Hungary

I could tell I was in Hungary, firstly because the roads consisted of a kilometre or so of dead straight sections connected by right angle bends, and secondly because of the average drivers compulsion to overtake anything in front of them.

The curvy route option was a bit more of a challenge for my satnav in Hungary. Surprisingly, so was the unpaved route option. With all those horse and carts you would think there would be trails everywhere, maybe there not even classed as roads. I didn’t see any horse and carts though.

I did see a lot of Hummers though, well three, but that was in the first two days of getting to Hungary and that’s three more than I have seen anywhere else.

The main thing that struck me in Hungary was how cheap it was. The first night I found a camp site near Sopron and went for dinner next door at the Panoráma Étterem. This was a really posh joint, and I felt slightly underdressed in my shorts and biker t-shirt, there were a couple of large groups obviously out for a good time. My three course meal including large beer and cold cherry soup starter came to just over £10. Even with the shitty £ it was good value. They had good wifi too, always a bonus.

There are a lot of great camp sites in Hungary, especially in the tourist areas. For example, along Lake Balaton there are sites every couple of hundred metres and they all look very busy. Unfortunately I always managed to find those that were slightly lower down the scale, not that there was anything wrong with the sites I choose, they were very clean and tidy but they could have had better facilities. But then again, what do you expect for £5 a night.

I was heading for Baja, because I’d always wanted to go there and the fact that the Baja that I had always wanted to go to was in California didn’t seem to matter at the time. So I found a hotel and checked in, just as a 19 strong group of Netherlands bikers were also trying to check in. Surprisingly I managed to get a room and even decided to stay an extra night. There’s not a lot going on in Baja, once you’ve walked around the centre and had an ice cream you’ve pretty much seen it all. There is quit a nice beach though, it’s on a small tributary of the Danube.

I did find a few small trails on my way through Hungary, I was also sent up a few dead ends by the satnav. I think the roads are changing fast round here.