Inveterate dabbler in business, travel, gadgets & life

Budapest to Dunapataj on The Danube Bike Trail

The things I can recommend  The Hotel Rila for are it’s close proximity to the E6 cycleway through Budapest & the price,. Otherwise the breakfast is mediocre ,it’s a long way from any nightlife  unless you are visiting the adjacent hospital. Plus the owner is a bit dour..

The sun was out and a tad warmer than of late. The two notables for me today were the varied road surfaces & the sheer amount of sculpture in Hungary.

The designer forgot about where to go at the end!The road surfaces varied from ultra smooth cycleways, deeply potholed tarmac, grass banks, mud tracks, old cobblestones narrow footpaths, tree route paths and raised pipes crossing the road! Unbelievable that it’s all meant to be the E6 European cycleway.  In fact Hungary reminds me more of the UK in municipal  stupidity than Germanic countries connected efficieny . e.g. In one spot outside Solt there is a perfectly good road that has been by-passed so perfect for biking etc.  A priority for action with all the stuff that really needs doing? of cause –  at vast expense its been narrowed, new tarmac  laid with limestone edging. Just a pity that where it meets the new road they forgot to allow access. see the picture.

I know how he is feelingBut one thing that Hungary does different than the UK is the classic sculptures, leaving Budapest in a renovated riverside area just full of lovely bronzes.  I fell in love with this guy carrying his cases, the expression on his face was wonderful.

I met up with a young  French couple on a tandem, The guy is a rugby player  from Toulouse where they had started, so as you can expect I didn’t keep up with them for very long. But very interesting to talk to all be it very briefly 🙂

Tonights place Bringa Panzio  (Warning: has a sound file)  is ultra modern & really very well built & designed. A good find from AroundMe which I must say is a great app for when you are travelling. It has no fans, lifts & other man made noises However, the rain has just started on the Velux windows 🙁

Here’s the Strava for today’s 74 miles and now very nearly halfway down the Danube with 14 days  in the saddle.

Strava_Ride___Budapest_to_Dunapataj

Todays pics are here

Danube biking Day 13 – Sturovo to Budapest

Relaxing morning coffeeMuch better weather today with lots of sunshine. However, the temperature has markedly dropped. After some confusion over English numbers, she said €30 for last nights so called dinner but actually meant €13  with the beers.

The basilica in Esztergom looks pretty amazing although unfortunately I cycled past more interested in the bridge which was only rebuilt in 2001, 56 years after it was destroyed, obviously the Hungarians & Slovaks did not get on with each other. (interesting Wikipedia titbit – Patrick Leigh Fermor walked from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in 1933/34. His book A Time of Gifts ends on the bridge”

A quick ride along a semi decent cycleway & road to the ferry. Whilst waiting I discovered the derailleur was really loose 🙁 so a good reason for cleaning the bike periodically and poking around)

After the ferry its a gorgeous cycleway with fantastic views of the Danube as it does a major twist through the hills, be interesting to see the huge boats navigate around the S bend.

Me & fellow Danube cyclistsOn the next ferry at Vac I met another pair of Germanic guys once again one  lived in Vienna but this time the other guy was from Munich not Bremen 🙂 One of them had  this time, like me, cycled all the way from Donaueschingen. Alas they finish in Budapest returning next year to go to Belgrade.

The hotel Centrooms House is a bit unusual been in a huge open courtyard on the first floor. It was OK, apart from the hum of some huge fan till 2am but it was very cheap & in the centre of bar life.

I make it that I’ve now biked 2678km since leaving Cambridge on the 3 August in 47 days with 12 rest days so far. Here’s the Strava:

Strava_Ride___Sturovo_to_BudapestAll the pictures for today are here

 

The difference a day makes – Komatron to Sturovo

Foul day on The DanubeYesterday’s top notch cycling conditions were today replaced by heavy squally rain and temperatures down to 10 degrees 🙁 Plus the condition of the paths has noticeably detoriated.

The breakfast was disappoining but I guess it was cheap. First stop after getting kitted out in full wet weather gear was the Vodafone.hu shop to get one of their 1GB SIM’s for £9. The transaction was easy enough, once the new SIM was installed I was expecting the internet to be there like Switzerland, However, after much debate & discussion it transpires they need 48 hours to turn on the internet 🙁 Fortunately there is a lot of wide open WiFi  here so I managed for today.

Then it was time to choose which side of the river to bike. The right Hungarian side seemed to have a lot of my hated artics with huge trailers so I went for the left Slovak bank with it’s broken footpaths & Roman ruins. So back over the bridge I went!

It started OK with the rain easing off the path was very bumpy but passable. The Roman ruins were a bit uninspiring so after a quick walk around. On I went into loads more rain and the pathway detoriating with the sand & mud from the last few floods. I was tempted by the ferry, but to access the ferry meant sliding down a narrow ramp. I continued through the rain & mud eventually reaching a cafe with a pair of guys doing The Danube in 5 day slices over several years. However today was to much for them so they sent for the missus to come & rescue them in her car!

I left and continued in the rain  on a track with the mud getting deeper. Eventually I ended up pushing the bike through the goo and finding a way back to the road ;-( for a mud scraping session. By this time a gale was blowing behind me & I was wishing I had a spinnaker 🙂 The trucks blasting pass the other way were terrifying in the extreme as I was shot blasted with spray!

Thermal Pool
Thermal Pool

At Sturovo I saw the magical words Thermal Hotel and called it a day, washed the clothes and headed for the thermal pools to warm up. I booked a massage for 7pm. The massage was probably one of the most disappointing ones ever, even for €20. The guy had me lying face down for an hour whilst pummelling me and squeezing my very painful muscles around my ankles. It will be interesting to see what they will feel like tomorrow. Then it was off for an even more disappointing cold deep fried mushrooms, fish & potatoes for €11

I’m now booked into a hotel in Central Budapest via LastMinute.com so here’s hoping for a better day.

Today’s 34 mile ride makes it 42% of The Danube bikeway completed. Here is Strava for the day.

Strava_Ride___Komàrom_to_Sturovo

The photos are here 

Bratislava to Komáron on The Danube Bikeway

After last nights cracking evening in the basement wellness centre at The Hotel Devín which involved swimming against a very strong current in the elliptical pool, steaming in the steam room & even sitting on the lowest seat in the huge sauna 🙂 followed by buckets of cold water tipped from the ceiling, then a one hour Thai massage done in the reverse order to Sally’s Swedish massage which is still to be beaten for relaxation therapy.

Modern house with grass roof & in water garden
Modern house with grass roof & in water garden

As you can imagine  after such pleasures and a rear wind I zoomed along the first 2/3rds of smooth cycleways, although be warned there are no sign’s and in a few places a tree root or pothole is cunningly placed to catch you out. Also the route is barricaded off at one point to try and force you to use the Danube Ferry, which of cause I ignored and then spent the next few miles worrying what I would do if there was no crossing place Fortunately the barrage, locks & power station with a road crossing eventually appeared, so no problem.

Berr chitLunch was a beer at the remarkable price of 50p for 500ml although the only food was a big bag of crisps at 80p 🙁  after quite a few miles on a gravel path, very treacherous if the gravel is deep, I arrived in Komátno on the Slovak side, “Aroundme” thought hotels on the Hungarian side were cheaper so I crossed the huge bridge with low parapets that I fear falling over, seeing the huge Tesco made me smile – I wonder what the checkout staff get paid there?

The first hotel was in the process of a massive rebuilt so I went towards the next choice but seeing a hotel called The Aqua I just at to stop. The price worked out at £36 for b&b including free admission to the huge outdoor sulphurous thermal pool a conventional heated outdoor 50 metre pool and a huge 25 metre pleasure pool. Totally amazing all in the most beautiful grounds. So you know how I spent my evening….

The Strava is here and look at the amazing average speed of 13.8mph 🙂

Strava_Ride___Bratislava_to_Komàrom

The pictures are here

A very pleasurable day indeed with fine weather.