Day 1,399
A new No. 2
We had decided not to head straight back to the Danube, but chose to ride through many small villages and quiet rural roads to Lake Balaton. It’s the largest lake in central Europe, surrounded by vineyards on one side, and holiday homes for the wealthy on the other. As it was nearly Easter we expected it to be buzzing, and it certainly was, just not the buzz of tourists, but of builders hammering away and gardeners strimming, and boy they sure love their strimmers. The Easter weekend starts tomorrow and hopefully their work will be done. Our cycle path wound through cool forests and quiet streets rather than the lakeside, meaning we could only catch glimpses of the lake between buildings. So we decided not to linger but press on to the opposite shore, hoping for a better view. The last section before the ferry gave us the views we'd longed for, the short ferry ride even more.
Lake Balaton
We'd hoped to pitch up at a campsite and eat at a restaurant, but like the opposite shore, everywhere was closed. So nothing for it, we pressed on. A fair bit later we pitched our tent beside the canal path, on which we planned to ride towards the Danube.
After a quiet night, only the odd rumble from the train tracks - Mr Beeching didn’t make it here thank goodness, there are lines heading everywhere, just like in Britain before our government set Mr Beeching onto them. In the morning we returned to the canal and it was simply stunning, swans nesting, herons and storks flying above, birds of prey sweeping around and the liveliest fish we've ever seen. We were having a great time.
At lunch time we arrived at a covered picnic area, with bins, and a row of carved trees for us to gaze at and admire whilst we wolfed down our sandwiches. On we rode, through a town called Baja, bringing back many happy memories of our time in Baja California, through a town called Hard, it had another name, but not as memorable. Many places in Hungary have two names, or two spellings at least, one in Hungarian and one in Romanian. You don't need to be a history buff to understand that Hungary, like many of the Baltic countries, has had a somewhat unstable past when it comes to land borders.
Our time in Hungary was coming to an end, first though we had another church to visit. Built in the 20th century, designed by Imre Makovecs, it stands in a residential area of the city. It's a stunning building, actually in two halves. Imre’s design was inspired by Hungarian folklore and it certainly stops you in your tracks.
What a ‘church’, or gateway to somewhere else?
We resumed our ride back to the Danube, through the town of Mohács. Here in the week before Ash Wednesday they have 6 days of celebrations. Clearly a result of the many nationalities that have called this land home, they have a week-long party cumulating in the townsfolk dressing as monsters on Shrove Tuesday. Bet they don't get to eat pancakes though!
The Busójárás from Mohács
We said goodbye to Hungary by finding a lovely wild camp spot besides the Danube. It was quiet and secluded, but only a few feet from Eurovelo 6. A light breeze kept the bugs away, the boats, fish, trees, and birds kept us entertained, and we felt we had found a new No. 2 in our Top 10 wild camps! Tomorrow we pop into Croatia for a couple of hours, then on to Serbia.
New entry to the Top 10, straight in at No. 2
