//Day 8 /19-03-22 /Komarno-Budapest

Today had the option to take the short route (90k) which would go less or more in a straight line to Budapest.Or the “touristic” route (125 K) following the Danube and passing some smaller cities and villages.I opted for the touristic route. After breakfast at my hotel I saddled Black Horse and hit the road.

The route followed the Danube, sometimes left the Danube to go through some small villages. Sometimes there was a cycleway, sometimes in good condition, sometimes bumpy. Sometimes I was on a small road, sometimes I was on a bigger road. Sometimes the sun was shining, sometimes clouds blocked the sun. But always today there was a strong headwind….varying between 15 and some times 20 k…Blackhorse and I had to work hard to move forward. Often going not faster then 15k per hour. I discovered on my Garmin a white arrow. It seems that this arrow shows the direction from where the wind is coming. The arrow pointed all the day to me….

I a small village I stopped buy some food. When I exited the small shop and old men was look at my bike and started first talking in Slovakian, then Hungarian and eventually Russian (unfortunate not the languages that I master) . He pointed at all parts of my bike so not sure what he tried to say. I said da, da,…he started smiling. Great old guy but could do with a wash.

One of topics which kept me busy when fighting the head winds was : why I did see very to almost none cargo boats on the Danube ?  Since Passau I think that I saw in total not more then 10 boats. Maybe the all operate at night but I would have expected plenty of boats on the Danube. On the internet the Danube is mentioned as an important waterway but that was certainly not the case the last 7 days. If someone can explain me why I do see so few boats don’t hesitate to let me know.

One of the nice encounters today was a herd of white horses who where grazing the along and on the cycleway. The seemed to be quite tame and even open for a photoshoot. 

20 K before Budapest, in the touristic village Szentendre, I ate a great ice cream before hitting the city centre. Although a new cycle way has been put in place I was suddenly on very busy road. Following that the cars horning at me it became clear I was expected to ride on that road. At a certain moment I was able to get of the road and find the cycle way which lead me into the city  and eventually to my hotel. 

After checking-in I strolled a couple of hours through the city, had a drink and dinner. The headwind of today though screamed sleep and that’s what I will do. Tomorrow I will leave already Budapest as I want to be on the road. I will leave the Danube and start cycling towards Timisoara in Romania, the firs real Balkan country. I have booked a hotel in the Kecskemet, the 8 largest city in the country. Tripadvisor rates the townhall as Number 1 thing to see, followed by the town square, Cathedral and a reformed church. It will be to much excitement for one day….

Lessons learned :

• Great icecream to be found in Szentendre.
• In Budapest restaurants you need to order at the counter yourself. 
• Headwind.pff…….
• Next 8 days only sun…..

Song of the day : I will be your shield - Billy Bragg