Hungary 101

Still in one piece! I am speeding because I want to try to cross Turkey and ??? at least before it gets too cold. For here and now, though, it is super-hot and flat as a pancake. I am taking my time as I will be Couchsurfing 2 nights in Budapest starting Tuesday, after this national holiday weekend.

In the very north where I entered, most roads were unsealed or atop polders or very badly in need of maintenance. In spite of this, since letting a bit of air out of my tyres my wheel is staying true and I haven't broken any further spokes. \o/  And for all the jokes about old Lada/Skoda cars, there are still plenty here and they really do seem to keep on going with good maintenance.

People seem pretty nice. I think it's the first time since Prague where the language has no relation to any other language I speak. My German is very rusty, which is a shame as many seem to speak it. Some food packages have Romanian also, so I learn a little like that.

At the ATM last night I accidentally withdrew 60,000 forints (€200) instead of 6,000 so will change the bulk of that into Serbian Dinars and Turkish currency in Budapest after buying some bike stuff and having a good old time.

Arriving in Győr, I looked around the centre a little and then decided to stop at a Belgian café for a coffee and a few snacks, and finally, succumbing to the heat, a delicious Leffe dark beer. Then I got on my way again, following the eurovelo route 6 again, which took me along a highway and then a really pot-holed dirt road along the railway tracks for a good 10 km or so and then back on-road eventually to Tata. I arrived as the sun was setting and just had time to snap a few shots of the pretty lake before getting moving again, deciding to camp in the hills just beyond.

I was really starting to feel irritated in the nether regions, and started to feel unexpectedly fatigued as I climbed towards Dunaszentmiklós, and so I decided to stay the night in a pension there to wash and recharge my batteries a little. Unfortunately my Nokia charger died and so I was unable to charge up my phone but it was nice to have a hot shower and sleep in a bed for a change.


The next day commencing with a couple of coffees before descending back towards the river. I
passed a hilltop winery, stopping to replace a spoke that broke as I
was climbing, and then descended back towards the Danube. The route
took me on and off the road, along some (typically bumpy) cycle tracks
towards Esztergom, and then a saw a nice little unsealed farm access
track and followed it to take a break in the shade for a while - it has
been pretty hot here in Hungary, very few clouds and often temperatures
as high as 30° C even into the evening.

Turns out I found a
perfect spot to camp with wild plum trees, blackberries and grape vines
everywhere. So I decided to stop for the day, not having to be in
Budapest until the next day. My stay in this little paradise was marred
only by dropping my solar battery charger in the long grass, resulting
in a half-hour search on hands and knees as it grew dark before finding
it, to my astonishment and great relief.