#16: [20-Sep-17]

#14: [01-Nov-14]

#13: [08-Sep-14]

#12: [05-Sep-11]

#11: [03-Aug-11]

#9: [02-Apr-09]

#8: [26-Mar-07]

#7: [08-Aug-06]

#6: [26-Sep-04]

#4: [18-Aug-04]

#3: [21-Jun-01]

#1: [17-Mar-01]

#17: [28-Oct-17]

#10: [26-Dec-09] (incomplete)

#5: [25-Jul-04] (incomplete)

13-Apr-2001 -- It was Friday, 13 April 2001, when I, Markus, and my brother Gregor visited a place here in Austria which was some years ago a forbidden point.

In the ages of the cold war it was forbidden to enter a 3 miles zone around the border. This confluence is very close to the border, when you take a look to the West you can see the Czech Republic. The Lake you see is Stankovsky Lake, it marks the border at this point, the lake is in the Czech Republic.

Finding the spot isn't that easy. You need a very detailed map and be really careful to not enter foreign territory. We drove with the car close to Litschau and then took one of the wood ways near Haugschlag. We left our car approx 1 mile East from the confluence.

The main problem is, that you are in the deep forest, so your GPS device will get problems to work. We had good luck 300 meters away from the confluence there was a clear point in the wood, so we got some good GPS coordinates. The rest of the way we used our pretty good map (from the official Austrian department for maps) and a compass.

Approx 70 Meters away from the shore of the lake there is the confluence. We couldn't get the GPS device running - but I'm definitely sure, that we were at the right point.

We were close to the lake, and just 100 meters to the north there was the border, and a very small river and we really took every step a close look to our compass not to change our direction.

If you want to visit the confluence - DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSPORT!!!! The border is very close and one false move and you are in another country. There are just a few fences!

But there is probably one hint: If the trees are marked with an orange dot, then you are on the Czech side, so stay on the side, where trees are marked with a green dot - this is austria :-)

Better always take a close look where you are going. Another hint is to visit the confluence on a Sunday - you won't meet any wood worker asking stupid questions about your mission. And if you meet green men with a rifle - better don't move ;-)

Have fun,
Markus