Greetings friends..I’m back from another trip! This time it was to the exotic faraway empire of Hungary.. and I went alone again! Hehe I think I can really be labelled an “independent traveller” le… planning so many trips alone, to such increasingly untrodden terrain.. and I’m really enjoying it! It really was quite worrying before I went, going to an Eastern European country all by myself.. summore I wasn’t just going to the capital.. it was more like an expedition, ploughing my way across the countryside. But once I started and got into the swing of things.. I was too busy following my itinery and making little adjustments and being aware of my surroundings (bo bian ah travel alone gotta be really alert to prevent urself being bullied or any careless occurrences cos there’s no one to look out for u!) to care so much about worrying. Of cos I was most busy enjoying myself as well!!
^ Waiting for the 5am train at Slough
The moment I touched down in Balaton, I felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Europe, but also much less developed as compared to other Eastern European cities. The sheer size of this volcanic lake earned it the title of the “Hungarian Sea” in landlocked Hungary, and its length far exceeds the length of Singapore! Amenities were few and simple, and almost no one spoke any English at all! BUT… the people there are some of the nicest and most friendly pple I’ve ever met anywhere! Much nicer than ur stressed-up, busy Singaporean or Hong Konger or Londoner who growls at u if u look at them for more than 2 seconds.
^ Touchdown at Balaton airport
I got a taste of the kindness of the Hungarians the moment I stepped out of the airport. You see I always try to save on the little things mah.. the airport bus that sends me to the town I was going was a monopoly and really exp! I managed to coax out from the airport staff that 1km down the road was a village where I can take the local bus for 1/3 the cost! Ok wat 1+km not that far, so off I set! Even before I left the airport car park, I decided to ask 2 guys behind me the directions to the village, just to be sure (I’ve learnt its best to double confirm all the information you get manz!), and to my relief dey actually spoke English! Well so they should… cos dey’d just arrived from London with me! They not even told me the directions.. they went a mile further (pun intended!) they offered to drive me to the village! They they went another 10miles more by bringing me straight to the town I was heading so I din even have to take the bus! Wow how touched was I manz.. and that was to set the tone for my Hungarian adventure.. one of pleasant people and breath-taking rural scenes and awe-inspiring cityscape!
^ Cute little boy sitting on this monumental bench.. so I took him into the pic as well!
^ Flowers in their full bloom in front of the Gothic Parish Church
^ Posing with the colourful creatures!
I spent the afternoon just walking around the small town Keszthely. Not a great deal to see, but I just liked the small town feel and decided to take it easy! I saw groups of teenagers.. thought they were gonna taunt me like the ‘see gin nas’ in UK do.. but instead they smiled at me and greeted me! Even a group of playful skinheads meant as much harm only as to ask me to take a group foto for em in a Communist pose in front of a statue!
^ Friendly skinheads with their farnie pose
^ Enjoying my cookies and cream gelato on the little streets of Keszthely
There was also the Festetics Palace, the 2nd largest aristocratic mansion in Hungary. Beautiful beautiful chateau.. comparable to the best chateaus in the Loire Valley even I think!
I wandered around some small alleys and saw some pple queuing up. It was a cake shop, and I thot if the locals like it, must be local food! Hehe so I anyhow chose 3 pieces from the wide wide variety available to try! They were really nice and creamy and sweet, but not really that unique. I still liked it a lot in any case.
^ The Geogikon House, the 1st ever agricultural college established in Europe
^ On the bus to Revfulop village, got a bird on the windscreen!
^ A glimpse of the endless lake!
^ My 3 pieces of Hungarian cakes!
^ Tucking in!
^ Vineyards!
^ A well!
^ Kilato lookout tower, one of the few attractions of the village
^ Huff!
^ An abandoned restaurant
^ The unique church building of the local church.. the only other attraction in tiny Revfulop
^ Railway tracks
^ Silky waters of Balaton
^ My hostel.. I had the whole 6-bed bunk cos it was stil the beginning of the summer season
The 2nd day of my 5day marathon trip (the longest I’ve been alone yet!), I rented a bike from the hostel and set out into the great Hungarian countryside in search of lush greenery, pretty flowers, breathtaking scenery, queer rock formations and a beautiful sunset. I did not stop for a moment from 8.30am to 9pm.. kept going and going and going.. and eventually I was proud to achieve all that I set out for! The village I stayed in is on the north bank of the great Lake Balaton, a hilly region with nature reserves and lots of vineyards on the hillsides. Villages dotted the highland area, as well as the fringe of the lake. Those on the highlands mainly depended on agriculture or growing grapes to make wine for a living, and were generally smaller and poorer than those by the lake. These lakeside towns, small as they were, depended on tourism mainly, and each of them actually had their own private “beach” which they charge for using in the summer! The ‘lil village I stayed in, Revfulop was amazingly home only to 1300 people! I was pretty surprised when I found out, but it was just the perfect place to experience the local culture I thought! From Revfulop, I swallowed up the miles of tarmac, going uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill…
^ My trusty bike..
^ .. and me!
^ Houses on the hillside
^ Me on empty roads.. just me and my bike!
^ The national park
^ Little villages in the uplands
^ A ranch!
^ More vineyards!
For large parts of my jouney the countryside was entirely mine, just me and the endless fields of yellow flowes on both sides, or rows upon rows of nicely laid out vines. I even jumped off my bike and took pictures of myself in the middle of the road! Passed by several of those small villages.. so truly rural and kampong.. rustic ah.. I really love just wandering around on those streets manz. I made a very very steep climb up a particular hill to see a natural wonder. There was this rock formation on the hillside shaped through years of weathering and erosion into thousands and thousands of giant needles all pointing towards the sky. Really amazing, and if that wasn’t enuff.. the view of the beautiful sprawling pastures was simply therapeutic. The climb to reach this “point of needles” was really tough though.. at one point the sharp little stones paving the road got me worried that they’d puncture my tyres, and I had to get off to push the bike. At other parts, the slope got more than 50deg, and even pushing the bike got so exerting.
^ The "points of needles" from afar
^ 1300m up a slope of this gradient on my bike!!
^ Climb so high with my bike to see dis.. of cos worth it la!
^ Jump for the beautiful countryside!
^ Jump for the magnificent Point of Needles
^ Jump cos I felt so carefree!
^ Field of yellow!
^ Posing with my bike.. my cam was balanced precariously on a little sign by the road!
^ And I jump again!
Another natural wonder I searched out was the “Sea of Stones”. Very hard rocks, resistant to erosion, strewn around during volcanic eruptions. Soil and sediments subsequently covered up the area. Then over the millennia the surrounding softer rocks got eroded away slowly by weathering processes, exposing this “sea of stones”, some seemingly balancing on single points! I had lots of fun setting the timer on my cam, then challenging myself to climb to the biggest rock within those 10 sec!
^ These hardened silicified limestones
^ Can tell that they once belonged to the sea hor?
^ I climbed up there in 10 sec!
^ The rock on the left look abit like ah meng hor?
^ The balancing rock!
Haha in fact all this cycling and walking and climbing and jumping got my knees and ankles into a pretty bad shape.. I tried to run on Mon after I came back, but it was hurting quite a lot.. just hoping I’ll recover soon enuff to train again.. cos the big day is just around the corner!
^ Lunch on the go.. munching cookies!
^ More village scenes..
^ and more countryside!
^ Uncle fishing in sampan as our duckie frens look on
^ Wah watch it manz!
In the evening, with the sun already setting, I got pretty lost on one of the mountain roads. The tourism office had recommended it as a panoramic route, and so it was.. like one of those coastal routes, only on the hill, overlooking the “Hungarian Sea” Alas good things never come without a price.. the road was again paved with big pieces of rock instead of asphalt, and it got quite impossible to cycle on it. So I had to get off to push it again, and even that was difficult!
^ The mountain road where I lost my way.. quite willingly lost my way with dis kind of scenery!
Summore after pushing it through the whole long stretch, I found out that the road leads only up the hill and not down the other side like the map suggested! Jialat! No way I was gonna push the bike across the “road of stones” and backtrack all the way manz! But it seemed like there wasn’t much choice. That was.. until I asked another local.. an old man who looked quite rough.. but as I came to trust with most Hungarians, he stopped and gave me lots of directions… which I couldn’t understand at all! In the end he simply signalled for me to follow him, despite me trying to argue that there was only 1 road, and it leads nowhere! Well.. he is not local for nothing. The map wasn’t wrong in suggesting there was a path down the side of the hill.. ends up it was just so well hidden I nva saw it! In fact it was a discreet mud trail so well hidden by bushes at the entrance! The old gentleman even guided me halfway down the trail, leaving me so thankful indeed.. lucky no need to backtrack manz.. if not surely no time to complete my itinery!
By this time the sun was well on its way down already. I contemplated whether to keep on going to my last stop point. Hehe but those who know me well enough should know that I just don’t know the meaning of giving up. So off I sprinted the last 8km, still heading further away from my village at 7pm! But it was well worth it I must say! This is the remains of a castle from the Habsburg rule, perched pretty on a little hill. Haha little it might be, but the climb wasn’t at all simple manz.. I realise all their roads dun go round the hill on their way up one.. goes straight to the top! End up they’re always so steep! But I reached the top in time to see the sunset over the entire country side on one side, and the vast expanse of silky Balaton waters on the other.. quite simply stunning! In fact, this was probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen!
The most beautiful sunset at the charming little castle on the charming little hill......
^ Sun disappearing beyond the horizon
^ Last traces of daylight fades as I pedalled furiously towards my hostel
The following morning was less punishing.. it had to be cos I was simply too exhausted le! I took a bus to a beautiful town on a peninsula jutting out into the lake.. nice bustling place with lots of tourists.. a fresh change from the peace and tranquillity I’d enjoyed the previous day. It still had the small town atmosphere and its share of nice historic buildings. There were even 2 inner lakes on the peninsula (these are still very big lakes!) and I caught many pple picnicking and fishing.. and I did find out lots of the locals love fishing!
^ The little town of Balatonfured.. where I had to change a different bus to Tihany
^ Ducky feeding time!
^ Fisherman guarding his territory
^ Another old uncle fishing.. fave pasttime of the rural folks I think
^ More boats..
^ No more food?
^ The icon of Tihany.. the beautiful church
^ Erm.. met a couple who just refused to budge
^ Beautiful waters!
^ Legend has it that shouting from this spot back to the church wall.. u can hear clearly the echo of up to 15 syllables!
^ The most beautiful calvary in Hungary
^ View of Tihany
^ Looks as if I can just walk out onto the water.. so calm, so tranquil!
^ Looking back at the church
^ This lad caught a fish in just a few min!
^ One of the 2 inner lakes of the town
^ Paprika house!
^ Hot stuff!
From the peaceful countryside, I chugged along in the local train to mystical Budapest.
^ Onto the train.. Budapest prepare for my arrival!
^ Had the whole cabin to myself!
It was only when doing my research did I realise the name came about because of a merger of the cities of Buda and Pest on both sides of the river, together with Obuda further down the river. Queer names brought with them a really out-of-the-world experience. Again I found most of the people as nice as ever.. though I must admit drivers in Budapest are very reckless, and hardly ever stop willingly for pedestrians, even at crossings. You’ve to dare to walk out into their path.. then they’ll stop!! So I did get some guts training over there. The views in Budapest are some of the most diverse and beautiful I’ve seen anywhere in Europe.. I think it is as beautiful, if not more so, than Prague even! That probably has to be attributed to the long history of the city since 1AD, and the many different sets of rulers it has had since then. This incredible city has been ruled by the Romans, Turks, Magyars, Habsburgs, Russians among others, its strategic location on the river Danube ensuring it always remain a piece of treasure worth fighting for! I’d always dreamed of seeing with my own eyes the beautiful postcard scene of the Chain Bridge straddled across the river and the Budapest Castle in the background.. and when I finally met it face on, I was totally awed! So so beautiful I think using words to describe won’t do it justice! So were other sights in Budapest, from the grand Turkish baths to the magnificent Heroes Squares and the historic old town next to the castle.. all of these seemed to have a magical charm about them. It was perhaps good that I was travelling alone.. I was able to take in the sights and feel the culture and atmosphere even more. And reading up on the history and the culture of the city really did help me appreciate everything more! (I put too many fotos on dis post so its become very laggy le! so i'm gonna put some Budapest piccies onto another post later!)
Food.. glorious food! I think Hungarian food really suits me right down to the last taste bud! Just the way I like it.. rich, creamy, spicy, savoury.. gastronomic heaven! Hehe that’s partly the reason why I’ve such good impressions of the city, and rounded off my experience there! Hungarian cuisine is a huge supporter of paprika.. lots of dishes are cooked with it, and it adds the spicy, tangy taste to the food! I tried out various local dishes dis time, despite being alone. My last few trips alone I wasn’t quite comfortable about sitting down in a restaurant alone for a meal, but after hearing of all the nice food from my Hungarian colleague, this time I didn’t care le!
1. Fish Soup
Tired this at an alfresco café at my village in Balaton. It’s a paprika-seasoned creamy fisherman's soup with Balaton carp fillets.. I ate it with hot paprika sauce.. dumped lots of it in, and ate it with bread. Superb, except for the many many bones in the fish!
2. Langosh
Think “you tiao”! Only its large and round.. shaped like a puffed up, extra large roti prata, and taste like our long, golden brown delicacy from Singapore! On it people normally put cheese, cream, or garlic sauce. I had mine with ham and cheese and garlic! Really really shiok just biting into the giant pancake! But so super big and greasy I got quite sick of eating it in the end haha.
3. Goulash
This is a spicy Hungarian soup, a stew of beef, onions, potatoes, red peppers, and paprika powder. I ate it with bread.. super shiok on a cold rainy nite!
4. Hungarian beer
I tried 2 brands.. Dreher and Soproni. Both had the nice Eastern European kind of flavour to it!
6. Pork Marhaporkolt Tarhonyaval
This is a stewed pork in hot paprika sauce, served with small flour dumplings.
7. Turkey breast bakony style
A grilled turkey breast fillet served with a creamy paprika mushroom sauce. I ordered rosti potatoes to go with it.. but they turned out to look like hash browns. Stil very nice though. I wanted to order a local pancake with peach and vanilla and cream.. but I was too full oredi so had to give it up haha.
Apart from the good food and great sights, the experience was rounded off by the nice pple I met along the way. Travelling alone is good in a way because u’re not closed out to strangers by being in your own group. You’re more open to interacting with others around you, and this was how I got to learn more about the Hungarian culture, as well as got to know a few other travellers! The hostel I stayed in at Balaton is actually a hangout for some of the local village people in summer! And they were just kicking into the meeting-up season when I was there, so I got to meet lots of the locals. In fact it was then that I realised quite a few of them actually speak English! These were mostly young people who travel out a lot, either to Budapest or to UK to work. And from them I learnt quite a bit about the Hungarian culture, as well as sold our Singapore culture to them! Hehe so really right down to grassroots level manz.. meaningful! In Budapest, being the large city that it was, I had less interaction with the locals. Rather, I made friends with quite a few fellow travellers! Amongst them a Turk-Dutchman who decided not to go to the zoo with his friends, and who ended up walking around, following my itinery instead haha; also a bunch from China who thought I can’t speak Mandarin and started talking about the usefulness of my little tripod.. and I surprised them all! And there was this American architect who started talking to me randomly on the chain bridge.. I was struggling with my last ounce of battery life, and he was doing the same thing right beside me after seeing that it was a good picture spot.. quite farnie! And this Polish couple whom I made frens with after asking them to help me take a foto!
As it turned out my solo Hungarian trip was a wonderful experience and adventure.. did all I set out to do and more.. All my fears of travelling alone to the unfamiliar terrain of Eastern Europe for 5 long days were unfounded, as I conquered both rural and urban Hungary. I think this ranks right up there with my most meaningful and enjoyable trips, and I’m gonna remember it for a long long time to come!
Well now I’m back home, but still I’m alone! My entire household has abandoned ship and jetted off to Norway and Amsterdam le! Will be home alone for the whole week manz.. but I’m actually enjoying the peace and quiet for once.. taking time to recover manz after my punishing but fulfilling trip. In fact, all the cycling and walking and climbing and trekking in Hungary did something to my knees and ankles.. to the extent that I’ve problems running now! I tried when I came back on Mon.. but my knees kept hurting and my ankles weren’t moving right, so I decided not to push myself too hard. Hopefully I can recover enough to train properly for the big run! Oh well but I’ve been enjoying my time at home cooking! I cooked curry for the 1st time, and it actually turned out pretty good! Threw in pork strips (read curry pok! Haha!) lots of carrots and gandang.. hehe but my incapability of judging the final quantity acted up again. I wanted to cook for 4 meals, but I ended up cooking enuff for 7! Suits me alright though.. I still haven’t got sick of it yet! Hehe mebbe I should try to pick up some Hungarian cuisine too manz.. nxt time go back can open Hungarian restaurant! I’m pretty sure Singaporeans will like their kind of food!
Alright.. time to start planning my next trip le.. in the meantime, enjoy the scorching heat back home! It has actually got pretty warm over here too now!
