Month: May 2023 Page 2 of 4

The first wee place I came to today was the tiny wee village of  Ady Andre – famous as where the Hungarian poet Andre Ady came from – his statue that I’d seen in Debrecen had stuck in my mind as it was unusual and I’d meant to read up about him but had failed to do so, so far.

So by chance I pass through the village he is from which has a wee museum – now by luck there is a bus load of children visiting today – and I say lucky as the museum would not have been open otherwise – one of teachers is their English teacher and she translates for me while the kids a I are shown round the wee house where he used to live – I had not realised that this area of Romania used to be part of Hungary – I’m told that it used to be quite tense between the 2 countries but much better since the European Union – I’m also told that Andre Ady wasn’t very good looking but the ladies liked him – I don’t think the school kids were told this bit of information. Tine for the kids and teachers to move on – I was glad I arrived not long after they did and must look up some of his work – I was also very grateful for the teacher who translated for me.

Now heading towards the town of Satu Mare – farm tracks linking up some of wee villages and then busy road the rest of the way.

Stopped about 7k outside Satu Mare for a bite to eat at a restaurant – not very busy, partly because I can’t tell the time and it was only about 11am – I’m blaming that I’m now in a different time zone – anyway they were serving food and that was the main thing. The lady at the table next to me indicated that she would get the waitress to come out and I was to sit down. At first l thought she might have worked there or even possibly run it – the first bit was kind of right. So armed with Google translate on my phone and my phrase book it was practice Romanian day 2 – I manage to order unu coke & unu  omleta cu carnati (omlette with sausage) – I failed on the chips and got bread instead. The lady next to me finished her meal and then walked to the road end and came back a short time after and started chatting – we managed to establish where I’d come from this morning and where I was going to with the help of sign language and Google maps and I learnt a few more words which I’ve promptly forgotten except for –  “sunt o prostituata” – now I didn’t need any help translating this but I obviously paused long enough as I could not think of a response (in English far less Romanian) for her to mime what she meant – she also told me she wasn’t married but had 5 children, 3 of which were grown up – and  I figured out she hadn’t walked to the road end to stretch her legs but was looking for business, which was a bit quiet today. So a new phrase learnt but not sure I’ll have the opportunity to use it.

I giggled the next bit of the journey thinking about the conversation but also wondered what kind of life she had??

Next stop was to find the the tourist information office in Satu Mare – I was in 2 minds whether to do this or not  – the last time I looked for the tourist information office was in Budapest and despite my best efforts never found it – research and Google maps and streets signs all took me to the open topped bus tour office and they were only interested in selling me one of their tickets. Anyway I found the right place in Satu Mare and lots of helpful information from the lassie that served me – things to look out for in the town itself and the surrounding area and also reccomended a campsite for tomorrow night – she was so enthusiastic  I think she would have given me a guided tour herself if she could. With all my new information I feel I’m better prepared for the next couple of days, as long as i can conquer the hills!

Left the campsite properly on attempt no. 2. Had pumped up rear wheel but had only gone a couple of miles when it felt softer than before I’d pumped it up. Although behind gates, there was a lot of barking dogs, so I decided to go back to the campsite to fix it without a doggie audience and associated noise. Couldn’t find anything in the tyre – not sure if it’s the valve that’s the problem – inner tube had already been patched a couple of times before I left home so opted just to replace and so far all seems to be good.

Arrived in Romania today – passport stamped with no problems. Surprising amount of staff relative to the number of cars passing through. The young lads were friendly and one in particular chatted while I waited for my passport to be stamped – think he would have chatted more if the highheidyin (boss) wasn’t about. The highheidyin barely nodded when he returned my passport and I asked if it had been stamped – I don’t think talking or smiling was in his remit! I checked and double checked that passport was definitely stamped before setting off.

Shared roads some of the way on the Hungarian side but large sections of good cycle paths including the one that took me to the border crossing. On the Romanian side no cycle paths so far – when I mentioned no cycle path on Facebook I got a “sad” emoji from friend and fellow cyclist, John – cycle paths would be nice but to be fair I’d plotted route to link up with places I want to see and no expectation of cycle paths and so far roads mostly pretty quiet.

Stopped at first town I came to in Romania, one to get money and one to get something to eat. I had food on me but wanted a change from bread and cheese and also the only way I’m to learn any Romania is to interact with the locals more and as I’m here for 4 weeks I should really try and learn some of the language. By the end of lunch I’ve nailed 2 words – omleta (omlette) and multumesc (thank you) – it’s going to be a slow process!!

Been chased by one dog so far – but the kids that were with it, got it back into the garden. I like dogs but not when they are chasing and barking at me!

In terms of the road my biggest concern so far in Romania, is the concrete drains – if they are along side the road fine but not when they are across the road like this junction – don’t want to get one of my wheels caught in this!

I was expecting Romania to be poorer than the countries I’ve passed through so far but didn’t expect such a quick transition. Passed through a few wee villages where there was a big disparity between the houses – nothing huge but some big with fancy gates – at the opposite end some not much bigger than the concrete equivalent of my garden shed – no matter the size they nearly all had beautiful flowers growing outside – roses, geraniums, irises and others I can’t remember the name of.

I stayed in a hotel in Tasnad – the lady who ran it suggested I go to the beach (the thermal pools) which I did but it was a bit too busy and decided to walk into town and have a look at the churches with the silver spires that had been catching my eye from the distance instead.

Another wee bike ride with only one, nearly, empty pannier today. Went to visit The Great Forrest and the Zoo. Think “great” is an exaggeration but it is very nice for a wee wander round – Debrecen in general seems to have lots of nice green areas.

I was in 2 minds about visiting the zoo – overall really enjoyed it though and felt that most of the animals, but not all, had a decent sized area.

Back on the bike properly tomorrow and, unless something goes wrong, will be crossing into Romania tomorrow.

Easy day yesterday. Only short ride to the Kerekestelep Campsite where I soaked in their thermal mineral spa – apparently it’s good for health and joints – whether it is or not it was nice and relaxing – it’s also meant to be good for if you drink it but I’m not putting this to the test.

Short bike ride in the afternoon to seek out an ATM and get some food – cycling with one almost empty pannier feels good!!

In process of looking for ATM spotted this interesting looking spire and went for a nosy and found this interesting shaped church.

And in process of finding church got lucky and saw 3 storks on their nests.

Sun is out and I’m going to find The Great Forrest, which should be just a few miles on the bike and just a very light pannier again.

I found my way out of Budapest much easier than I got in – dry when left, I’d got some bearings in the city and Google maps had put me on a good route – the one that took me past the cycle breakfast – thank you Google.

I enjoyed both Budapest and Prague and found myself comparing the 2 cities. The main sights of Prague are in a much more compact area where as in Budapest they are much more spread out, with your regular shops and businesses in between, this combined with the buzz of the traffic it has a much more lived in feel rather than just a tourist magnet – I’m all for environmentally friendly and safer for bikes – but there is something about the noise of the cars and busses and trams that, in my head, makes things more real – or I’m just losing the plot??

In Czechia and Slovakia, Google maps didn’t give a cycle option so I was using the Komoot App for navigation. In Hungary Google maps seems to work and I’d used this and Komoot to plot a route from the city to the campsite I’d planned to stay at – both routes overlapped at times but were both different – Komoot is geared up for walkers and cyclists and in theory it should be better than Google maps – sometimes it is – sometimes it’s not – I’ve been surprised when Komoot has taken me on a road when there has been a perfectly good cycle path nearby – for both Google maps and Komoot it depends on how much information you give it in the first place and some inside information from local cyclists is always handy. So on this day I’d used the Google route for a good distance, until it took me on a dirt track – one, this would have slowed me down (and I still had a long way to go for that night’s campsite) and 2, I’m now a bit anxious about getting more broken spokes so I backtracked to the road and reset my journey with Komoot. Not sure if my route planning is the best way of doing it but it has mostly worked so far.

I didn’t quite make it to my intended campsite – luckily, as the day was pushing on and I was getting tired I came across one that I hadn’t found when I did my research the night before – Madarpart was about 10k before my planned stop – it is on the shore of Lake Tisza-To, Hungaries biggest man made lake – it was perfect apart from the mosquitos – lake, calm, damp from the mornings rain and humid – I should have known the wee buggers would be out but I always forget how bad they are until it’s too late! Covering up any exposed skin as quick as I could combined with a breeze picking up solved the mosquito problem. I was the only person staying again – midweek, not yet holiday season and bad weather was keeping folks away. Tilly who ran the campsite with her husband was amazing – she made me a huge plate of scrambled eggs with bread and 2 different types of cake and refused to let me pay for either the food or the campsite. Really loud thunder that night but the expected rain didn’t come till the morning – it did get really windy though and I had a crap night’s sleep – big gusts of wind, wake up, wonder if I should move tent under sheltered area, fall asleep; big gusts of wind, wake up, etc, etc. When I got up in the morning it was pretty Scottish outside – windy and wet and I packed a damp tent away.

Quite back road from the campsite until I joined the main road that had a fab cycle path running parallel to it and this crossed over the lake I’d camped beside – definitely popular for paddle sports and cyclists and bird enthusiasts but it wasn’t a morning to be stopping. Signs indicated that bike path continued to Hortibagy which was on my route – fab I thought but not for long – nice paved route turned to farm track which probably would have been fine after a spell of dry weather but Bertie’s tyres were not cut out (and neither was I) for the slick coating of mud and I retreated to the road – I also wondered why I had bothered washing the bike 2 days ago.

When I left I did wonder if I would cross the border into Romania but after a big day the day before I wasn’t sure I’d make it and not sure about accommodation once I crossed over – tired legs decided for me and headed to the city of Debrecen (about 42k from the border). I was cycling on what was a trade route – especially cattle and salt – through Hortibagy National Park which is part of The Great Hungarian Plains. Lots of bird life including Lapwings and Egrets – Egrets were nearly extinct due to changes in landscape and being hunted for their feathers – if I’ve got my facts right about only 30 pairs in the 1960’s and now about 3000 pairs and I certainly saw lots of these gorgeous birds.

At Hortibagy, I’d hoped to go into the Pásztormúzeum (the shepherd’s museum) but it was in the process of being pulled down so that they can make a new and better one – both here and in Budapest (and elsewhere in Hungary I think) there is a lot of improvement work taking place which is great but bad timing for me though. I did go into the wee museum in the “Csarda” though – like all trade routes there was places for travellers to stop and rest and this Csarda / tavern was one of them – as well as making sure that the beer and wine was flowing and that the accommodation was up to scratch (not entirely sure what that meant in those times) – the pub landlord had to make sure that the bridges in his area were in good working order too – wooden bridges and frequent flooding due to the nature of the land did not make it an easy job – and not sure many pub landlords would be up to the task now!

Lots of stops – legs couldn’t be bothered – I found a wee hotel in Debrecen to stay – some fab bits of cycle path – did it stop or did I lose it – had a bit of a hairy section on a shared road with roadworks – cars and trucks generally giving me plenty of space but when there is no space to give a lot of them will go for it anyway! Hotel is fab – £26 for room with biggest onsuite shower – I’m in heaven – I’ve spread my stuff about, sink washed my clothes and had a quick wander round the town and liked it and managed to keep my room for another night and had a nice wander today.

I’ve given up on my 90 days Brexit clock ticking – there is a forest park nearby that I’d like to see and the sun is meant to be out tomorrow so think I might stay another night or 2 in Hungary before crossing into Romania.

Debrecen was once, for a short period of time, the capital of Hungary. And on that note I will stop waffling and head to bed.