Bruce getting directions from a Hungarian touring cyclist who is also going to Istanbul
Day 30: First Rain Since France...
Friday July 26 - Day 30 - 64 miles - Total 1183 miles
We started the morning with a 7am breakfast. Sadly breakfast was a disappointing mix of sliced white bread, processed cheese slices, and not very appetizing cold meats. The Germans couple was disappointed as well with our breakfast spread. But with a few cups of coffee and some calories starting to digest, we headed out at 8:30 (a nice early start to the day!) And it was already hot. Hot. HOT! We headed out on Route 51, which turned into the old road, which turned back to Route 51. This wasn't confusing, it was nice when we could get away from the traffic a bit. We stopped to pillage some local fruit but strangely the plums aren't ripe again but neither are the pears... so no pillaged fruit today... it is weird when things seem to go backwards even when we are moving forwards.
Speaking of backwards... we have started a new game as we peddle along, Commie Car Bingo. We have experience with Ladas, Yugos, Wartburgs, and Trabants. But now we are starting to see older ones, newer ones, ones with trailers, roof racks, filled to the roof with tomatoes, dead on the side of the road and so on... As we move deeper into the countryside of the post-Soviet countries, the ratio of these cars to more modern cars is increasing dramatically. And we have definitely been seeing more Ladas with trailers, but they aren't quite as full as we know they can be (because we have seen Ladas pulling Ladas engulfed with 10 feet of hay or filled to the brim with watermelons). This game is fun because the cars are so retro and so ubiquitous. Someday we may even make the bingo cards to play with, since I have a feeling we will be back in this part of the world again... if Bruce has anything to say about it.
We met a bunch of people today:
As we bumped along a less than perfect sidewalk-turned-bicycle path, we met a touring cyclist going to Istanbul. He is actually Hungarian and just started his tour today. How cool! He told us that our route over the levee in Fajsz was under construction and that we should take a different route and cut down a highway to avoid the bit under construction. We didn't really want to do that, since it would be longer and probably filled with more traffic. So, we said goodbye and thank you, "Vis Lat" and "Kusanam", and headed off with a plan to check out how bad the construction site was and make a decision later in the day.
As it got hotter and we searched for water in Dunapataj, we met a French group of 3 cycle tourists who were also following the Danube. We attempted to chat in broken French (they love Romania). We headed off on our separate ways because they wanted to follow the EuroVelo 6 route and we were following the BrucieVelo Awesome route which should cut out about 10 kilometers of levee path. We will meet this group again later in the day at our campsite in Baja.
Along we went to Fajsz,(where we would pick up the levee path that may or may not be under construction). We saw a small shop, so we went in and bought some cold water. After a successful, no English conversation in the shop to get the hidden cold water, the lady came out to check our maps. She also told us that the 4 miles of dirt levee we wanted to cross were under construction and we should go back. Okay... so now we have two independent Hungarian sources confirming the existence of this construction. She also advised us to take the highway route and hand-gestured that the way would be okay. So, we turned around out of Fajsz to avoid the mythic construction site of doom.
All of a sudden, it got very dark. Then the wind picked up. The temperature dropped 30 degrees F... We felt a drop... then a second drop... then (and pardon my language) the entire fucking sky opened up and drenched us with the heaviest fucking rainstorm we have ever seen!
We rode in the rain for a while until literally there were 3 inches of water on the road and we couldn't see out of our sunglasses without windshield wipers. We found a safe place off the road under some willow trees to wait out the rest of the storm. In truth, it was so much fun speeding through the rain. When cars passed by and splashed us, the water was practically hot from being in contact with the scorching pavement from the sun earlier in the day. The rain was cool and refreshing and since we knew our panniers are waterproof, we weren't worried about being completely soaked through ourselves.
The rain finally cleared and we headed out again. The sun came out and the temperature rose from 65 to 85 degrees F in a mater of 10 minutes, so fast that the road was actually steaming. We dried in no time as we headed down along our detour. We reached the M9 highway - Matrica Vignette required (but not for bikes... Side Note: Two years ago, we got a ticket in the Czech Republic in the Big Blue Bus for not having our Matrica - toll pass - and driving on the highway)! The M9 highway had less traffic than any of the roads we had been on all day and, to our delight, it was brand-spanking-new so the road surface was pristine! We veered off of it just before Danube bridge to rejoin our original route. We found it easily and sped along the asphalt levee for 10miles into Baja (pronounced Ba-ya). Near the end of this path the surface changed to commie precast concrete slabs - which have a bump between each slab. This type of surface is not ideal for any vehicle, so we are still not quite sure why it was so widely used, but we made it none-the-less.
When we got into town, we obviously looked lost enough as a father on bicycle with son in rear seat and a daughter in a trailer went by and asked us "Do you need help?". (This is now the second time a father on a bike with kids in tow has stopped and asked us -in English - if we needed help finding our way around... we are either very lucky or this is a common event that we are just now experiencing... I hope the latter...) We followed this very helpful trio to a campsite and youth hostel called Baja Kemping. We thanked them profusely and decided to camp for the night. Andrea cooked a wonderful pasta dinner with our supplies from Budapest... but there were lots of ants around so we had to do double the dishes, since these little ants made it into all of our pots and pans (after dinner thankfully).
At the camp bar, we had a couple of beers and met our last cyclists of the day Stefan and Rebecca. We chatted to this delightful couple from Austria and South Tyrol. They had actually ended up taking the levee path that we detoured around and they did hit the construction we were warned about. They were confronted with 4-5miles of sand and had to walk their bikes most of the way. On the other hand, they barely got any rain at all and only felt a few drops near the end of their harrowing ordeal on the levee. Two roads diverge... right? Note: the Frenchies also took this route and rolled in to the campsite about 2 hours after we did... we were showered and making dinner when they pulled up to reception. Anyway, we decided to ride together tomorrow (Bruce, Andrea, Rebecca, and Stefan) and maybe for a while longer. We plan to wake-up early to avoid the heat and make it to at least Batina and maybe even Serbia tomorrow. Woohoo! Travel Buddies!
The World is Ours!
Friday July 26 - Day 30 - 64 miles - Total 1183 miles
We started the morning with a 7am breakfast. Sadly breakfast was a disappointing mix of sliced white bread, processed cheese slices, and not very appetizing cold meats. The Germans couple was disappointed as well with our breakfast spread. But with a few cups of coffee and some calories starting to digest, we headed out at 8:30 (a nice early start to the day!) And it was already hot. Hot. HOT! We headed out on Route 51, which turned into the old road, which turned back to Route 51. This wasn't confusing, it was nice when we could get away from the traffic a bit. We stopped to pillage some local fruit but strangely the plums aren't ripe again but neither are the pears... so no pillaged fruit today... it is weird when things seem to go backwards even when we are moving forwards.
Speaking of backwards... we have started a new game as we peddle along, Commie Car Bingo. We have experience with Ladas, Yugos, Wartburgs, and Trabants. But now we are starting to see older ones, newer ones, ones with trailers, roof racks, filled to the roof with tomatoes, dead on the side of the road and so on... As we move deeper into the countryside of the post-Soviet countries, the ratio of these cars to more modern cars is increasing dramatically. And we have definitely been seeing more Ladas with trailers, but they aren't quite as full as we know they can be (because we have seen Ladas pulling Ladas engulfed with 10 feet of hay or filled to the brim with watermelons). This game is fun because the cars are so retro and so ubiquitous. Someday we may even make the bingo cards to play with, since I have a feeling we will be back in this part of the world again... if Bruce has anything to say about it.
We met a bunch of people today:
As we bumped along a less than perfect sidewalk-turned-bicycle path, we met a touring cyclist going to Istanbul. He is actually Hungarian and just started his tour today. How cool! He told us that our route over the levee in Fajsz was under construction and that we should take a different route and cut down a highway to avoid the bit under construction. We didn't really want to do that, since it would be longer and probably filled with more traffic. So, we said goodbye and thank you, "Vis Lat" and "Kusanam", and headed off with a plan to check out how bad the construction site was and make a decision later in the day.
As it got hotter and we searched for water in Dunapataj, we met a French group of 3 cycle tourists who were also following the Danube. We attempted to chat in broken French (they love Romania). We headed off on our separate ways because they wanted to follow the EuroVelo 6 route and we were following the BrucieVelo Awesome route which should cut out about 10 kilometers of levee path. We will meet this group again later in the day at our campsite in Baja.
Along we went to Fajsz,(where we would pick up the levee path that may or may not be under construction). We saw a small shop, so we went in and bought some cold water. After a successful, no English conversation in the shop to get the hidden cold water, the lady came out to check our maps. She also told us that the 4 miles of dirt levee we wanted to cross were under construction and we should go back. Okay... so now we have two independent Hungarian sources confirming the existence of this construction. She also advised us to take the highway route and hand-gestured that the way would be okay. So, we turned around out of Fajsz to avoid the mythic construction site of doom.
All of a sudden, it got very dark. Then the wind picked up. The temperature dropped 30 degrees F... We felt a drop... then a second drop... then (and pardon my language) the entire fucking sky opened up and drenched us with the heaviest fucking rainstorm we have ever seen!
We rode in the rain for a while until literally there were 3 inches of water on the road and we couldn't see out of our sunglasses without windshield wipers. We found a safe place off the road under some willow trees to wait out the rest of the storm. In truth, it was so much fun speeding through the rain. When cars passed by and splashed us, the water was practically hot from being in contact with the scorching pavement from the sun earlier in the day. The rain was cool and refreshing and since we knew our panniers are waterproof, we weren't worried about being completely soaked through ourselves.
The rain finally cleared and we headed out again. The sun came out and the temperature rose from 65 to 85 degrees F in a mater of 10 minutes, so fast that the road was actually steaming. We dried in no time as we headed down along our detour. We reached the M9 highway - Matrica Vignette required (but not for bikes... Side Note: Two years ago, we got a ticket in the Czech Republic in the Big Blue Bus for not having our Matrica - toll pass - and driving on the highway)! The M9 highway had less traffic than any of the roads we had been on all day and, to our delight, it was brand-spanking-new so the road surface was pristine! We veered off of it just before Danube bridge to rejoin our original route. We found it easily and sped along the asphalt levee for 10miles into Baja (pronounced Ba-ya). Near the end of this path the surface changed to commie precast concrete slabs - which have a bump between each slab. This type of surface is not ideal for any vehicle, so we are still not quite sure why it was so widely used, but we made it none-the-less.
When we got into town, we obviously looked lost enough as a father on bicycle with son in rear seat and a daughter in a trailer went by and asked us "Do you need help?". (This is now the second time a father on a bike with kids in tow has stopped and asked us -in English - if we needed help finding our way around... we are either very lucky or this is a common event that we are just now experiencing... I hope the latter...) We followed this very helpful trio to a campsite and youth hostel called Baja Kemping. We thanked them profusely and decided to camp for the night. Andrea cooked a wonderful pasta dinner with our supplies from Budapest... but there were lots of ants around so we had to do double the dishes, since these little ants made it into all of our pots and pans (after dinner thankfully).
At the camp bar, we had a couple of beers and met our last cyclists of the day Stefan and Rebecca. We chatted to this delightful couple from Austria and South Tyrol. They had actually ended up taking the levee path that we detoured around and they did hit the construction we were warned about. They were confronted with 4-5miles of sand and had to walk their bikes most of the way. On the other hand, they barely got any rain at all and only felt a few drops near the end of their harrowing ordeal on the levee. Two roads diverge... right? Note: the Frenchies also took this route and rolled in to the campsite about 2 hours after we did... we were showered and making dinner when they pulled up to reception. Anyway, we decided to ride together tomorrow (Bruce, Andrea, Rebecca, and Stefan) and maybe for a while longer. We plan to wake-up early to avoid the heat and make it to at least Batina and maybe even Serbia tomorrow. Woohoo! Travel Buddies!
The World is Ours!
SPICEY! Paprika (which means pepper) Factory in Solt , Hungary
We love overly formal English Translations. Go Baja Kemping!
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