94 km to a campground near Pared, Hungary.

Another hot and sunny day. I went into Lucencec and Filakova to try to find maps of Hungary, but was unsuccessful. Lucenec was a fairly pleasant city, although industrial, while Filakovo was downright scary. I saw lots of Gypsies (or perhaps dark Slavs?), and noticed that the young Slavic women in this region dressed like the classic image of prostitutes (tight fitting mini skirts, bright red lipstick and lots of makeup). The men, on the other hand are often tattooed, and are the type one would not want to meet in a dark alley.

Most of today's ride was through unshaded terrain and, as a result, the heat was oppressive. I drank five liters of soda today, as well as more water than I have been used to. The water is suspect in eastern Europe, so I have tried to avoid drinking it as much as possible.

When I got to the Hungarian border I was stopped by the guards. One of them carefully examined my passport, and after a couple of minutes asked "How far is Seattle from here?" I gave him my best estimate (12,000 km) and that seemed to satisfy him, so he let me pass. Within 30 meters of the crossing I was confronted by a man who tried to sell me a large pot. I politely declined and continued on my way.

The cross into Hungary brought an immediate cultural change. The city of Salgotarjan had a western European core (filled with new shops) but the rest of the town was classic east European industrialism--gray, ugly and dreary. Despite all of the shops, the grocery stores are only slightly better stocked than the Czech stores. The prices are higher, but still low by American standards. The people seem less hostile and less intrusive than in Slovakia and Poland, but I still would not call them friendly. While the cities consist of apartment houses, the villages all consist of single family houses. Many of them are new, but in the same style as the older ones. I saw lots of gardens and the houses were well-maintained.

I found a pleasant, green campsite that is not crowded for the night. Here I met four touring cyclists and had a good talk with all of them. Two of them were Hungarian brothers in their twenties. They were riding Schwinn bicycles that were made in Hungary. The other two, Koen and Jarka, were a Dutch couple on a two week tour of Hungary. They had an enormous tent and told me that they had jettisoned two chairs that they had started the trip with. They were carrying about 120 pounds of gear as it was. Koen was an engineer in Amsterdam while Jarka was a legal secretary. She (Jarka) asked me why I was doing this journey. Oddly enough, nobody had ever asked me this question, and so I fumbled with an answer. I guess I am not quite sure why I am doing it, other than that it is a combination of escape and spiritual quest.

I've been finding a few English language stations on the radio lately. Radio Moscow and Radio Ukraine provide stultifying analysis of the things like agricultural agreements between states (although they occasionally have a bizarre religious program that asks that donations be sent to an address in Osaka, Japan). The Voice of America provides the blandest, hokiest elements of American culture. The fourth English language station is a religious station which discusses things like papal statements. Unfortunately, I have not been able to pick up the BBC.

136 km through Szurdokpuspoki and Erdotarssa to Dunabogdaky on the Danube Bend near Budapest.

Another very hot sunny day (I drank 6 liters of soda) with a very strong headwind for much of the day. The morning started with a nice 15 km uphill through forest followed by a wonderful 20 km downhill to Paszto. These were the longest climbs and descents of my entire trip, and this in supposedly flat Hungary. I went through a series of villages which were distinguished by the fact that they were about 50 meters wide and two or three kilometers long. These towns had houses alongside the road and nothing but fields behind them. All were single family homes (no apartments in the villages), and many were newer. All of the villages had water pumps alongside the road, and I used them frequently today.

This was another day of paranoia as I was hooted at by men in several of the villages. In all of Eastern Europe the men seem to congregate around the local bar/restaurant. Since they are usually drunk, or on their way to being drunk, this has been a problem for me. I do not like stopping to eat where I am the center of attention and the audience consists of drunks.

I had a problem finding a campground this evening. My map was inaccurate in regards to my intended site, so I had to head on toward the next one. By this time it was getting near evening and I arrived at Vac, on the Danube. I crossed the river on a ferry during which I was charged 50 Forint for a "ticket". Since no one else showed a ticket, or was asked to pay, I presume I was picked out as an obvious foreigner. This did not help my paranoia, although the amount involved was minimal.

Once I was on the east side of the Danube I still had several kilometers to my campsite. I was feeling panicky as it was now past sunset and I had a very strong headwind to contend with. Fortunately, I saw a sign for another campground within a couple of kilometers and I managed to get a site there. It is full of Dutch and German tourists, is quiet and is located near a beach on the Danube (the Bend of the Danube is famous for its romanticism). It should be a very nice evening.

53 km to Romai campground on the northern outskirts of Budapest.

Another sunny, very hot day. I was definitely not looking forward to bicycling into Budapest, but I had used it as my mailing address so I needed to go into the city. The first 10 km went well, as traffic was light, but then traffic picked up considerably and I started to see "no bicycling" signs. So, I got off my bike and walked the congested sidewalks, having to deal with the 8 inch curbs that are common in eastern Europe. After a few kilometers of this I came upon a minor miracle--a bicycle path! I got on it and joyously peddled to the city limits of Budapest, where the path ended.

I did not have a map of Budapest that extended to the northern limits, so I had to rely on my own ingenuity--God help me. I zigzagged along residential streets trying to stay in a southerly direction. Finally, after stopping to help fix the flat tire of a Hungarian cyclist, I headed west toward the Danube, assuming that there would be some kind of path or trail paralleling the river and going into the city. I was mistaken. There was a major (and uncyclable) road that had a rut filled sidewalk alongside it. I rode on this sidewalk until I turned a corner and found that the sidewalk narrowed to less than a foot in width, with a brick wall on the right and speeding traffic a meter away on the left. I was trapped--it was impossible to turn my bike around and the steady stream of traffic made cycling on the road extraordinarily dangerous. I waited several minutes until there was a tiny gap in the traffic and then made a wild dash to cross four lanes of traffic.

Having survived that incident I decided to walk the rest of the way to the center. I found myself carrying Burton up and down a series of stairs, before I finally managed to get to the American Express office on the Pest side of the river.

I spent the next several hours just wandering the crowded streets of Budapest. The city has changed dramatically since I was last here some 20 years ago. It has become a western city in many respects. Large sections of it are gentrified, yuppified and expensive, although the typical eastern European concrete apartments are still in evidence. There were large car-less mall areas in the center with lots of trendy specialty shops, art exhibits, panhandlers etc. The city was lively and crowded, and little attention was paid to me (although I did not see a single bicyclist in the city center--something very unusual for Europe). The city itself was very beautiful; the combination of baroque architecture, the Buda Hills and the Danube would be pleasing to any aesthetic taste. I found prices to be higher than in the United States, but lower than in western European. The drivers were reckless; it was exhausting and unnerving to be on constant alert for some idiot turning a corner at high speeds, or whizzing by with only inches to spare. Most people that I talked to had some command of English. Everybody I talked to today (generally, to ask directions) was polite and helpful.

In the late afternoon I re-traced my early morning ride and went to the Romai campground on the northern edge of the city. This place is typical of urban European campgrounds in that it seems designed to cram as many people into as confined a space as possible. It took me some time to find a plot of ground large enough to pitch my tent. Unfortunately, this plot turned out to be adjacent to one of the camp restaurants and the disco. Beginning at 7:00 the restaurant featured live music (German polkas) which continued until midnight. At that time the disco kicked in making sleep impossible.

So, as midnight approached, I lay in my tent, exhausted and stewing over the cacophony of blasting music (radios competing with the disco), barking dogs and screaming people. I had no desire to participate in the "festivities", but I finally roused myself and went over to a nearby tent that housed another solo camper. Once I established that the occupant (Wilhelm) spoke English, I sat down and we talked until 3:00 a.m.

Wilhelm is a Dutchman in his early 30's. Articulate and opinionated, he is a graduate student studying agricultural economics and was fluent in English. His specialty is constructing computer simulated models, and he talked extensively about "chaotic determinism" (a situation where the structure is understood but the result is unpredictable) and its relationship to quantum physics. He was an expert in eastern European economics and we discussed such things as the huge Hungarian debt and the Slovakian reliance on weapons manufacture. He said that the Hungarian reliance on western capital has caused it to advance more quickly than the other eastern economies, but that the resulting debt is leading to stagnation and belt-tightening. In Wilhelm's opinion, the Czech approach involving no debt accumulation will lead to a slower but steadier growth. As a result, he thought that the Czechs would be the first country to be accepted by the EEC (all of the eastern European countries are seeking entry). Wilhelm said that the rapid and credit driven growth in Hungary has produced a negative social impact, i.e. an increase in corruption and greed. He told me that he, having traveled in Hungary for several years, has seen a marked change for the worse in traditional Hungarian hospitality.

Wilhelm also shared some of his traveler's story. He told me that he was driving through Romania with a friend and was stopped by a gate in a remote mountain area. A man then stepped out of the woods and demanded 10 Lei before he would open the gate. Wilhelm's friend refused to pay, and soon there was a line of more than 30 cars lined up behind them. Eventually a policeman came by and the gate was opened, only to be re-closed as soon as the line of cars had gone through.

At 3:00 a.m. the disco finally quieted, so I went back to my tent to sleep the remaining few hours before dawn.

75 km through Budapest and Gyermily to a campground at Tata.

Another hot and sunny day, which was only relieved by a wonderfully cooling five minute sun-shower in mid-afternoon--it was like a gift from God. The first 20 km involved winding my way out of the Budapest maze. This was a sheer act of survival as I was constantly forced off the road by an endless stream of trucks and cars on very narrow roads. For several kilometers I was forced to ride on a narrow, glass strewn path on the right of a guardrail. It was a nightmare which lasted at least 3 hours. Finally, at Tinnye I was able to get off the main roads and on to some quiet backroads.

For the rest of the day I was climbing and descending a series of hills through mostly farmlands, interspersed with forested areas. It was during this portion that I saw the first of several curious Hungarian artifacts--a drive-in theater! I also met a whole stream of touring cyclists. I had chanced upon the Donau (Danube) bike route, a thousand kilometer trail stretching from Donaueschingen, Germany to Budapest. Unlike in the US, most of these cyclists did not stop to compare notes (this is a major difference between US and European touring). One couple from Freiburg, Germany did stop, however, and I told them what to expect when they arrived in Budapest. We only talked for a few minutes but Bernd gave me their address in Freiburg, and since it is on my intended route, I may stop there.

At Marieholm I ran into another anomaly, a German speaking town. All of the signs were in German and German was spoken by everyone I came in contact with. I had not realized that there were any such communities in Hungary.

I am staying at a campground in a town which looks like a western Euorpean tourist town--no signs of socialist realism here. Unfortunately, as what seems to be the norm, there is a disco on site so I was not able to have any peace and quiet until 2:00 a.m.