My road onwards follows the Drava river valley for the first half of the day, before turning off onto quieter, more alpine roads. There are plenty of so called forest roads here, hard packed gravel untarmacked, but the surface is pretty consistent and free of pot holes.
Farms are a mixture of cattle and corn, and nowhere is particularly flat, so as darkness falls I have to settle with camping on a not quite flat bit of grass with views to distant mountains, waking to cloud inversion sitting on and then blowing through the valley below.
Today was serious climbing, reaching 1000m only to drop into the valley and climb again.
The roads are small and quiet except for the occasional logging truck roaring up and down the hill and the local population is stockpiling wood for winter etc in neat stacks
As evening approaches I breach the pass and am treated to the most spectacular views yet, of rocky 2000m peaks towering over a green valley floor, with sporadic farms and little white churches clinging to shoulders of relative flatness. Camp on the first flat bit I see, which again doesn't have the PERFECT view down the valley but still surrounded mountain peaks in mosy directions so pretty OK.
Unfortunately the moon is nearly full and washes out the stars from a photo perspective.
Today was serious climbing (again). This time reaching a max of 1388m before dropping down an epically steep and bendy road into Austria for a few km - hand cramp from squeezing the brakes hard enough to get around the corners, and then climbing all the way back up on a beautiful series of smooth switchbacks, which makes it the easiest 500m climb I've ever done. This road is unsurprisingly very popular with motorbikes leaning round the bends and revving their engines to echo off the trees and valley sides, as well as a fair few other pedallers. Reaching the pass marks another border post, crossing back into Slovenia, with the reward of 20km continuous downhill back down a river valley admiring the views.
Pausing at one viewpoint i chatted with a Slovenian bloke who is driving round the borders of the country in a classic Yugo -
Why do Yugo's have rear window heaters?
So your hands don't get cold pushing it!
However his is 30 years old and allegedly never broken down though! He has also cycled all over Europe and run across Slovenia so a legit dude.
Finished off with a bit of a slog to reach Lake Bled as darkness falls, passing bars playing accordion music for a day off in a hostel.
Hungary throws one final thunderstorm at me and a little 10% climb to the border, really as a small warning of what to expect...
The landscape immediately changes! Or maybe the land use changes?
Lots of small, steep valleys, down and up, though the road attempts to stick to the ridges where life is concentrated - every house and farm perches on the edge of the slope with marvellous views over the valleys, which are partially vine yarded, some pastures of cows, and the valley bottom wooded and gloomy.
This makes it impossible to find a hill top campsite, so I've missed the end of a beautiful sunset. Could be worse though!
Maribor, famed for the oldest vine in the world, seems like an appropriate place to do some wine tasting, easily accomodated, and also discover "Most", essentially grape cider.
The historic town centre is coincidentally displaying a history or railways in the town, with a panel describing Darlington's place in history! Nice to see the recognition!
In the hostel met Shane the kiwi tour de France chaser - He has also been travelling for two months, but is covering up to 200km a day on a carbon racing bike, carrying just a 3l backpack. Rapid!
He sneaks on to stages after the gendarmes close the roads but before the race comes through and rides as far as possible before he gets caught.
Completed a stage in the mountains this year which was cut short for the actual race due to a massive hailstorm before the end.
The landscape immediately changes! Or maybe the land use changes?
Lots of small, steep valleys, down and up, though the road attempts to stick to the ridges where life is concentrated - every house and farm perches on the edge of the slope with marvellous views over the valleys, which are partially vine yarded, some pastures of cows, and the valley bottom wooded and gloomy.
This makes it impossible to find a hill top campsite, so I've missed the end of a beautiful sunset. Could be worse though!
Maribor, famed for the oldest vine in the world, seems like an appropriate place to do some wine tasting, easily accomodated, and also discover "Most", essentially grape cider.
The historic town centre is coincidentally displaying a history or railways in the town, with a panel describing Darlington's place in history! Nice to see the recognition!
In the hostel met Shane the kiwi tour de France chaser - He has also been travelling for two months, but is covering up to 200km a day on a carbon racing bike, carrying just a 3l backpack. Rapid!
He sneaks on to stages after the gendarmes close the roads but before the race comes through and rides as far as possible before he gets caught.
Completed a stage in the mountains this year which was cut short for the actual race due to a massive hailstorm before the end.
Escaping the city is a bit unpleasant as there does not seem to be an obvious nice bike route towards Balaton.
Anyway, eventually I get into the countryside and have a beautiful wild camp spot on a ridge with the lake in the distance.
Dogs. More prevalent in Hungary than the previous countries, in villages everybody has a dog in their garden which all seem to be either paranoid, nasty, or just enjoy a good bark.
As I roll down a street one after another takes up the chorus, some galloping down to the extreme end of their fence before launching into a frantic barrage of pointless woofing. And this treatment is for anyone walking past, not just reserved for me. How the local inhabitants put up with the constant noise I don't know.
The north side of the lake is all vineyards and interesting conical hills, with the waterfront all being caravan parks and fenced off pay to enter "beach" sections. Whenever I get near the shore it doesn't smell good nor does the water look enticing so not too impressed with the lake itself.
After some deliberation I have decided to switch to Plan B at this point and take a shortcut direct to Slovenia, cutting out the Serbia - Montenegro - Croatia loop. I'm tired and the extra time and distance feels a bit much.
Thus I can relax a bit more and get into the wonderful scenery of Slovenia I've heard so much about, hopefully while the weather is still decent.
Eurovelo 14 doesn't officially exist, yet I have been encountering signposts marked for it on and off over the last three days. I wonder where I would end up if I kept following them?
Most common car in Hungary is a circa 2000 Suzuki swift. Overheard a joke about the lack of a Hungarian car industry, Czechs go home in their Skoda's, Russians go home in their ladas, Hungarians go home for lunch? Hmm.
Runes. Hungary has an archaic runic alphabet used ceremoniously on signs and monuments, which looks cool.
Sunflowers are now dried up, shrivelling hunched like creepy Tim Burton figures. I wonder if they have a special combine harvester attachment for sunflowers?
Anyway, eventually I get into the countryside and have a beautiful wild camp spot on a ridge with the lake in the distance.
Dogs. More prevalent in Hungary than the previous countries, in villages everybody has a dog in their garden which all seem to be either paranoid, nasty, or just enjoy a good bark.
As I roll down a street one after another takes up the chorus, some galloping down to the extreme end of their fence before launching into a frantic barrage of pointless woofing. And this treatment is for anyone walking past, not just reserved for me. How the local inhabitants put up with the constant noise I don't know.
The north side of the lake is all vineyards and interesting conical hills, with the waterfront all being caravan parks and fenced off pay to enter "beach" sections. Whenever I get near the shore it doesn't smell good nor does the water look enticing so not too impressed with the lake itself.
After some deliberation I have decided to switch to Plan B at this point and take a shortcut direct to Slovenia, cutting out the Serbia - Montenegro - Croatia loop. I'm tired and the extra time and distance feels a bit much.
Thus I can relax a bit more and get into the wonderful scenery of Slovenia I've heard so much about, hopefully while the weather is still decent.
Eurovelo 14 doesn't officially exist, yet I have been encountering signposts marked for it on and off over the last three days. I wonder where I would end up if I kept following them?
Most common car in Hungary is a circa 2000 Suzuki swift. Overheard a joke about the lack of a Hungarian car industry, Czechs go home in their Skoda's, Russians go home in their ladas, Hungarians go home for lunch? Hmm.
Runes. Hungary has an archaic runic alphabet used ceremoniously on signs and monuments, which looks cool.
Sunflowers are now dried up, shrivelling hunched like creepy Tim Burton figures. I wonder if they have a special combine harvester attachment for sunflowers?
Since I can't check into my luxurious airbnb apartment until the evening I have stopped at Momento park, collection of soviet statues removed from their original places, not quite living up to that scene in GoldenEye, but spiced up as there seems to be an airshow in progress nearby as loads of old planes keep flying over
So much for three days relaxing? Three days pounding the streets trying to see a whole city under a relentless sun....
On the face of it Budapest is vibrant, full of cafes, burger bars, wine festivals, music events, parks, spas, kebab shops, etc, so many nice buildings I don't know which ones are the famously significant and end up just wandering around randomly taking photos.
Their parliament is impressive, built to imitate the British one only marginally grander, and also suffering from slowly sinking under it's own weight.
Empty (of people) railway museum was nice.
Went to another pinball arcade, which was fun. The Addams family machine is my favourite.
Got a new watch battery fitted.
Met Astrid for a drink (comrade from Africa tour) who has been living in the city for the last couple of years and fills me in on the state of things, with surreptious glances around -
Hungary now politically is effectively a one party state, the far right having passed laws strangling opposition, taking control of or closing newspapers, tv, radio, running city wide smear adverts about opposition, rewriting history textbooks... So the younger generation unsurprisingly moving abroad to live and work, labour shortage here, laws passed that employers can demand 200 hours a year extra work with payment "within three years". Er what.
And allegedly the health service is still somewhat medieval, and recommends amputation for the slightest ailment. So I'm being extra careful until I cross the next border!
So much for three days relaxing? Three days pounding the streets trying to see a whole city under a relentless sun....
On the face of it Budapest is vibrant, full of cafes, burger bars, wine festivals, music events, parks, spas, kebab shops, etc, so many nice buildings I don't know which ones are the famously significant and end up just wandering around randomly taking photos.
Their parliament is impressive, built to imitate the British one only marginally grander, and also suffering from slowly sinking under it's own weight.
Empty (of people) railway museum was nice.
Went to another pinball arcade, which was fun. The Addams family machine is my favourite.
Got a new watch battery fitted.
Met Astrid for a drink (comrade from Africa tour) who has been living in the city for the last couple of years and fills me in on the state of things, with surreptious glances around -
Hungary now politically is effectively a one party state, the far right having passed laws strangling opposition, taking control of or closing newspapers, tv, radio, running city wide smear adverts about opposition, rewriting history textbooks... So the younger generation unsurprisingly moving abroad to live and work, labour shortage here, laws passed that employers can demand 200 hours a year extra work with payment "within three years". Er what.
And allegedly the health service is still somewhat medieval, and recommends amputation for the slightest ailment. So I'm being extra careful until I cross the next border!