The itinerary of all three trips was the same - on the first day we went to Koryčany in the morning, where we were picked up by our colleagues from Drilling around noon. We boarded the vans and drove along a narrow forest road to the borehole. The weather was great, the forests were shining with autumn colours. Jenda Duroň took over the group at the drilling tower and introduced step by step the work of the drilling tower. He gave a broad overview of what the deposit consists of, what rocks are in the depths and what drills are used to get through them. Curious visitors could try out what oil smells (or smells like) and take away a piece of the core.

After a basic briefing, we headed to the tower itself, first through the tanks where the leachate is mixed. And then onto the first working platform, the so-called table. By the time we were on site, the well had already been drilled and a pumping test was about to take place. The visitors did not experience the sharpest traffic, but they had more time to explore the working environment of the "drillers" and did not interfere with anyone. After a thorough inspection and answering all the questions (the most common question was, "How is it possible that you can route the well? And the pipes bend????").

The tour participants were very surprised and excited (and quite seriously so) to see such a thing up close. None of them had any idea before how hard the work on the tower was. And we were there in nice weather, when the sun was shining and it was a pleasant 16 degrees.

Back on the bus, eat lunch on the way and hurrah for the tray to Dambořice! Here Radim Blažej took care of us, we got coffee, saw how the complex was being built and then we went on a tour - first we visited the bunker, where Radim described the basic principle of the bunker and how the gas market actually works. Everyone was amazed at how much of a difference an underground gas storage tank makes compared to a drilling rig, because here everything is clean, polished and sparkling. They all joked about whether they had an employee on site who polishes all the pipes.

We toured the compressor room and also other parts of the facility where the gas is treated and stripped of impurities. The complexity of the whole procedure fascinated the visitors. Just the fact of how many steps the whole process involves and how flexible it is was mind-boggling to many.

From the reservoir in Dambořice we went a few hundred metres further to the Uhřice resort, where we saw the goats and Radim explained how the production and the reservoir can get along. A group photo at the trestle and on we went - this time to Zaječí, where accommodation, tasting of local wines, dinner and free entertainment awaited us. Who would expect a party until the morning, would probably be disappointed, everyone was pretty tired, so at ten o'clock most of them went to their rooms.

In the morning we had breakfast and then a trip to Hodonin, specifically to the Museum of Oil Mining and Geology, where we finished our journey of discovery with an information-packed lecture by Mr. Benada. At the end, everyone took away a small souvenir - a glass of oil from Moravia (hopefully it didn't spill into anyone's suitcase).

Of course, we couldn't let the travelers go back hungry, so a delicious lunch in Lusatia was waiting for them.

Martin Beneš