DAY TWENTY FOUR… 57 miles (91 km)
We woke early and had to leave Prince apartments to return to tent dwelling for a few more days. We have decided that as we have extra time before we have to go back home, that we could cycle to Lake Balaton and back. Nothing like enthusiasm !!!
We found the Eurovelo 6 route out of Budapest. The surface was rough and difficult to cycle. It did not bode well for the miles to come. However, it improved, turning into quiet suburban roads and sometimes very straight roads with super fast traffic which was terrifying.
Tim discovered some wild cannabis which we thought might be someone’s carefully disguised private stash, but then we started seeing it everywhere, growing just like a weed. This turned out to be Cannabis ruderalis, a relative of Cannabis sativa, but with only mild, sleep inducing qualities. We’ve also noticed another plant growing which Tim thinks is Datura, a very potent hallucinogenic drug, extremely dangerous.
6.00pm… We’ve arrived at the lake edge and discover that it is another 2km to the campsite.
6.45pm…. Arrived at the campsite, just as sun was setting. It sets an hour earlier now. The site is lovely, right by a huge lake. The proprietor looked as if she did not want us on the site, but luckily relented. Security is a big issue in Hungary. We have wrist bands which unlock a gate to the site. Yesterday we noticed that all houses are surrounded by barbed wire or high fences to prevent intruders.
We passed an orchard surrounded by fences, and guarded by CCTV and huge guard dogs.
We met a man today, whilst waiting for a ferry, who warned us against going to Serbia….. He told us there were gangs of hundreds of men stopping cars on the motorway and taking the cars and all the valuable contents, leaving people stranded on the side of the road with nothing. Serbia is where we plan to cycle in our next section, so this is worrying news.
