Day 58 Hungary/Serbia 15/11/2010 Baja–Nagybaracska–Bački Breg–Bački Monoštor–Sombor. 40.98miles/66.42km, 3hr54minutes, Av 10.5mph.

Debs said that she was feeling a bit better this morning and decided that she would like to try and move on. After breakfast we got loaded up and set off out of the town.

To save Debs some effort and because we were fed up with muddy exposed cycle tracks, we planned to take the main road to the Serbian border. We had already followed route 51 before and although a large road, the traffic hadn't been too bad. The same could definitely be said for today, we only encountered light traffic that mainly gave us a wide berth when overtaking. Funnily enough we received more waves and greetings than we had done when sticking to the Danube route. Perhaps it's because it largely avoids all the villages and towns in this part of Hungary.

Take note Eurovelo organisation, there is no point describing this part of the route thus 'The Danube below Budapest is much less well known to cycle tourists than the Austrian and German sections of the river. Although the countryside is less spectacular, the welcome you will be given in the rural towns and villages is unforgettable. You will see a different facet of a warm and hospitable rural Europe' if you sign post the route to avoid the towns and villages!

Just before the Serbian border we stopped at a petrol station and spent the last of our Hungarian Florins and prepared for our first real border crossing. Our first stamp! Having been so used to pedalling straight through abandoned borders it was quite a novelty to have to stop. It must have been rush hour when we turned up, because we were joined by a local on a bike and a man in a car, all waiting to enter Serbia! I have to confess I floundered a little when the border official asked where we were going to. South Africa sounds like a bit of a silly answer so Debs prompted me to say Turkey. He seemed generally amused either way.

Although clearly very tired and not feeling 100% Debs managed really well. The beautiful weather, no head wind, and flat terrain helped a lot as well.

Our first opinion of Serbia is how friendly everyone is. Most people shouted greetings or waved and the villages and towns seem more bustling than we have seen for a while. Even the roads were good, or at least they were until we opted for the quieter route into Sombor along the Eurovelo 6 route. First we went though a large landfill/fly tipping area and then the road surface started to look like a pot hole that someone put a road through. With an increasingly tired Debs we made it to Bački Monoštor where we stopped for a bit of lunch. The final 15kms into Sombor were fine, the road had improved and Debs had regained a little strength.

Arriving in the town centre at about 1:30pm we set about looking for somewhere to stay. The only information I had was about a pizza restaurant that was also a hotel, where a fellow blogger had stayed. The tourism office proved useless when we eventually found it. I say useless but that would mean I actually got to see someone. The office when I found it via only Cyrillic signs was like the Marie Celeste, although I could hear voices. Perhaps they were hiding in case I asked a difficult question like 'do you have a map'!

Fortunately we were approached by a local gallery owner who spoke excellent English and knew of the pizza hotel. Heading in roughly the right direction we discovered another tourist office and I went in to see if they had a map of the town. A lot of opening of cabinets and shuffling of papers then ensued before I was told that they didn't have a map. They did give me a leaflet of all the restaurants and hotels in the area and point me in the right direction for the Pizzeria/Hotel though. My first Serbian tourist information office experience has been entertaining, if not entirely useful.

We eventually found the hotel and got checked in. After a brief rest and much needed shower I dragged Debs out for a look around the town. We had a pleasant stroll around the pretty and quite vibrant streets. Obviously without a map and information we can't tell you what we actually looked at, but there were some very grand buildings. I preferred the less restored more dilapidated buildings off the main streets though.

With Debs getting tired again we went back to the hotel. Hopefully after some much needed rest and some food she will be back to her old self.

Day 57 Hungary 14/11/2010 Baja Caring for an ill Debs.

Poor Debs was ill all last night, she eventually fell asleep exhausted at about 3am. We had no choice but to stay put today and we will see about tomorrow. She is definitely feeling better and she has been eating which is good news.

I think she has just picked up a 24hr bug or food poisoning, either way it has certainly knocked her for six. Hopefully there will be some more news from the road soon.

Day 56 Hungary 13/11/2010 Kalocsa–Baja. 28.59miles/47.07km, 3hr06minutes, Av 9.1mph quite a bit of pushing was involved!

Drama! Last night I discovered that I had lost one of my credit cards, fortunately not my main account one though. Retracing my steps proved fruitless so I will have to get it cancelled. To make matters more annoying I had used it for the first time yesterday at a nearby ATM. Being Saturday the bank was closed so it may have been handed in, I just couldn't find out. Oh well at least I didn't lose a bike!

Today was our shortest day for a while. We left Kalocsa along the main road and then turned off to rejoin the Danube route. Unfortunately that turn, off the main road, led to a track. That track then led to a swamp, or at least that's what it resembled. Approx 1km of pushing the bikes through mud wasn't the ideal start to the day. Rather amazingly having thought that I had taken us down the wrong road, it turned out that we were on the one marked on the map. Getting back onto the cycle path came as something of a relief, even if it was an unsealed road.

Our old friend the headwind was back although not as strong as yesterday. A supposedly short easy day was rapidly becoming tougher than it should be. For the next 30kms we headed more or less in a straight line south, until we reached Baja.

By the time we got into the town the temperature had risen dramatically and Debs spotted a sign that read 26°C, in November?!

The town was blessed with hotels, so the task of finding somewhere to stay didn't look too arduous. They did all look quite expensive though. Trying the nearest to us the 'Kaiser Hotel' I found reception closed, not a good start as it was about 1pm. Pressing the intercom outside and having to revert to my entirely exhaustible German, I was told to wait 5 minutes. Not sure what I was waiting for I was shortly greeted by a slightly mad German/Hungarian on a bicycle. Still not sure what was happening, he beckoned us to follow him and we set off on a chase through the town and ended up in another hotel with the same name.

It turned out that he was the owner of both hotels and the family were celebrating his sons 19^th Birthday (possibly? it may have been his ninth!). For some reason this hotel was better than the other one, or maybe there was a better place to leave the bikes. Either way we had to have a glass of Vodka with him and we then checked into a lovely room. Which was rather more expensive than we had planned. Never mind it is our last night in Hungary, may as well go out in style!

I got my card cancelled so no harm done, just have to arrange to get the replacement sent out to me. The question is where?

Day 55 Hungary 12/11/2010 Dunavecse–Solt–Dunapataj–Uszód–Kalocsa. 36.63miles/59.31km, 3hr34minutes, Av 10.2mph.

We survived the night and weren't rudely awaken by any walkers, or more importantly police officers (free camping is technically illegal in Hungary). Today's route was to be a straightforward ride south to Kalocsa, where hopefully we would find somewhere to stay.

Within a short while we knew the day was going to be tougher than we had thought. Although the temperature was still mild, a strong head wind had got up and that's the way it stayed for the next 60km. Spending 40km of the day on a piece of raised, so we got the full effect of the wind, disused road didn't help matters either.

We had really been looking forward to our journey through Eastern Europe, but days like today really put a damper on things. Fortunately there were enough friendly waves to make up for some of the lack of scenery.

Looking at the map the rest of the route to Belgrade doesn't look too inspiring either. We will travel through another two countries over the next week though, so things may improve.

Arriving in Kalocsa we found a hotel and got checked in. The hotel is nothing special and I would have to say quite expensive for what we have got. The main thing is that it is open and we haven't had to cycle on in the faint hope of finding somewhere else.

Hopefully the weather settles a bit tomorrow and we haven't pushed our luck with the European winter.

Day 54 Hungary 11/11/2010 Budapest–Ráckeve–Dömsöd–Dunavecse. 56.7miles/91.89km, 5hr21minutes, Av 10.5mph.

We woke up to our last morning in Budapest feeling refreshed and ready for a day in the saddle. After a hearty breakfast, I set about trying to get our bikes out of the basement. This proved to be tougher than expected as the girl on reception didn't have any idea about the basement, I couldn't remember exactly what door they had gone through and the porter wasn't sure which key opened the doors. We did get there in the end but not before it rather delayed our early start. It is worth mentioning that Debs knew exactly what door they had gone through. If only we had asked her!

Expecting a tricky journey to find the cycle route out of Budapest, we were pleasantly surprised. We managed to avoid most of the traffic and got onto the correct path first time. It was even signed; we were expecting good things from today!

According to our map, accommodation opportunities were a bit thin on the ground during this section. My plan for the day was to not go too far, find somewhere to stay in Dömsöd and then have a longer run tomorrow.

The best laid plans have a habit of going wrong. First Debs took another tumble, this time on a muddy track and banged her shin quite badly. I got her up and dusted her off and she bravely continued. In her defence the track was very slippery and our semi slick tyres that were fine for Western Europe are probably not the best thing for the current conditions. If the roads continue to deteriorate we may be changing to the expedition tyres sooner than Turkey. Continuing on our way we passed through the town of Ráckeve which was if anything, over blessed with hotels and guest-houses. As we had only gone 50km at this point it seemed silly to stop so early, so we pressed on, which turned out to be a mistake. Of the guest-houses in Dömsöd, one we couldn't find and the other was very much closed. With no choice but to continue we started to discuss the idea of free camping, which rather required us to be in an area where it might be possible.

As the day wore on and the kilometres racked up we failed miserably to find anywhere to stay. Even a motel on a main road with a big highway advertising sign was closed down. With the next town marked as having a hotel being 30km away and the daylight fading, we found ourselves in a bit of a dilemma. In a bit of desperation we made a turn off the main cycle route towards a bit of parkland next door to the Danube. We were getting to the stage where we just had to put a tent up. Fortunately off the park was a quiet path leading to the river and we found a secluded spot in some woodland, where we only have mosquitoes for company!

Despite the earlier disasters today became a day of firsts, our first free camp, our first over 90km and with only river water to drink, the first use of the water filter.

We have both had quite enough of today so after a hasty dinner it's off to bed at 5:40pm. We will definitely be stopping when we find a hotel tomorrow though!

Day 53 Hungary 10/11/2010 Budapest Trams, Metro and on foot.

We had another good sleep followed by a leisurely breakfast. It's good to make the most of these as they don't happen too often on the road.

The plan today was to visit a bike shop and get some inner tubes to replace the ones that I had punctured. In this we were successful which was a 100% improvement on yesterday's shopping attempts. From the shop we visited the Parliament building and then took a tram along the river to the central market. The market was very good and had we been in a position to buy lots of things I am sure we could have filled our bags. Not least with honey, paprika and some very nice looking sausages and salamis. Upstairs Debs had a lemon and sugar pancake and I filled myself up with a rather more traditional Lángos (a deep fried flat bread topped with your choice of filling).

From the market we made another attempt to find swimming shorts and then gave up and returned to the hostel. It has to be said that we did find some shorts, but I didn't want to pay nearly £30 and although smaller I still won't fit into an XS size.

With the weather overcast and rainy we decided to spend the afternoon at the Szechenyi baths. The Szechenyi baths are the biggest in Budapest / Europe and the first built on the Pest side. With three outdoor pools and twelve indoor, not to mention several saunas we were spoilt for choice. For me personally the 38°C outdoor pool was the best. It was nice to be sitting in the warm water, breathing fresh air in beautiful surroundings as the sun set on our last day in Budapest.

We will be spending a bit of the evening re-packing as our, or at least my bags, have rather exploded all over the room. There also appears to be a wine tasting on this evening in the hostel so Cheers or Egészségedre for now!

Not sure where we are going tomorrow other than south, hopefully the weather and roads will be kind!

Day 52 Hungary 9/11/2010 Budapest. The metro and on foot.

We both had a good nights sleep and were ready to face a day of sightseeing. We had decided to do a free walking tour in the morning, which would hopefully give us a good idea of what there was to see in the city.

The 'All free walks Budapest' tour set off from Vörösmarty square at 10:30am. Our guide and helper were excellent and the information we were given were both entertaining and informative. The free tour is basically an orientation guide to the city and it's attractions. It also covered the potential pitfalls and rip-offs that we might encounter if we were not careful. Starting in the Pest side of the city we had a brief introduction to Hungary's pre and post Communist past. From Pest we crossed over the 'Chain bridge' into Buda and up the hill to visit the Var (castle) area. As an added bonus after the tour, which lasted for 2½hrs, we were taken to a local canteen restaurant where we had a lovely and cheap traditional Hungarian meal. We have been on poorer paid tours than this one and would recommend it to anyone. Bare in mind that a tip is expected if you enjoyed the tour.

After the tour and lunch we returned to Pest and visited St István's Basilica. We were however too tight to pay to illuminate the mummified hand on display and no one else seemed willing to pay either. We had to content ourselves with the sights of the very ornate interior instead.

The afternoon became a bit of a marathon shopping trip as I wanted to buy some new swimming shorts to wear at the spa. I feel fit and healthy but the weight loss is paying havoc with my wardrobe! Needless to say we failed miserably at the purchase of shorts and had no success at the purchase of some Bikeline books that would cover the rest of our route through Europe. We have maps so it is not a disaster, but the moral is buy them when you see them!

By the time we got back we were both thoroughly worn out, so it was dinner and a few beers and then bed.

Day 51 Hungary 8/11/2010 Esztergom–Visegrad–Szentendre–Budapest. 46.17miles/74.62km, 4hr20minutes, Av 10.6mph.

We slept well and then had a rather strange breakfast sitting in the guest-house owners house while the owner did a crossword. After eating our fill we loaded the bikes said our goodbyes and set off bound for Budapest.

We rode out of Esztergom straight into a strong headwind. Not exactly what we needed first thing in the morning! With Debbie tucked in behind me, we pushed onwards along a decent cycle path.

According to the map, our route today would be mainly along cycle paths and quiet roads. The cycle signs pointed to some different routes, but as these required the use of a ferry which wasn't running there seemed little point in following them.

The route along the road didn't turn out to be quite as quiet as we had expected with a large proportion of it being along a main 'A' road. Even more annoyingly was the tendency of a Eurovelo sign to appear on the other side of the road pointing towards a cycle path. This would have been fine if there had been any warning and if it was possible to get across the traffic and the high curbs to join it. Several times we got trapped along the main road when there was a quieter alternative.

Fortunately the early strong winds that we had encountered died down and we started to get along well. Maybe our thoughts were on getting to Budapest and having a few days off because the route held very little interest. Sometimes you seem to have one of those just cycling days, usually when you are approaching a large city. The final part of the route took us along a bit of dirt track and then a very poorly paved cycle path and then finally into the city. We went a bit wrong somewhere along the way into Budapest and ended up along a very busy road running along the Danube. We eventually found a cycle path but then encountered some major roadworks which seemed to divert us over a bridge. With only a narrow path and lots of pedestrians we ended up pushing our bikes over the bridge, not quite the glamorous entry into Budapest we had hoped for.

Finally across the bridge we got back on our bikes and rode into the city to find our hostel. Finding the hostel would have been easier if we were on the right road! With all the road works I had got confused and we had crossed the wrong bridge! You would think that getting back to the river and along would be easy, but they seem to have dug up all of Budapest in one go! Nevertheless after a near miss with a tram, a few wrong turns and a bit of getting off and pushing, we made it to the hostel.

The Maverick hostel is lovely, situated in a former royal mansion built by the Habsburg dynasty. Our bikes also have to be the safest they have been, locked behind several doors in the cellars.

With a couple of days here it was good to get some laundry done and have a re-sort of our bags. We didn't bother going out last night, instead settling for a hostel cooked meal and some beers from the local supermarket.

Sightseeing tomorrow so night all!

Day 50 Slovakia/Hungary 7/11/2010 Komárom–Komárno–Kravany–Stúrovo–Esztergom. 37.6miles/60.78km, 3hr32minutes, Av 10.6mph.

We had quite a good nights sleep in the tent and woke up to a bright but colder day than the previous few have been. A bit out of practice having not camped for a while we still managed to get back on the road by 8:45am.

Today we headed back across the border into Slovakia onto what was a less hilly route than the Hungarian equivalent. Across the river we found a sign post that pointed to the correct route and never saw another one for the next 55km! To be fair we were mainly following the Danube so it didn't take much working out.

In Kravany we were stopped by a very helpful man who told us that the road we were on was closed further ahead and that we would be better off on another route. He told us that he had had the same conversation with an Australian cyclist the week before. We obviously never did find out if the road was closed but are very thankful for his help. It could have been a long detour for us to get back on the correct route.

With no signs to follow, we decided to stick to the main road. The traffic was light and apart from a strong headwind that had sapped our strength all day we made it into Stúrovo. Stopping for a brief look at the impressive Citadel of Esztergom across the Danube we then set about crossing the river back into Hungary.

Drama!!! Debs fell off her bike in the middle of two countries! She was fortunately unhurt, but she does have a damaged pannier and a bit of bruised pride! We will address the pannier when we get to Budapest. Toad survived the incident from the safety of his bar bag!

As the main road route had shortened our distance for the day, we checked into a lovely guest-house, got sorted and then went for an explore. Esztergom came as a very pleasant surprise to us. The Citadel is very impressive and as it stands on a hill, the views from the top are great. Back down in the town the streets are very pretty, with many old buildings painted in mainly yellow hues.

So far Hungarian towns have been very pretty, we are really looking forward to having a proper look around Budapest when we get there tomorrow.

Day 49 Hungary 6/11/2010 Györ–Bönyrétalap–Ács–Komárom. 35.64miles/57.76km, 3hr18minutes, Av 10.8mph.

With a shorter day ahead of us, we had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and set off. Getting out of Györ proved to be a bit more difficult than we had anticipated. Not least because the Eurovelo people have changed the route from the one on our map. We can't complain about the change because it is shorter and more direct. However as they still haven't produced any maps for this area it is a bit unnerving when you follow the marked route and the signs stop at a junction, leaving you clueless as to which way to turn. We did find a sign around the corner, but it gave us a little consternation.

From Györ onwards the route was well marked and we made good progress until we were leaving Bönyrétalap. Not far out of the village we encountered a Eurolvelo sign telling us to go left. As this time our map covered the area of the change we continued on with some confidence. This confidence may have been somewhat misplaced as when we did find another sign it pointed us towards what looked more like a ploughed field than a track. Interestingly enough this ploughed field was marked as an A road on our map. A1 to be precise. We decided it would be best to ignore the sign and go searching for a better road, when none became available we had no choice but to go back to the marked route. The only alternative was a 10km detour back the way we came to rejoin the route we had in our map book. The dirt track did improve after about 6km, but not until we had tried to ride through mud-filled tyre tracks, some so deep that our panniers were clipping the edges.

We eventually made it to Acs and rejoined the route we would have been on if we hadn't paid attention to the Eurovelo sign. I am sure whoever put the sign up had our best interests at heart, but changing a mapped route when you haven't produced new maps yourself is a little unfair!

We encountered another diversion just outside Acs, but this time we ignored it and stuck to the main road route. Eventually we arrived in Komárom, located the camp-site and got set up. As usual we caused quite a stir when we turned up, you would think it was the first time anyone had camped!

The camp-site was right outside some thermal baths, so we quickly got our swimmers on and went for a relax in the hot mineral waters. Note that this time we were allowed to keep our clothes on! Easier said than done, as with my weight loss my board shorts are a little on the large side; will definitely have to buy some new ones.

The trusty camping stove got some use again tonight after we had picked up supplies from Tesco's. It was nice to be cooking again, although you quickly forget how dark and cold it gets outside after you have been staying in hostels/guesthouses. We had a nice warming dinner and then settled down for an early night. Back to Slovakia tomorrow and then back across the border to Esztergom.

Day 48 Slovakia & Hungary 5/11/2010 Bratislava–Dunakiliti–Püski–Györ. 54.8miles/88.6km, 5hr02minutes, Av 10.8mph.

It is probably not the hostel's fault, but after a night in 'Hostel Blues' I couldn't say I would stay there again. The dorms are in apartments with a central section which people hang about in. The occupants of our room came in, in the middle of the night and assumed we all wanted to hear their long conversation. Then when we went down to breakfast the kitchen sinks were full of dirty dishes and someone had scrawled offensive graffiti all over the blackboards. I know we are older, but sometimes you think you are sharing with a bunch of five year olds.

Heading out we did some shopping in Tescos (yes they are in Slovakia as well!) and then set off for the Hungarian border. The signposting couldn't be described as brilliant, we made it out of Bratislava without any trouble along an old main road, which was excellent. It was afterwards that I took us on a little detour. To be fair the Slovakians probably want you to stay in Slovakia, whereas we wanted to go to Hungary. The sign pointing towards Hungary was in a peculiar position only visible from the opposite direction. It has to be said though that if I had paid more attention to the map then we wouldn't have missed it. I was just too excited at actually seeing a direction sign.

Unsure what we were to expect at the Hungarian border, we stuck to the official crossing point. We may as well have not bothered as like every border before, it was abandoned. Which was a shame as we could have saved ourselves some distance by going another way.

Making our way along the main road, we managed to get ourselves on the right route and almost immediately came across a Eurovelo sign. Thankful to see a route sign we followed it and immediately started heading north west. Now our geography may not be brilliant, but we were fairly sure we wanted to be going south east. On a plus point we saw our first horse and cart of eastern Europe. Giving up on the sign we went back the way we had come and trusted to our map and compass.

We travelled through several small villages and only missed a few turnings along the way. Having had no faith in the signs so far it was with some trepidation that we were directed onto an off road section. For a while the signs were fine, but it was only our trusty compass and some guess work that got us back on to the road.

As soon as we reached the spa town of Lipot the signing was excellent and we followed a well marked route all the way to Györ. Debs had found us an excellent hotel to stay in which was right on our route in to town.

Hotel Révész is cyclist friendly and the girl on reception couldn't do enough to help us. She even helped carry our many bags up to the room, plus she spoke excellent English.

A quick shower later and we walked into the town centre to have a look around before the light faded. If we had to pick a first Hungarian town to stop in we couldn't have picked a nicer one. The streets are full of lovely buildings and it had a pleasant vibrant atmosphere. The only shame was that our map and guide book that we had been given was only in Hungarian. Had we more time we would probably have visited the local thermal baths but as we are planning to camp beside some tomorrow we gave them a miss.

Back at the hotel we had a nice meal in the restaurant and then settled in for an early night.