Day 37 - Budapest

Thanks Mr Barlow, I am glad to see that even when I am over 1000 miles away from you that you can still take the piss, mind you I would have thought you could have been a little more up to date that 20 years ago.

Well its only 3 days since the last post and I dont have much time so this one will be quite short.

Thursday was about 110k to Banska Bystrica and a good ride with a few climbs and a lovely town square to end the day with, well almost end the day and I then found that the campsite no longer exists and I had to go another 7k uphill in the wrong direction to find another campsite, I wasnt best pleased and didnt enjoy it especially as I douted it would even be there.

Well at least it meant a downhill start to yesterday which was needed at it was a long day of 147k, the longest so far and longer than I would rather do in a day. There was a tricky bit in the middle where I could only see major roads but I decided to chance getting through. The little road I was on came to an end at a cafe beside a major road and I asked a couple leaving the cafe the way to Budca and they pointed down the dual carriageway and indicated that bikes could use it, so I went across a bit of rough ground and joined it. After a couple of k there was another small road to my right so again I went across a bit of rough ground and was on the small road. This passed through another village and then joined what looked like a motorway, not that the map indicated it. I wasnt sure if I could go on it and flagged down a motorist who confirmed that I couldnt....sod it, my luck had run out. Looking at the map I could retace about 12k and take a different route down another main road, or about a 25k diversion through the hills to a point where I was still unsure if I could get to the road I wanted, which from here was only 2.5k away. Then a van passed and went down a tiny lane which I hadnt spotted. Well it worth a go and it paid off and once back on the road I wanted and the foreseen problems out of the way I felt really good. The rest of the day was pretty straight forward although once in Hungary it was nothing but main roads. They were newly surfaced and a delight to ride on and not too much traffic apart from Polish lorries. I arrived at the campsite in Diosjen and it looked really posh, a nice bar, lots of covered seating, a large house with a big pond in front of it and lots of good grass to camp on. It seemed a bit odd that I was the only one there then. It was so nice I had a little wander around first, then for some reason I checked the shower block. The were full of dirt and leaves and looked as though they hadnt seen use in years. I turned on the shower and not a drop came out, so I tried the hand basins, nothing, the washing up area, nothing, and the taps on the lawns and still nothing. I checked at the reception about this and they pointed to the road works outside and I can only assume that they too have been there for years. Thankfully there was another site in the village another 2k away, uphill again. This place looked really run down, but at least there were people staying in the huts. I checked the water supply and water came out, so thats good enough for me. There were no caravans and I was the only tent. When I went for a shower thay looked really old and knacked but at least water came out. I turned it on and left it a few minutes and amazingly hot water came out to my surprise. I thinks this standard will be about as good as it gets from now on.

Today I made an early start for Budapest, another main road bash, but at least with a tailwind. It was only about 60k and I made for the information office and picked up some maps and then wandered around a few hotels before selecting the Queen Mary Hotel, very Hungarian. The room is big and it will be the first time I havent camped for 4 weeks, yet it doesnt feel strange when I had expected it to. I cant say I am even bothered about sleeping in a bed for a change, but I wont miss the bugs, especially the mosquitos.