the communist takeover of the country in 1975. Surrounded by mountains, a stunning potion on the banks of the Mekong River, some three dozen Buddhist temples, sizeable monk community, touch of former French colonial architectural influence and lively hill tribe market it was not long that Luang Prabang’s inherent charm and significant monuments were noticed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and in 1995 added to its World Heritage list.

Due to its remote location overland access to Luang Prabang from Vientiane is even today no easier then fifteen years ago. Although paved but narrow and winding, at times in the past its traffic caught in crossfire between the government troops and the Hmong insurgents, taking some 10 to 12 hours of stressful driving to reach from Vientiane, road access to Luang Prabang was always dismissed as viable alternative to spur tourism. For the town to attract steady stream of tourists to provide for access by air was the best approach. Whereas in the first years of operation the airport was considered dangerous to land on, it has gone through improvements and as a result today Luang Prabang seees nearly million tourists per year, most from neighboring Thailand.

Needless to say increased tourism brings more income and more development although not all necessarily for the better. While the historical core of Luang Prabang must abide by strict guidelines set forth by UNESCO to retain its charm and preserve its cultural continuity, the development focuses on amenities and surroundings. Per recent news Korean investors are proposing a major 3000-hectare commercial development, christened Diamond City, in the total of some 2-billion dollars, a staggering amount for this outlying region of Asia. Said to include tourism, financial and recreational services, the project undoubtedly will alter the peaceful ambiance of the town and its surroundings forever.

Whereas even fifteen years ago when Luang Prabang first received its designation as UNESCO monument handful of local cargo barges sailed downstream Mekong all the way to Vientiane and no river craft plied the river specifically catering to tourists, other than handful of small boats run by local fishermen, the current river offerings include dinner cruises, scheduled river trips to traditional villages for dinner, music and dance cultural shows and elephant rides. While Luang Prabang has not yet progressed to becoming the travel supermarket town of Dali or Lijiang in Yunnan to the north, with China now allowing its citizens to travel ever more freely abroad including Laos, and with the bridge across the Mekong between Chiang Khong in northern Thailand and Houayxay in Laos, being the final link in a north-south road system through the Mekong region between Yunnan, Laos and Thailand, the main road completed in Fall of 2008 and the bridge scheduled to be completed by 2011, Luang Prabang will undoubtedly see more influx of overland visitors with hordes of Chinese package tour busses likely in the forefront.

While the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang, completed only in 1909 in Lao and French Beaux Arts style during the French colonial era for King Sisavang Vong and his family is one of the main Luang Prabang’s drawing cards, the impressive Wat Xieng Thong temple, located on the northern tip of the town’s peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers, constitutes the highlight of the row of temples and monasteries that lead up to it. Although under the guidelines of UNESCO the historic core of Luang Pranga is assured to retain its temple ambiance, with more development in town’s surroundings and more tourists to come, time to see Luang Prabang is now before it will become another Venice or Prague.

If you love bicycling and Italy, taking a cycling vacation in Tuscany or Sardinia is a must. Prefer high mountains, how about Switzerland and riding the Alps? If you love France, bicycle around Provence and climb Mount Ventoux, the Giant of Provence!

Whatever your decision you will find that any one of these trips will be a perfect combination of fine riding in company of like-minded people as yourself, all bicycle enthusiasts, that love riding together and enjoy good food and lodging in charming inns. The trips are designed to appeal to riders who prefer an active cycling vacation but perhaps not overly challenging rides, wanting just as much to enjoy the pleasures of Europe as to ride, as well as those who like to challenge themselves and do not shy away from the most demanding routes.

Cycling trips are in groups of 8 - 16 cyclists and range from 4 to 9 days, from Spring to Fall. There is a tour focusing on rides around the Maggiore Lake in Northern Italy with daily rides of about 70 km each. Lodging base is in Stresa, at the 4* Regina Palace Hotel.

In Tuscany tours start from Gaiole in Chianti and go to the Orcia valley, stop in Rocca d’Orcia (4* Castello di Spaltenna hotel), then take a different route back to Gaiole.

Around Sardinia, an easy tour, “Costa Smeralda Charme”, is six days of cycling, a great tour that includes five rides promising you’ll discover the true beauty of Sardinia (4* Delphina Cala di Lepre hotel).

Raid of Swiss Alps tour, a six days raid through Switzerland departing from Stresa, a thrilling route in the Alps and among the Swiss glaciers. Possible routes include the Susten Pass, the Furk Pass and the well-known passes of San Gottardo and Sempione.

And then there is France, and splendid in mid summer of July it is on a marvelous six days tour of rides with a base in one of the most beautiful locations of Provence, Gordes. The rides will take you along romantic back roads teeming in colors of Provence, the ambiance of the lavender in blossom, and include the rewarding climb of Mont Ventoux.

The trips and locations are selected not only for their unique landscape and natural beauty but above all for the memorable character of the cycling routes, each truly one of a kind that can be found only in these parts of Europe.

For tour details visit www.bikeitaliarando.com

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