Into the East

DAY 47 - Vienna to Bratislava - 72km/1791
Another warm, sunny and windy day and we head off along the Danube path again. Not long into the cycle we ride past the nudist area, lots of saggy old tanned Austrians lazing about. Can't hang around long without looking rude so we going past a chemical plant then into the national park, nothing like having a chemical factory right alongside a national park. The path here is good but VERY straight, we ride dead straight through nice woodland for about 12kms until we reach a HUGE bridge across the Danube and we arrive in Hainburg for some coffee and cake.

After this we ride through some frontier country, we're approaching the Slovakian border and the towns are very small and quiet. We soon ride over a hill and we can see the high rise flats of Bratislava in the distance, doesn't look too great from here. After some cornfields we manage to join the traffic and cross the border (picture below)

Flat path continues and very shortly arrive in Bratislava. Cycle around lost for about half and hour and the road surface is obviously worse now than Austria, somehow Mei spots a sign for the historic centre so we follow that and get to tourist info. Nearest camping is miles away so we find a dodgy cheap hostel and check in.

Head out for some beers at night, being Friday the city is full of British men on stag do's, heaps of them are here and because it's so small you can't avoid them. A summer festival is in full flow so there is some live music in the streets. Nice looking place, got a decent look around in a few hours.

DAY 48 - Bratislava to Gyor - 99km/1890
According to the guidebook this is the "brightly coloured" Hungarian border

Very early start because the hostel is so poor, on the road at 7:20. Easy ride out of the city but then get lost, ride for a while around some small farming towns and eventually the guidebook puts us on the right path. We pass through the very rundown border into Hungary and manage to change our funny Slovakian money and Euros into funny Hungarian money. Most of the riding now is through small farming towns on quiet roads and we occasionally stop in strange places for some drinks.

A cycle path appears and we follow that, it's actually quite well sign posted so we travel fairly easily. It's nice being in a new country, the scenery is not that different but nice enough. After passing lots of sunflower fields and more corn we arrive in Gyor. We find a campsite on the edge of the town which turns out to be someone's back garden that they rent out but it is very nice and very cheap. We chat to a retired German couple who are cycling through Hungary and also meet a lone Frenchman travelling around. An evening stroll through Gyor, the oldest part of town is really nice and the main part is ok.

DAY 49 - Gyor to Esztergom - 106km/1996

It helps if you obey the signs

Great summer weather accompanies us today, shame it takes us over an hour to find our way out of Gyor. Tourist info pointed us in the right direction but onto the main highway which doesn't allow bikes, after lots of stroppy moments and some random old locals giving us advice in German we find the path. Cycle way runs out after a while and we end up on the main highway number 1 anyway and we follow this fairly busy and boring road into Komarom. This is probably the quickest way for us to go but nothing much to look at on the way. I have a great beef goulash for lunch and Mei has her usual vegetarian fare and we continue on.

We are on some cycle way now but still basically following the main road. We then turn off onto the slightly smaller and much nicer number 10 road and we follow the Danube through some nice small towns. Stop in Sutto for a small beer and then arrive in Esztergom. Nice place, we arrive for the last day of the summer festival so we see the locals are all out enjoying themselves. Some rain falls at night but nothing too major to start with, then a massive storm comes in to send us to sleep.

DAY 50 - Rest Day - Esztergom
Climb the stairs up to the massive basilica and then climb again to the cupola to get a great view of the river and town. General wander about town, lunch and a beer. Kebab for dinner and some more beers and that's about it.

DAY 51 - Esztergom to Budapest - 76km/2072

Our last day of cycling today! After 4kms we stop because we have reached the 2000km point of our trip, we open a small bottle of cheap Hungarian sparkling wine and have a sip to celebrate. Doesn't taste great so we decide to keep the rest for later. Cycling right next to river to start with on a rough cycle path and hills alongside the river make it very attractive. The path stops after about 10kms so we continue along the number 11 highway towards Budapest. Nice riding through small towns and countryside but the road gets busier as we get closer to the city. Just when the cycle path gets tricky and the road really bussy we meet an Aussie woman cycling and join her for the final stretch into the centre of Budapest.

We have some Italian for for lunch then find an apartment and check in. The apartment is great, basically a 1 bed flat so we have enough room to take all of our gear in and pack it. Nice Hungarian meal and then bed, we're finally at the end now, no more cycling.

DAYS 52 and 53 - Rest Day - Budapest
Walk around and see the castle and fisherman's bastion, then have 90 minute Thai massage which was painful but well needed. Lunch the next day of chicken livers and chicken hearts which tasted great and Mei actually said it looked really good until i told her what was in it. We find some bike boxes from a bike shop and pack up the bikes, then head across town to the Szechenzyl thermal baths, just what we needed.

All done now, fly back to Bristol tomorrow, it's been great.