Day 24, Dunaalmas, Hungary. Sometimes Shortcuts Lead to Mud

Tony's View

We started out today pretty slow, so I am showing you how the houses go up over here in Europe predominately. These pictures were taken in the Village of Bony. The outside walls of the house are clay blocks, then covered with 6" of Styrofoam. Then they place stucco on the outside.

Almost all the houses over here have stucco on the outside and some type of clay roof. I tried to get pictures of the different stages of the houses. The one below was almost finished. Yes, the pictures could of been better, but by the time I thought of it, the good examples were behind us.

 

 There are many crucifixes and Mary grottoes over here in Hungary also. Not as many as in Germany and Austria, but still quite a few. Joan pointed out the above picture as a survey marker. I thought the surveyors would like to see how they do it here. We saw these survey markers on the side of the road where I thought it would be a good idea to follow a short cut. We got about 3 miles into it and Joan said, "I think we should just turn around and go the other way." I said it will be OK. Let's keep going. Then, we turned off the road to a dirt road. Then it got worst. It was covered in water in places and very muddy. Then, I remembered reading about this part of the route in one of my books while doing my in depth research. It read, "Don't take the short cut. It can be bad." You can see in the pictures how the water and mud completely covered the road. By the way, this is a road. The picture below left shows a water hole and how vehicles went around it in the farmers field, so that is what we decided to do. There farmer's field was just a little muddy unlike the road which was really muddy. Then, when we were riding in the field, Joan got off to take a picture of where we were riding. Shit, we had 6 more miles of this. Just part of the adventure.

Well, it only turned out to be about 3 miles through a mud road and detours into a farmer's field. It seemed a lot farther than that. Riding a bicycle in the middle of a Hungarian farmer's field. Who would guess? Then, we saw a gravel road with pot holes and water all over which I was excited to see. It got better, turning to asphalt road with potholes and mud. Yea. 

These are the pictures of the road gradually getting better. Then the picture below shows a real nice road lined with beautiful trees.

After the last road we entered the village of Acs. We stopped at a church to check it out and rest. I was so worked up, I had to get a beer that was left over out of Joan's bag and drink it in front of the church in celebration that we made it.
Interestingly, riding down the road a few more miles, this older gentleman and his wife were trying to tell us something. They spoke no English. He kept pointing down at the pavement, pointing forward and shaking his head. We then figured out that there was mud ahead and we had to go around. We followed him where he went down this one road, but had to turn around. Then we followed them again and they took us on some busy roads, but they were at least paved. We had to work hard to keep up with them. They were strong riders. We did see more small towns today. In Hungary, at least in the small towns that we went through, they're not kept up as well as the other places. Not sure if it is remnants of communism or just a poorer country. 

The trail to the left didn't want the bigger bicycles to go through so we backed up and went around. The picture to the right shows how many of the bicycle lanes are only five feet and we pass cyclists coming from the other way all the time.

We got to our Airbnb and they didn't even know we were showing up. When we called, they said they'd be there in a few minutes and about 30 minutes later I called them again. Joan took the picture to the above right of me being very frustrated right in front of the place. Then they said they think they can get a place for us. It would take an hour for them to clean it. We went to a place close by to buy a beer and gyro. Joan needed to go to the bathroom, so the purchase found her a place while we waited. Joan took another picture of me being frustrated, just waiting. I am so good at waiting. 😀 After about 90 minutes we called again and said if they would refund our money, we would try to find another place. They said come back because they had it ready. They are new owners and spoke very little English, but didn't know about the reservation I made last November. They were sorry.  

We went out to eat after we settled in. I got that on the left. All the locals were getting it so I thought it must be good. It is fried bread, with strong garlic butter, sour cream, cheese and onions. It was pretty good. As you can see, I had half of it gone before Joan sat down. Very few if any understand English here, so my communication refers to pointing. Joan is much more patient at that then me. Today was quite an adventure. Thanks to Joan, reminding me that it is all part of the adventure. I am such a perfectionist. I was saying," I should have listened to Joan when she said we can turn around and ended up in mud. I should of checked on the Airbnb closer" and so on. I should of this and should of that. She reminded me that I need to stop shoulding myself on everything. It is all part of the adventure. Joan has a way of reminding me that my frustration is part of the adventure.

Joan's Extras

Today was definitely the bumpiest ride so far. Between dirt roads, fields, narrow bike lanes with roots forcing the pavement up, potholes, uneven roads and curb jumping, we got our share of bumps and jolts. Tony does one heck of a job missing whatever he can, but even he said that his arms got quite the workout today having to hold on to the handle bars so tightly. 

We stopped at Spar, a grocery store, for a late lunch, and ate on a shady bench across the road. While we were eating, Michael, our friend who grew up in Dayton, rode by. He stopped and we shared stories of how the route turned to muck. He rode in that same farmer's field too. The difference is that Tony & I were at least together out in that farmer's field. He is on a group tour, but he rides by himself, so he was out there all alone. You really tend to question if you are in the right place when you end up in mud holes like that, and it's nice to have someone to share in your uncertainty.

Speaking of farmers, we saw lots of signs like this today. Looks like Hungary has a wide range of farmers on the rode.