47th day - August 24th: Rain, rain and nobody at home in Vac

After breakfast with the curator of Esztergom, I checked my weather app. Overcast but no rain, so I started cycling. The destination for the day was the small town of Vac at the end of the scenic Danube Bend, about 40km away. But apparently, the weather in the mountains around the Danube Bend has its own rules. After just one hour, a strong thunderstorm with heavy rain came in, so I had to wait in a restaurant near the Danube ferry for almost three hours until it was only drizzling. Then I had to wait for almost another hour for the ferry to start. The mountains were still covered in rain. For one hour, the weather cleared up and cycling along the Danube Bend was a visual delight. Now I had to hurry because I wouldn't arrive in Vac until around 5:30 pm. But there was new rain. I waited under a tree for half an hour, but then continued cycling in normal rain. It only stopped raining shortly before Vac, and I was completely soaked. I hoped to quickly visit the church with its holey tower - which is unique in Hungary - and maybe find a place to sleep. (I took the photo in sunny weather the next day)

But the Protestant pastor was not there and couldn't be reached by phone either. I googled for a campground nearby and actually found one. However, it turned out to be just a free rest area with a meadow and a covered seating area right by the Danube river. In the twilight, I set up my tent there, put on dry clothes, and cooked the lecsó that I received as a travel provision in Iza. While eating with a view of the Danube, I thought to myself: Maybe it was meant to be that the pastor of Vac is not here, because visually, I definitely didn't look good. So far, I had been lucky most of the time. Throughout the rest of the evening, two river cruise ships passed very close to the shore, and I could see people sitting at the table there. But I was satisfied with my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag.