Day 37 to 40: Balaton and further south

Eldonita: 09.09.2022

To the cover picture: Plastic collecting in Hungary with heart. Great idea! 👍

Sat 27.8.

I decided to stay one more night at the campsite and go hiking today.

The nearby mountain with a lookout tower was a good choice. It was a steep climb through the forest. On top, there was a great view from different points. I met a German couple again, who regularly come to Hungary as the woman is originally from here. They gave me some nice tips for hiking, including almost missing the best viewpoint. There was a very young Hungarian couple on the tower, whom I could help with a photo. They were visibly delighted.

After the tower, I went around the mountain, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, then descended through many stairs and vineyards back to the town. I checked when the ferry across Lake Balaton runs (in the end, I went a completely different way) and walked back to the campsite.

Back at the campsite, I relax and then go for a swim in Lake Balaton. The water is slightly cloudy, and the sandy bottom eventually becomes strangely muddy, but it gradually gets shallow.

Afterwards, I wanted to withdraw some money and find a restaurant. So, I got on my bike and went. The ATM in town was out of order 😤 Another ATM was very strange (it asked for my ID number but didn't give me any money... 😣 I could have used my EC card to pay at the restaurant and the campsite, but my stubbornness wanted cash. Besides, there was a big farmer's market the next day that I wanted to go to. There was another ATM in the neighboring village. Google said it was 5-something km, which turned out to be as the crow flies (for those who have been geocaching with me: this is how I get paid back). Along the way, I realized at some point that it was almost 10 km one way. Well, I was already on my way. The road was bad, and I made slow progress. Then it got better, but it was on a busy country road. Finally, I arrived, and the ATM actually gave me the desired amount, and now back. I found a better road with less traffic for the return journey. But then I heard thunder. I was wearing just a thin shirt and nothing else... No rain gear... Only money... So, I hurried and kept checking the rain radar. The situation escalated. It was eventually dark, and there was thunderstorm 🌩 🌩 🌩 above and in front of me, and I didn't know what to do anymore. I finally found a restaurant (I was also hungry) and took shelter under a cover. Lightning was flashing everywhere, the sky was pitch black, and I was mentally exhausted. The presence of other people calmed me down, I ordered food, had a beer, and relaxed. I had perch with broccoli and rice. Very tasty, but much simpler than the way it's served/arranged in our country. Then I had apricot pancakes to extend the time a bit, and then quickly back to the tent as there was little thunderstorm left. Strangely, not a single drop of rain came down.

Sun 28.8.

I packed up early, paid, and headed inland to the farmer's market. It was surprisingly big, more like a folk festival. I bought a few things, strolled through the crowd with my bike, and found two musicians, listening to them. Live music is something beautiful.

At some point, it became too much for me, and I planned the rest of the route. But a friendly Hungarian man who also likes to travel by bike and speaks some German approached me.

Continuing around Lake Balaton, there were many cyclists. But I don't really recommend the route because you always have to choose between bad road surface or road with traffic. There were also sections through villages, but they were heavily built-up. All very touristy. I took a break where I noticed that my beautiful raspberries had turned into raspberry mush. But they still tasted very good with a spoon!

Then I arrived at the peninsula that juts into Lake Balaton. I found a nice beach, went swimming and continued to the ferry.

The ferry ride was very short, and on the other side, I already said goodbye to Lake Balaton and rode through a forest. It was a steady uphill and even though it was pleasantly shady, I was sweating and many small flies were buzzing around my face.

The campsite in Igal was a bit too ambitious for me. I decided to ride as far as I could and bought a motivating Snickers and a chilled after-work beer at the gas station. Cycling is prohibited on the road in Tabs. There is a footpath/cycle path in extremely poor condition and maybe 50cm wide. However, the road remains closed to cyclists outside of the town. Since I had already planned the route through small side roads, I decided to ride on the road anyway. I had heard that there are often roads prohibited for cyclists. On the quiet road, I met a few cyclists who, like me, ignored the prohibition. I continued on less trafficked country roads. At one point, Komoot guided me from one road through a field path to another road. This was much shorter - and a pretty stupid idea... at the turn-off, the road was still quite well paved. Then a gravel field path, then a sandy path, then a path with increasing jungle feeling.

I struggled through, pushed, rode a bit again, and was relieved to finally be on a better road and back in a village. I made a vow never to take shortcuts again, even if Komoot suggests them.

I pass by a post office and manage to buy stamps with some effort. From the outside, the post office doesn't really look open. But it is. The lady behind the counter doesn't understand German or English. After she first showed me a small, adventurous collection of postcards (cat and Christmas motifs), she eventually understood what I wanted and took out a folder full of stamps from an old metal cabinet. I had to stick four different stamps on one card (635 Forint). Outside, I sit down comfortably and write a few postcards.

In Dombovar, I do some shopping for the evening. There are many German products in the DM store, with just a Hungarian sticker on them. Then I call the next campsite. The Dutch woman speaks good German and has a spot for me, and I announce that I'll arrive between 7 and 8 pm. Motivated, I actually manage to cycle the hilly route faster and arrive five minutes before seven at the campsite. The place has many trees and is completely empty. In the Hungarian holidays, there are many youth groups here.

I stand at a table in the playground, cook, and have a beer and a Hawaiian health schnapps with some roots and honey with Germans who are buying a house in Hungary for retirement. Then I go to sleep.

A table stands on the playground of the campsite - I gladly use it for cooking

Tue 30.8.

I have breakfast together with Annika on the phone. My grandma calls me. I receive many kind messages. It takes a lot of time, and I start late, but I don't have much planned for today. First, to the stalactite cave, and then to Pécs. There is a campsite there.

I pass by a lake with a swimming area

Then there is one last uphill before Pécs. In some sections, the gradient is 10%, otherwise it's a pleasant continuous ascent. The path is a dedicated bike path and runs through the forest and later runs parallel to the road. It's a great cycling route 🚴 👍

I quickly arrive in Pécs and navigate with Komoot towards the city center. Especially in cities, a navigation system is very helpful. While waiting at a traffic light on the sidewalk, I'm just checking which way is better when suddenly there's a crash. Directly at the intersection, a left-turning vehicle crashed into an oncoming vehicle, fortunately, both at low speeds and without injuries. I'm unsure if I can help, but since most people here don't understand me and many other witnesses were standing at the intersection, I decide to continue after a moment. At another point, when I took a few photos and checked the map again, a car suddenly stops right next to me. Attila is interested in my trip, knows Kassel, speaks English quite well with me, even calls the campsite for me without me asking (he can't believe that there is a campsite in his village), finds out when I have to be there, and would rather drive me there. He suggests that I leave the bike here. I politely decline this impractical suggestion, he invites me for a beer in the evening, which didn't happen in the end, and then I ride through the city, which is beautifully groomed in the city center and partly even more beautiful than Vienna - to the campsite.

The campsite is located a bit outside, and I ride on well-built cycle paths through the suburbs - there are very rundown buildings everywhere - until I'm supposed to ride over a gravel path behind a Lidl in a shabby-looking area. Skeptically, I go along with it, and after a few meters and curves, I'm in the middle of greenery at a quaint little campsite.

On the site, there are three campers, all Germans. The old lady, who Attila himself described as peculiar, greets me abruptly, takes my details (I sit politely and patiently opposite her and wait until she has everything noted down), and can't change my 10,000 Forint banknote (around 25 euros). I set up my tent, quickly buy something at Lidl, give the lady the exact amount (around 10 euros), wash my cycling shirt, and jump into the showers because I want to go out to eat. As soon as I adjusted the right temperature, there is an energetic knock on the door. I turn off the water. 'Yes, please?' '3 minutes,' someone shouts accusingly through the door. The old lady apparently forgot to tell me that. First irritated but then amused, I quickly finish showering.

Cycling into the city through the dark suburb is creepy, I also miss the bike paths, suddenly find myself on a major road, somehow find my way back to the bike paths and arrive in the city center. There, I reach a really fancy square in front of a theater in the pedestrian zone, where scarves are stretched between the houses (probably for shade), which looks very fancy, and I decide fairly quickly on a fancy restaurant directly on the chic square. Fancy fancy fancy, after all, it's my birthday 🎂 ☺️ The food is very good, I eat fish and drink a very lemony beer with it. Afterwards, I stroll through the pedestrian zone - Pécs is really beautiful, with many bars, cafes, and restaurants, it's worth a city trip here.

There are surprisingly many young people around. While I'm sitting in the restaurant, a group of at least 100 young people passes by, chatting and singing. At some point, I return to the campsite and get into my sleeping bag.

My journey through Hungary is coming to an end. I am still undecided whether to go directly through Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina or to make a small detour through Serbia. In any case, I enjoyed Hungary, especially the many little stores in the villages, the mostly flat landscape with the tailwind (no guarantee), the less trafficked country roads, the many sunflower fields (it must be great four weeks earlier), the city of Pécs, and the volcanic landscape near Tapolca. Hungary is not far, so it's worth going there for a regular vacation.

You can view my tours in detail here if you haven't done so already:

https://www.komoot.de/collection/1622992/-draussenerfahren

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