Jó napot Hungary – 436 km

A bridge crossed, no borders but a new sign: Hungary! Listening to Charlotte’s good advice, I leave the long Slovak straights for a little more fantasy. On this side of the Danube, there are always cycle paths but crossing some villages makes the day even more lively. After a short lunch break in a square, black clouds replace the beautiful blue sky. And bam he falls off the ropes. I managed to shelter myself. But I am too impatient, I hit the road too quickly. Here I am in a second downpour. This time, it was impossible to shelter myself, I was soaked. Nothing to undermine my morale. Because finally the sun comes out, enough to dry while pedaling. I arrived at the town of Esztergom, on the banks of the Danube. To celebrate this new country, I treat myself with a cake and an iced latte (my guilty pleasure!). I have to make a decision, I have 3 options: follow the Danube on the Hungary side but no camping, follow the Danube on the Slovakia side with camping but longer, or cut it as short as possible to reach Budapest without following the Danube bends. I chose this last option, saving myself around forty kilometers. Already 5 p.m., no camping on the road. I drove a little longer, looking for a garden where I could pitch my tent. First failed attempt at a restaurant, the patch of grass is not theirs. Second attempt a little further on, in a small gravel alley I stop someone in his car. I go there with the nerve and ask him if he has room in his garden for a tent. He thinks for a few seconds and accepts! Cool, relief. Short-term relief. He suggests that I follow him, it’s 500m away, a little higher up. Barely getting back on the bike to follow his car, bam no more gears shift. He goes forward and I’m behind, sweating, having to stand up on the pedals on the way up to find some strength. Here I am with Màrkó and his Dad. They have a very beautiful house, built by his father, on a long plot of land, like I have often seen in Hungary. As soon as we arrive, we introduce ourselves but quickly my eyes are on my bike. I quickly clarified the problem: the gear cable had failed. I thought I would quickly resolve the problem. Haha nope. I call my Dad for help, perhaps more to reassure me. I had seen him change the derailleur cable before, I said to myself, fingers in the nose, now I know how to do it. But before I can start taking everything apart, Márkó tells me that one of his friends can look at my bike! Embarrassed but delighted, neither one nor two, we put my bike in the trunk of his car heading to his friend’s house. In his garage, his bike-loving friend is well equipped. A garage/sauna where it’s 40°, his friend is dripping and takes more than an hour of his time to change the cable. Because I thought that it would be enough to remove the cable and put it back, the task is much more laborious. I understand that I could never have done it alone… I owe them a lot. I didn’t know them until 2 hours ago, I just showed up asking for a piece of garden and finally we spent our evening repairing my bike. The three of us celebrate this repair with a beer. Already past 9 p.m., we return. We talk in the kitchen with Màrkó, he offers me dinner. I learn more about Hungary and Màrkó. And since it’s already very late, his dad left his bed to me! I am really too well received for someone who came for an evening with their mechanical problems… 

I am only about forty kilometers from Budapest.  After a good breakfast offered by Márkó and his dad, I am ready. I quickly realized that my idea of cutting and not following the cycle route was not so good. 30km really not fun and quite dangerous because there are a lot of cars and trucks going fast.  Me, on the other hand, I’m not going very fast, it’s climbing.  But in the end I am very happy with my choice because I arrive in Budapest at noon. I can have lunch in a park while waiting to check in at the youth hostel where I will also stay for 2 nights.  It’s not always easy in hostels with bikes, as is the case here. Very well located in Budapest but on the 3rd floor. I have to carry all my bags, I don’t have confidence in the courtyard of the building.  It’s 29°C, I’m dripping! Before leaving to visit Budapest, I take advantage of a cool shower. I stay on the Pest side at the end of the day, wandering the streets, amazed at every street corner by the architectural beauty of the city.

After a terribly hot night and annoyed by the selfishness of certain people – the joys of the youth hostel, I leave early, taking advantage of the morning freshness. I go up to see the view from the citadel, a perfect spot for breakfast facing Buda Castle which I then go to visit. I once again did a “free walking tour” to visit a good part of Pest, a superb visit filled with anecdotes and history while admiring the beauties of Budapest but while trying to tolerate the heat! For lunch I go to an address suggested by the guide in the Jewish quarter. While eating my Hungarian “baguette”, I meet Winnie, a Chinese woman who lives in Paris and is in Budapest for work. We have a lot in common besides a love of traveling – she also lived in New Zealand. She has a meeting this afternoon, so before meeting at the restaurant this evening, I take the opportunity to rest a little. We have dinner in a great place, I taste a specialty, Paprikás Csirke, chicken with paprika, a spice from Hungary. We go to a bar/club in the Jewish quarter for a drink. A first since I left France. It must be said that I don’t go out much in the evening, after the days of cycling I don’t have the energy to go on to an evening… we leave each other that evening, Winnie flies the next day to Paris, I’m going to cycle south of Budapest.

Thanks to the “Welcome to my garden” site, I made contact with Suzanna who lives about sixty kilometers south of Budapest, along the Donah and Eurovelo 6. It’s a perfect, short day. I take advantage of the youth hostel in the morning and start cycling right when it’s super hot, great timing… I already have to go several kilometers to get out of the city. I take my time, a little nap on the bench, I treat myself with an iced coffee and a swim in the Donau. The water is so hot it’s not even refreshing. I walk along it to her house, the place is really pretty. The banks are wooded and there are many small private pontoons. Thanks to Google maps I manage to find the little path that leads to Suzanna’s house. She lives in a beautiful house with lots of land. She later admitted to me that it requires a lot of maintenance. This is why it also welcomes workaways – like woofing. And that evening, I also met Çağdaş (pronounced Gadash). He is Turkish and has just completed a week of workaway with Suzanna. Thanks to him, I learned several things about Turkish weddings and its traditions! The three of us spent a wonderful evening, discussing our experiences, those to come, politics (all 3 witnesses of the extreme right which is unfortunately taking up more and more space in our respective countries), travel. And we enjoyed this evening with fröccs (pronounced “freutch”), a mixture of rosé and sparkling water as well as good cheese.

After a good night’s sleep, although a little hot, a great breakfast and a morning chatting with Suzanna, I’m ready to leave. Already at noon, I start by walking along the Danube. But the dirt roads full of holes that shake me, take me out through my eyes, I don’t move forward. It’s decided, I’m leaving the Danube to cross Hungary through the hinterland. I don’t know if it’s a good idea but at least it will be less redundant. 20km in the sun, a short lunch break in a village. Persevering, I tried Lángos again, it’s cheap and it’s typical. But like last time, I’m not very well after swallowing all that fat! This is the last time. I digest on my bike. I’m driving in the middle of the road, the shoulders are full of bumps. I go on for miles with podcasts and hide and seek with blue fountains as distractions. With the heat, I just drink hot water. So as soon as possible, I change the water. And I fill the bottles because this evening, I will do a wild camping in a pine forest. After sweating all day, I would have appreciated a shower, but a wash with a glove will do the trick. And a heavy downpour forces me to have dinner and finish my evening in the tent.

The next day, a short day awaits me because I will only be cycling in the morning. There is a recommended cycle path, I follow it. Sometimes it’s a good idea, sometimes not. Like that time when I found myself on a sand path. Hell. Impossible to pedal, I slip. I laugh about the situation at first, but after 5 minutes of laughing, I want to cry. Endless. I have a second option: go to the main road, a little dangerous but only for a few kilometers. The time has come to regain strength. On the map I spotted a beach on an arm of the Tisza river. There are picnic tables, water and most importantly, showers. Niquel, a little shower in public, after the wild camping the night before I appreciate it. There’s no one there anyway. Which surprises me, in the middle of July. A man comes to meet me, we talk. He works in the cabin next door, an information point on the site for tourists and boat/paddle rental. He also explains to me that here, and like many tourist places in Hungary, it was very popular in the 80s – and nothing has changed much since – but now people go abroad. And then quickly, Attila, that’s his first name, offers me to sleep at his farm this evening. I accept with great pleasure. By the time he finishes work around 5 p.m., I have time to sit in the sun and take some time for myself. There are 6km from here to his house which he also does by bike. His farm is very isolated, there are two accesses, one via the sand path, the other via the forest. Phew, he saves me from the sand. He explains to me that all this sand in this region comes from the Donau, which used to flow there. Here we are at his wine farm, it was his grandparents’ farm. He has vines, he shows me around his cellar where he mainly makes rosé. Ideal for a fröccs. An Argentinian friend, Joachim, lives with him. All 3 of us go to water the baby trees and his plants, he does permaculture. He also has goats and his dog Mogy. A beautiful haven of peace full of life. The evening passes quickly, we chat without seeing the time pass. 2 a.m., we’ll have to think about going to sleep. An outdoor shower, under the stars before going to sleep under a shelter, no need to even pitch the tent!

Getting up at 6:30 a.m., the night was short. But Attila has to leave for work at 8 a.m., I’m leaving with him. I chat with him all morning, I take my time before thanking him warmly and getting back on the road. I still have quite a few kilometers to reach Serbia. I am already going to Csongrad where I will be able to have lunch. I treat myself to a meal in a canteen where there are people, rather a good sign. The problem is, I don’t understand the menu and I want something other than fries. The waitress offers me soup, ok, why not, it’s only 30°… and meatballs of I don’t know what. In fact, the soup is cold and sweet, delicious, with mango. And the meatballs are also sweet! A rubbery dough with jam in it. Well, I ate something sweet, the joys of culinary discovery. I’m not lingering too long, I’m aiming for Szeged this evening. I have 30km on a cycle path which I thought was next to the Tisza river. But no, the forest separates me from her, I don’t have much to see. I turn off to find the road and the storm too! It’s dark, I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get to the campsite in time. Missed. Racing with the storm, I lost. A huge downpour is coming, phew bus shelter. Downpour, hail, thunder, I’ve had it all. The bus shelter quickly becomes a pond. A guy is patient with me, I dare to ask him via Google translate if he would have space in a damp garden for my tent, he shakes his head no. I’m waiting before I lose my patience. It calms down, I’m going. I try again by asking a couple in their garage. It’s no. I’m not going to ask every house, so I decided to do the 20km that separates me from Szeged. It’s not raining anymore but lightning is flashing everywhere! It’s still threatening, no time to lose. The city is bigger than I thought, I need the GPS to get to the campsite but with the rain I can’t see anything.. 7 p.m., 100km, I’m exhausted but happy to have arrived at the campsite. I can pitch my tent near a sheltered table, take a shower, cook. As usual I pitch my tent under the only lamp post on the campsite. And I, who thought I could make up for the sleep lost over the last few nights, will quickly become disillusioned. My last night in Hungary was terrible, between the storms, the downpours, the nightclubs and the music, I couldn’t recharge the batteries. 

So I’m a little tired as I begin my last Hungarian kilometers. I have 12 kilometers to take stock of this week in Hungary. I was not charmed by the landscapes I crossed but rather by the Hungarians themselves. I met some great people, with a lot of mutual help and generosity. Now it’s time to cross the border into Serbia, a country that I’m a little nervous about. It must be said that 2 years ago, I already went through it and I don’t have only good memories… 

https://www.komoot.com/collection/2992892/-hongrie

One thought on “Jó napot Hungary – 436 km

  1. Faudra penser à en faire un livre de toutes tes aventures ! C’est vraiment cool de te lire !
    On a hâte d’entendre tout ça de vive voix !

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *