Ok so, we had no expectations about what Zagan (pronounced Jaaagan) would be like. BUT we did not imagine something like this. It’s very hard to explain. The area is very run down but in its ‘hey day’ it appears that it was something special judging by the architecture. We walked the 30 minutes or so from the train station as there were no taxi’s. Not a problem usually, but it was quite a way to our ‘hotel’ and we were carrying an extra 18KG each….no not the weight we have put on since leaving Australia but our backpacks…honest!

If finding the ‘hotel’ was confusing…checking in was another level. It appears that booking.com had got some of their facts a little misconstrued. Either that or they need to do some updating. Hotel Okatex is in fact an annexe in the grounds of a far more grandeur hotel, Villa Park. We understand that the hotel was originally a hospital and it would make sense that the annexe - AKA Hotel Okatex may well have been the nursing quarters. When checking in we were asked if we had arrived by taxi…very surprising as both of us were feeling VERY hot and sweaty but must have looked as fresh as two daisies! Anyway we eventually check in and the kindly young man pointed us in the general direction of where to find the door to our accomodation.

We walked up several flights of stairs to our temporary, very humble abode. Cramped, no curtains on the windows, a toilet with a cistern tank that forever seemed to be filling. No sprinklers or smoke detectors in the room either. Room ventilation was the old fashioned open a window, which is a positive!

So now its time to get out of the ‘grumpy old farts’ pool. The redeeming factor of this hotel was how friendly and helpful the staff were. Carol was looking to plan her own great escape when we first arrived, but accommodation options were zilch!

When we left, a few days later, in the dark of night…4:30 am to walk to the train station to get our train to Prague. We were glad that we left a bit of wiggle room, time wise, as the night porter was a chatty fella who insisted on a conversation with the help of ‘google translate’ as neither he nor us shared a common language…apart from the one of smiles and thumbs up!

The Great Escape

We all know the story and have seen the film many times, especially at Christmas growing up. Now it’s time to visit the real place and understand, a little, what the men had to do to escape. After traveling by train from Berlin to Zagan, and spending a night at our ‘hotel’ we went to find Tunnel Harry which is near Zagan railway station. See the map of the walk. To visit Staglag luft III was the one and only reason that we stopped off at Zagan.

We walked to the exact spot where tunnel Harry exited according to the map. Surprisingly, no one was around, and the quietness made the place feel quite eerie and mysterious. Bellow is a short video capturing our walk through the area. Zagan station looks old and weathered, with its faded walls and flaking paint which oddly gives it a somewhat war-torn, nostalgic feel. Whilst walking around Stalag luft III we could hear machine gun fire in the back ground. There is an army base near to the site.

We also visited the museum which was of much interest. There was a small fee to pay but we did not know until we got there, that it was cash only. Luckily for us we had a kind hearted soul on the reception desk who just shrugged her shoulders, smiled , and said please just go in.

It’s worth noting that the walk from the train station to the tunnel was about a 20 or so minute and was in the middle of no-where. No wonder those pilots smuggled in mini compasses to help them in the event they chose to try and escape.

NOTE: 40 steps from the watch tower to the tunnel exit.