Thursday Sep 26, Harkany to Baja Hungary

 It’s 280 km to Budapest from Harkany so i thought 90km  a day for 3 days will get me into Budapest for dinner Saturday night, maybe but not likely i could make a show at the jazz club…. Anyway, i made pretty good time riding mostly on bike paths and quiet country lanes through fields, vineyards, and small villages, rolling hills with beautiful vistas yes I wished I had gone to the trouble for a helmet cam words don’t do justice and you can’t always stop mid way up or down to snap a photo, to the halfway point at Mohacs, outside of there i got onto the EuroVelo 6 route, which i will take all the way back to Germany now. Before it got there though, there was an interesting roadside war memorial, just outside of Satorhely, which memorializes the war of 1526 where the Ottoman Army of Turks, led by Suleiman, defeated the army of King Louis II. You can zoom in the photo read the full story, I didn’t go all in on the tour it getting late in the day, and not really wanting to view mass graves of 20 some thousand soldiers.

Once in Mohacs there was an interesting memorial but i never found out what is was about… didn’t want to stop to translate signs.. so… onward, but guess what this is where the EV 6 crosses the Danube, but there’s no bridge! Only a ferry, and with the river still flooded, nope no ferry, so… they proposed an alternate route going back the way i came then downriver to a crossing and back up, which would have added about 30 km to the trip… so smart me, i figured a shortcut lol staying on this side and going up north, which i did, and i found out why they recommend the other route, hills, big hills a few real leg killers, and so after all that i tried another short cut lol and ended up on a terrible rock road which then turned into broken concrete and cobbles… so much for my shortcut and when i finally got headed the right direction to Baja i was 20 km on a narrow big road rt 55 which had no shoulder worse than that the right side of the lane was either chewed up, lumpy, or gone altogether, so for about 75 minutes i shared this with big trucks and cars going pretty fast, it was hm a bit testing of the nerves… there would have been side rock gravel dirt pathways to take but everything was flooded from the Danube for a long long way…. Anyway finally got to Baja about 515 and booked into the Foter Panzio which is off the main square a basic hotel for 48 euro a night, nice room just pretty basic decor but the shower was fine plenty of hot water and i got a double bed which is two twins stuck together, with a courtyard view where people are drinking and partying out there so I’ll have to close the window and turn on the air to sleep. 

Good shower, got dressed went out to dinner on the square, walked all around it and a block of pedestrian mall to end up right by the hotel at Moro, had a really good and filling dinner of fresh salad and pasta carbonara , white sauce w cheese and some little bits of ham, and a glass of local wine. Was real good only 6800 florints. The are about 355 to the dollar so $19. anyway, its a real pretty romantic town on the Danube. 

Good night! 

Wednesday Sep 25 - Harkany and Siklós Hungary

 Rest day didn’t do too much took it easy ate a bunch… rode around a little, over to Siklos which is.a way nicer town than Harkany, i got signed up for a massage over there so decided to ride over make sure i could find the address, and i did it was on the main road from Harkany. 

Had a great massage best i ever had from Agnes, full 50 minutes she went over everything top to bottom front and back cracked my knuckles, pulled on my shoulders and legs… impossibly the fee was less than 12 euro. But after that i felt so good, zoomed ‘home’ on the bike and had a big dinner and got all packed up to leave in the morning. 

Tuesday Sep 24 - Harkany Hungary

 It’s really a smallish town, besides the spa and water park, hotels and restaurants there’s not too much to see, I walked around most of the town today in a few hours, went and checked out the spa, where i had planned to go, but a couple things, poor reviews about the service and conditions, and no bathing suit got me to double think that. Oh there’s a shop outside the entry that has bathing suits, $40 for basic, $55 for a speedo type… I’m like well that’s a bit pricy for a hot bath, maybe I’ll just have a hot shower and stretch a while, and find a cheaper suit up the line and bathe in Budapest or elsewhere later. 

The massage service also had poor reviews so, you have to buy your ticket pay in advance then you are at their mercy so no i decided to look for a local massage person, and found one, but she is all booked up today and tomorrow, tho she recommended me to her friend Agnes, who does have an hour free tomorrow at 530 pm. So i booked that oh and the price 4500 forints…. Which amounts to about $12.50 in dollars, for an hour. So i feel good about deciding against the high priced bath, and then after i left there walking through a park next door they had all kinds of workout equipment which i spent about 20 minutes on so it’s all good. It must be an EU initiative to promote healthy living walking paths and these things, I have seen them in many towns that look to be otherwise too poor to pay for it. 

So i came “home” cooked bulgar wheat and put it over salad and eating early so i can go for a little spin on my bike after wards, not in bike clothes just gym shorts and a t-shirt. Might ride a bit tomorrow my legs are fine and itching to go but massage tomorrow afternoon and Thursday will be a long day turning north and getting on to the EuroVelo 6 about Mohacs, hope to make it to Baja which is a river city nice old wellness hotel on the river supposed to be nice for breakfast on the terrace overlooking the river. Weather forecast is rain tomorrow, clear Thursday with a southwest to southeast wind so… tailwind! 

Got laundry all done I’m good for another 3-4 days riding, hope get to Budapest Saturday. Hope for another long stay there 3-4 days see the sights and the castle outside of town 16 miles where the guy nobleman has his extensive clothing collection kept intact, i gotta see that closet lol how many jackets, how many pairs of shoes… lol lol….

Monday Sep 23 - Lukac Croatia to Harkany Hungary

 After a great breakfast at the Kurija Jankovic hotel, I took the time to air the tires and clean the chain, check that all rack bolts and pedals were snugged up. They had a bike repair station out front of the hotel this was my reminder, it’s been a few days and a good bit of dusty gravel levee top paths, and today would be about 110 km no time for much of a delay. As I was working, the German fellow I had seen the day before, and again at breakfast, he arrived just after me the night before and was at breakfast same time, spoke little English tho so as my one semester of German in college 40 yrs ago wasn’t much help… he just smiled waved chiao! And that was the last I saw of him. 

The EV13 and Drava Route was fairly well signed, occasionally an AOE logo or storyboard would appear, so I mostly just followed road signs and used cycle.travel at turns there was no signage, the alert would go off when I got 150 meters off the route.

Lots of farmers getting their corn harvest in, so dozens of tractors and grain trailers to share the road with, I liked to see them because they weren’t going too much faster than me and cars and trucks would have to slow down to pass them. They drive fast over here, most drivers disregard the speed limits and, while they are respectful of a bike, some of them whizz by a little closer than I would like, especially the big trucks, and garbage truck drivers lol are the same as back home they are not much interested in sharing the road they just want to get done. 

There were many corn cribs beside or behind homes, small farmers with shucking machines putting ears of corn into these smallish cribs. I keep thinking how much like Illinois this is, the endless cornfields, some soybeans and other crops, and the dirt and rock roads along the fields to the levees, along and atop the levees just like I’m used to. 

The small villages are quiet, occasional bus to the bigger towns, lots of barking or sleeping dogs, a few aggressive ones who will chase but fortunately nothing too big has chased me yet. I have a few techniques for the chasers, talk or yell at them, swing wide then point straight at them, hold my metal cup out and brandish it… so far so good. 

Usually once or twice a day I’ll stop at a bakery or small grocery and get a sweet roll or croissant or whatever looks good, and a chocolate milk or protein drink, keep a spare and a piece of fruit in the trunk bag and a spare bottle of water. And for lunch on the go a bakery roll and a pack of sliced cheese works ok, vary the drink depending how hot it gets. 

As it’s been sunny since the rain stopped last week it’s sunscreen twice a day, first tube ran out yesterday so that’s on the recharge replenish list for this 2 day break. 

I got to km 73 near to Donji Miholjic and thought wow I’m way ahead of schedule! Thought it would be 97 to here, but, than the road was closed for construction, and a 22 km detour put me at 96, with 14 to go across the Drava into Hungary and Harkany. 

I did get here by 515 tho, quickly looked around touristy a little crowded by the thermal baths, so I booked an apartment on booking.com, very nice new place on the ground floor was a relief after the hotel Jankovic 3rd floor room, no elevator. 

Once unpacked and bike locked up to a pole outside I made a grocery list and walked right behind the apartment is the supermarket facing the Main Street, and now I’m set til Thursday, hope to get a bath and massage today and tomorrow, well may not need massage both days, we will see. 

After a healthy dinner of pasta and salad, I’ve been craving a nice big salad since that last one I had in Schwarzau im Schwarzaut last Monday night, a nice long hot shower and great long sleep. 

Sunday Sep 22 - Durdevac Croatia to Lukac Croatia

So before I left the winery I asked Dominics dad which way to go and he pointed me in the right direction, and the road was paved all the way into Durdevac. It being Sunday just about everything was closed so i found the AOE (Amazon of Europe) trail again and rode mostly along quiet country roads and side of the road paths. AOE had signage and interpretive kiosks every once in a while, some newly built rest stations tho so new the charging stations weren’t yet complete. Too bad.

I didn’t go to all the sights of interest it being Sunday… but I did go to Stari Drava, which is a tall suspension bridge for pedestrians and bicycles over the river to a wildlife natural area, i think it’s a regional park and wildlife preserve, well there was also a ferry which I took over then i saw people pushing their bikes over so I did on the way back, it was $1 to ride the ferry which looked a lot like the old Jubal Early ferry across the Potomac back in Virginia. Held 9 cars or so but also corn harvest season is in full swing I was passed by dozens of tractors pulling carts of corn today. Across the lake its a meandering section of river Drava so it’s surrounded by water no way out but the ferry, but it’s about 8 km (4 mi) all the way in. And there are houses and farms there, and a restaurant, bar, and bike friendly hotel about 4 km from the ferry. 

I was so leg tired and hungry I went in and was greeted warmly, the place had about 5 tables of people mostly men drinking talking loudly laughing and smoking, lots of people smoking in there the tables on both sides of me were smoking, well there was outdoor seating but my phone needed charging so the waitress set that up for me behind the bar and no menu asked me if i wanted meat or fish. Catfish or Smud? Well i don’t care for catfish i must have looked puzzled, she said Smud is our best fish, so i got that and potato salad and big thick slices of bread with a lemon wedge and one slice of pickled cucumber on the side, and a PAN beer, that’s the local beer. And it was delicious! Two days in a row I’ve now had fried fish fresh out of the river… well i was so tired i thought why don’t i just stop now and rest so i asked if she had a room for tonight, no we don’t work Monday, so no room tonight. 

Which meant i had to ride back to the ferry and across…. Added mileage my legs didn’t need… but i pressed on and about an hour later there would be a town Virovitica with several choices of apartments on booking.com, and a hotel, but there was one closer Kapela Dvor which for 55 euros i booked, includes breakfast you could look it up it’s another grand dame old hotel, once was a kind of palace of a wealthy nobleman and his family. Now refurbished the Hotel Kurija Jankovic. It’s very nice and the reviews say the breakfast is great so only drawback my room 301 on the “second” floor, which means 3rd floor here, and no elevator, so lugging my panniers and bags up was two trips, then i had to go with the desk clerk to lock up my bike in the stor room out back, then once more up the stairs, even tho there are a bunch of bike tourists here i decided no more stairs took a shower and I’m in bed now ready for lights out at 830. 

A good but tiring day my legs are sore I’ve ridden 395 miles since last Sunday, so my next objective now that I’m about done with the AOE trail, is a spa town in Hungary, looking at the map there are a good number within a days ride…. That’ll be for at least 2 mights 2 baths at least one full body massage. OK good night over there !

Saturday Sep 21 - Letenye Hungary to Durdevac Croatia

 This was a very good day albeit strong sun and a few navigational issues, the multiple routes criss cross they could also use some directional info like N or S or end point or something on them.. so you see a D1 sign with an arrow, coming back you see a D1 sign with an arrow, you have no idea which was you are going and the routes are following a meandering river so directions are constantly changing and you go round cornfields and vineyards and big hills, anyway, between Cycle.travel, google maps, the Amazon or Europe guide mostly you can figure it out, tho sometimes its after you’ve gone a bit the wrong direction. Cycle.travel has an alert when you go 150 meters off course, which happened a lot, and also it is built on Open Street Map, which is crowdsourced info so different people take different routes they think are better well when you look on the screen you might see the R3 or D12 going 2-3 different directions… 

But saw more Amazon of Europe directional signage yesterday and they have all these points of interest like alongside swimming lakes (which are in regional parks and free) and they will have a little pavilion with a table, a bike repair station with a stand, tools, air pump (you pump by foot or crank by hand) and a solar charger for your smartphone or gps device. And an informational billboard with a map and showing the “stages” of the route where you are and the towns around and something of a direction, they don’t however show all the little gravel roads. 

So one sign said something like meeting of the Mura-Drava and i was gonna pass it then i thought no this is a big deal here i better go see it and there may be something to eat out there… all along these routes well mostly in Austria and Slovenia you will find cafes and bars catering to the bike trail, very handy and most have camping there or nearby. 

Well it was a couple miles out some rough rock road and a few cars and motorcycles sped by making it dusty, when i got out there, there was an Amazon of Europe station with all the goodies, lots of fishermen and small boat people, and a old pavilion with a crowd in it, so i went there to check it out. Sounded like a party of gathering of some sort, barbeque… i poked my head around the corner well looked like a local group so i started to turn back and a jolly looks guy said “hey” i turn around and he motions me, come in makes eating motions, so i do and there’s a table with one guy had pork steaks, another was frying fish in a big pot, and another had a big pot of beans, i pointed to each one and they gave me a good portion of each and a piece of bread, i asked “how much” rubbing my fingers together, the guy just laughed and smiled and shook his head, he had a beer there I pointed out that, no he shook his head, and pointed over to a table which had water, juice, soda, and wine. This is a big wine producing area so I had some, then continued my journey back on the trail to Durdevac. 

Well the only hotel in Durdevac is the Hotel Picok and I rode by there, it was 101 euro and rated poorly on booking.com. But there was a vineyard room for $29 a few miles out of town, so i booked that. Well the map app took me on a rock road tough going so i didn’t get there til almost 630 it was falling dark, but there were 4 guys drinking wine around a table, there was a huge covered outdoor area where the wine cellar steps were, and a bar room, a kitchen, barbecue fireplace, and a massive wood table for about 12 people, want some wine? They are so happy to see me tho only one of them speaks English Dominic the son of the owner, he’s 21. So we chatted a while had a few glasses of very good white wine, which they mix 50/50 with sparkling water, what you call that ? A spritzer? Yeah they all laugh, these Croatians are not quiet people, we are talking laughing for about an hour before the mom comes in the car to pick the all up and Dominic shows me to the upstairs room, there re 2, with a shared bathroom in between, nicely done a lot of natural wood handmade. Dominics dad has built this weekend house and vineyard over the past 20 years and it is very nice. They only have about10 vine rows but Dominic told me they produce about 5000 liters of wine a year. And they all have regular jobs during the week, they just go out there on weekends or when they need to great a guest. 

So they left and i went in to cook my dinner and found a full pitcher 1 liter of wine, and same one of sparkling water waiting on the kitchen table. Never saw the other roomer he came in late showered and left early so i had the place all to myself most of the time i was there. I slept very well and had breakfast and as I’m packing to leave Dominic’s dad shows up to check on me was everything OK how did I sleep and shook my hand you are welcome to stay again anytime you come near, 

 

Friday Sep 20 - Murska Sobota Slovenia to Letenye Hungary

 This was a very frustrating day as i never found the Amazon of Europe trail… not all day, but i was happy to be riding not raining so lots of roads and lots of miles, I think i crossed the trail in Lendava but it is so confusing the D5, R3, EuroVelo 13, and i was looking for the R2…. Or Amazon of Europe trail but no luck all day. So i shared the road with cars and trucks all day and they drive fast here but always a safe distance, well unless there’s a car coming on they mostly don’t slow down much so they get a little closer then, glad to have a rear view mirror and see these things coming, inch over to the side a few more inches, mostly no shoulder but almost all the little towns have bike/pedestrian paths alongside the main road so you get a chance to slow down and relax a bit then…. 

Anyway, finally found Letenye which was kind of funny all day i said to myself now tomorrow you are going to plan your route better this is nuts. So i cruised around Letenye looking for signs of the trail no luck, and no luck with a cheeseburger joint either tho it was advertised and some advertised “hamburger strips” i thought well I’ll see what for a hotel if they have dinner maybe. And again what had been recommended the Radics Panzio was the only place in town, so well it was only 4 pm or so i thought I’ll study the map and go preview this trail see how it looks, and if it’s good I’ll go another couple hours to a bigger place with more options… 

Cycle.Travel showed the R3, D12, and EuroVelo 13 paths all converging across the border and the Drava river in Croatia, so I rode over there 4-5 miles and went a little way on each trail, a couple paved, one gravel, and there next to the signpost was an Amazon of Europe bike trail sticker, but which direction? lol obviously south the river should be flowing but right there the paths are not by the river so… well i found them I’m booking that Radic Panzio and going there for dinner and now I’ve seen the trails i will sort out which one and which direction later. 

Had a great dinner at the Panzio, choices were hugarian goulash, gypsy pork, and others that were’nt as appealing so i had the Gypsy pork i asked the guy what it well done? Yes of course, and it was, served on top of fries. The front desk clerk was also the barman and waiter, he is from India but works here in Hungary because he makes many times more money than he could in india, his family is all there and he’s going home for 2 months holiday end of the season (Oct 22). 

Nice old hotel, kind of worn the reviews say, dated, but charming as heck, room had a patio outside the French doors with just green wall there in front of you vines and some trees very lush, 

Good shower, good dinner, good sleep. Breakfast was a little sparse in selection i had read in the reviews but they had muesli and orange juice, fizzy kind i like, good hot strong coffee, scrambled eggs sweet rolls bread i ate big knowing it’d be another long day in the saddle and hot well, 70-75 and full sun, which it was all day. But that’s Saturday… when I’ll be all caught up!!!