I find myself under a pear tree in the backyard of a hostel in Solt, Hungary. The attractive reality of these trips is the fact that you never have any idea where you’ll sleep next.
We had a late start this morning, stoping for breakfast in the town of Ráckeve. I filled myself with a sandwich and a bunch of pastries. I enjoyed two small cups of espresso. This light indulgence will undoubtedly transfer over when I arrive back in the States. My teeth seem to be turning a darker shade.
We encountered varied terrain today, cycling approximately sixty-five kilometers (40 miles). Broken pavement was our lot early on. It was a little smoother on the gravel shoulder. Will the rear wheel of the Batavus hold for the entire trip? Stay tuned.
We lost the route today thinking that we could follow close to the river. Our maps pointed us in that direction, but we hit a couple of dead ends after trying two dirt roads.
As we move south and east, I’m calculating thirty minutes of time lost per day. It’s that "idiotic extra" I mentioned last year on the route. These are new adventures in idiocy. At one point, our route choice ended at a wall of tall grass and shrubs.
When we have differing opinions on which road to take, we’ve been solving the issue playing the well known game "Rock, Paper, Scissors". The fact that we are making weighty decisions this way calls into question our desire to actually make it to the Black Sea. One could even wonder about our sanity.
Kelly’s victory with scissors at the grass wall was nothing less than an act of god. Had we not turned around, we’d undoubtedly be cursing the ticks we picked up on the push through purgatory down river.
Pulling into Solt, we threw ourselves upon a humble woman who ran a hostel for hikers and bikers. All of the available rooms were booked, but after learning we had tents, she allowed us to pitch them for 12€ each. We were shown an auto shop on the premises that had a toilet and a shower. Is this common? She threw in a beer and promised espresso in the morning. Yes, angels exist.
Small dogs in this sleepy community are causing a huge ruckus again tonight. Hungarians may need to consider walking (or feeding) them more frequently.
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