Kilos he did pick...
Don't eat too many cherries
Or you'll end up feeling sick.
Vienna to Komarom (Hungary)
No longer are our hazards wobbly tourists on uncontrollable E-bikes. We have entered a world where road markings are a thing of the future, pot-holes have as much right to be there as anyone else, and tree-roots constantly break through ageing tarmac. The currency is unfamiliar, and the language incomprehensible, but a smile still costs nothing, and unfortunately so does the locally brewed fire-water!
There was no question as to when we crossed from Austria into Slovakia, as the derelict buildings still stood, redundant now, but a reminder of when borders were still used here. Everything became instantly cheaper, and a little shabbier.
Bratislava, the capital, was a pleasant surprise. With only half a million inhabitants its historic parts were easy to walk around and soak up the atmosphere in one of the numerous original cafes that line the cobbled streets.
It is the only capital in the world located on the border of three countries, and we know it, as we breakfasted in Austria, lunched in Slovakia and dined in Hungary!
However, exactly when or where we entered Hungary is still a mystery to us. Steve noticed a lot of money exchange places in one town, and upon investigation we discovered that Hungary uses the Forint not the Euro, and that was that, we were in.
I can't tell you which country this horse drawn plough was in, except it wasn't Austria!
It will be very interesting from here on, as WiFi doesn't seem so readily available, English is hardly spoken, the cycle signs vary from slightly official metal ones to hand drawn paper arrows, and no sign shows any distance in kilometers to anywhere!
We left our first Hungarian campsite at 8.30am, and arrived at the next one at 6.30pm, having crossed every type of terrain possible - pot-holed roads, dirt-tracks, woods, fields and even tracks that were still being made as we pedalled over them. The worst thing was, we'd only travelled about 40kms as the crow flies!
Our bones are shaken, our knees are swollen and our bodies exhausted. Hopefully our rest day has prepared us for whatever lies ahead.
It feels like our warm-up period is over. Now the real adventure begins...
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