Sunday 24th August 2008

A cold and very wet night was followed by a similar morning – the temperature at 09:00 was 13°C and only reached a maximum of 16°C all day. Wet, cool August days – it was just like being in England and, in fact, we had very similar weather to that at home – cold and wet in the morning, clearing up for the afternoon. Having said that, I suspect that the weather in England was better than here as we had very little sunshine.
The weather and the Olympics kept us tied to the campsite for the day. Although we can't get BBC terrestrial channels, we can pick up BBC News 24 and I discovered that, by pressing that little red button, we were going to be able to follow the closing ceremony. We were also able to see all of those fantastic British medal wins by selecting highlights in the interactive section. Considering that we have hardly watched any television for a year, watching TV for almost the whole day was rather strange.
Photos: An umbrella covers our camping neighbours' table, although there is no room for the chairs. We speculated that they had positioned the table next to the electricity point so that they could plug in their fan heater!

Saturday 23rd August 2008 – Stara Lesna, Slovakia

The weather forecast was not so good today with rain expected at some time. We took the train to Stary Smokovec, changing onto another train to Strbske Pleso, a major resort at the western end of the Tatras. We came out of the station to be faced with a huge construction site. The borders of the National Park stop at the edge of the lake here and that means that hotels can be built south of that. And they certainly are being built – at least four massive hotels are in the final stages. One of them is a modern monstrosity, looking like a giant piece of Toblerone and extremely ugly. The others were going to be very pleasant, based on traditional architecture and looking pretty despite their size.
We walked around the lake, admiring the exceptional views of the Tatras that were clearer than any day so far, despite the forecast. We then took a footpath away from the lake and made a great discovery – wild raspberries. The walk was rather a slow one as I kept disappearing into the undergrowth in search of that wonderful fruit. Jane was quite abstemious but I couldn't get enough – they were so tasty with that tart sweetness. “The Low Tatras are much clearer now” said Jane as we were returning to the town and the distant rumble of thunder answered immediately – Jane and her big mouth! Fortunately, the thunderstorm appeared to be on the eastern end of the Low Tatras.
Returning to the town, we caught the train back to Stary Smokovec. The weather was definitely worsening and the cloud was obscuring most of the mountains, coming down almost to towns at their base.
On Thursday we had spotted that a hotel close to the station had a jazz group tonight starting at 19:00. Our last train back was 21:30, so we couldn't stay for the whole evening but at least we could see a couple of hours. The group turned out to be performing in the hotel's very small jazz café but they readily agreed to reserve a table for us and we went off for a very early dinner. We had chicken and dumplings at the hotel's fast food restaurant and were amused by the bill. All the countries in former Eastern Europe are obsessed by the size of the portions and almost all menus give details of the weight of each part of the meal. So, looking at our bill we were charged 150g of salad, 2 x 160g of dumplings, 2 x 100g of chicken and 8 x 10g of 'kurca pecene/doblok'. The last one flummoxed me for a while until I realised that they had put 4 very small spoonfuls of gravy on each of the plates!
The jazz was excellent – a young group consisting of a drummer, bass guitarist and acoustic guitarist with a box of electronics that, together with his skill, allowed him to get some fantastic sounds out of the guitar. Jane was a little concerned at the billing of “modern jazz” but it really was very good and we were sad to leave just before half past nine.
The forecast came true as we stepped off the train at Stara Lesna – it started to rain. The 700m to the campsite was completed in record (although not Olympic) time.
Photos: The lake at Strbske Pleso with the jagged peaks of the High Tatras behind; The jazz café – this shows half of the room, it really was small.

Friday 22nd August 2008 – Stara Lesna, Slovakia

We realised this morning that we are not fit! We were both hobbling due to screaming calf muscles – all that downhill walking over rough stones had taken its toll. Reluctantly, my plans for a 30km mountain hike, taking in a little mountaineering, would have to be postponed. Still it was only ever going to be completed in my dreams.
A leisurely morning was followed by a walk into the nearby town of Tatranska Lomnica. Our map showed two footpaths that would enable us to make a circular walk. We failed at the first hurdle, unable to find the start of the footpath opposite the campsite. This meant that the route in was a little longer than intended but we had a look at the town (lots of pleasant parks but otherwise unexciting) and found an Internet Café. We got up to date with the blog and emails and tried to stand up – the calf muscles complained. They soon loosened up as we walked, heading for the second footpath that we had identified. We succeeded in finding the beginning of the footpath but it soon degenerated into long grass and marshy ground – we turned around and took another diversion. Our short walk turned out to be a slightly longer walk but we needed to keep those legs moving.
Photos: The clouds had cleared over Lomnicky Stit and the surrounding peaks - Skalnate Pleso is at the join between the tree line and the bare mountain, below the high peak. There must have been a fantastic view over the mountains for those lucky enough to have obtained tickets to the peak of the mountain today.

Thursday 21st August 2008 – Stara Lesna, Slovakia

It was a mile and a half walk from the campsite to the cable car in Tatranska Lomnica where we found a long queue. There are two options to reach Skalnate Peso at 1,751m, the four-person gondola that we were queuing for and a 30-person cable car. We had seen a helicopter ferrying construction material to a site on the mountain near the cable car route and suspected that they were doing some repair work and this seemed to be the case as we couldn't see any cable cars running.
The queue moved quite quickly and we were soon on our way up some 900m. Cloud covered the tops of the mountains leaving Skalnate Pleso in shade and this, combined with the increase in altitude, meant that the temperature was much lower here. We watched the cable car operating on its dramatic last section up to the very peak of Lomnicky Stit, at 2634m the third highest mountain in the Tatras. Tickets for this section had already sold out when we bought our tickets but the fact that the peak was immersed in cloud would have meant that the fantastic views over the Tatras would have been obscured.
We set off down the very popular path to Hrebienok and within a few minutes passed Skalnata Chata, the oldest of many refuges in the Tatras. Here there was a small room that showed the work of the refuge sherpas who carry huge loads to the refuges high in the mountains miles from civilization. The strength and endurance of these men is quite phenomenal, using wooden frames on their backs they carry loads of 150 to 200kg including massive gas cylinders as well as food and other supplies.
The path was very rocky meaning that much time was spent watching our feet but frequent stops allowed us to admire the views both up into the mountains and over the flat lands south to the Low Tatras. The latter were rather hazy but, between clouds, sun lit up the valleys and peaks of the High Tatras. We stopped by another refuge, Zamkovskeho Chata, for our picnic before descending rapidly to the flatter approach to Hrebienok. Here there is a funicular down to Stary Smokovec and it is also possible to rent a scooter for the descent. These looked great fun but I couldn't persuade Jane, so we walked down watching the scooters go by. The bold riders zoomed passed at great speed whilst the timid passed more sedately with the brakes squealing.
All along the southern edge of the High Tatras there is an excellent electric railway running a service every hour. We had some time to kill and so we had a drink sat in comfortable cane chairs in the shade outside one of the two bars at the station. The train journey is slow due to the many bends, road crossings and the steep incline of parts of the line. We back at the Stara Lesna station and then walked the 700m to the campsite, completing our 13km (8 mile) walk.
Photos: Skalnate Pleso - the cable car descending from the clouds covering Lomnicky Stit nearly 880 metres above; The backpacks used by the refuge sherpas – imagine this loaded with 200kg of gas cylinders; A view up the Velka Studena Dolina (valley) into the heart of the High Tatras.

Wednesday 20th August 2008 – Stara Lesna, Slovakia

Dion and Monique came over to say “goodbye” and we traded email addresses with Tom and said our farewells to him and Imogen. As we drove out, they were all there to wave us off.
This was the friendliest campsite that we have stayed on in the whole of the Odyssey and Dion and Monique have got everything right. We really felt welcome and with all the information and help that they provided, it was an easy decision to say longer than we planned. I would thoroughly recommend the site to everyone and it was obvious that most of their customers have returned many times or have come as the result of recommendation.
We drove to Brezno and then up a road shown on our map as 'picturesque'. There were some roadworks on the way and then, 5 miles up the road, we came to a no entry sign. They had completely closed the road and this was obviously what the small sign at the start of the road had indicated – if only we understood Slovak! We retraced the route to Brezno and then took another, probably equally picturesque, route over the Low Tatras mountains. In the low land between the Low and High Tatras, we passed the uninspiring city of Poprad and drove on to Stara Lesna, one of a series of resorts strung along the bottom of the mountains. We parked up in the Rjio campsite with the towering, cloud-topped mass of the High Tatras in front of us.
Photos: The Sedliacky Dvor campsite.

Tuesday 19th August 2008 - Brezno, Slovakia

Reading the brochures at the campsite, we discovered that at the other end of the railway that we had seen on Friday was a forest park with walking trails. We drove to Cierny Balog where that line terminated and a separate, short line went up the valley to the park. At Cierny Balog were the engine sheds for both lines with a large amount of rolling stock and locomotives, both steam and diesel. Any British preserved railway would have delighted to have as much – two steam locomotives, a number of diesel locomotives (both large for the long line and small for the short line), post wagon, a large variety of passenger wagons, cranes, ballast carriers, timber wagons (the original purpose of the line) etc.
We set off on the 4km journey to the park and arrived at the Vydrovo Skanzen station and park information centre. Although it was not at all clear, especially for foreign tourists, there was a small charge to enter the park, but it was well worth the money. There were four trails to choose from and we chose the one indicated as 2 hours in length. All along the trail there were information boards in Slovak and English and also forestry exhibits. These were very well presented and very substantial, including a forest warden's house, housing a museum; water powered sawmill; personnel transport lorry; cranes; portable timber cableway and even a forestry helicopter. The area is also a working forest with active forest management visible everywhere. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative walk and I would certainly return one day to do some of the other walks. We returned to the station and enjoyed a snack at the very good and popular buffet before returning on the train.
Having plenty of time, we plotted a different route back to the campsite passing many walk signs from Cierny Balog through the hills until we approached Tisovec. The whole of that area was very pretty and would also justify a return visit.
We had chatted to an English man and his daughter, initially rather surprised to here an English voice from a person with a Slovak car, we found out that he was working for SAB Miller (the giant brewing company) in Slovakia. Tom had suggested that we got together in the evening “around the camp fire”, which I had taken to be a metaphorical camp fire but it turned out there really was one. Initially we sat on the terrace by the house – a group of us formed and Dion, who was part of the party took our orders for beer. When it was fully dark, we moved over to the camp fire that Dion had lit and sat around on benches and tree stumps chatting, watching the fire and looking up at the stars. Tom had already said that he was in finance and I asked him whether he harboured any ambitions to be a Financial Director, “I already am” he said – he was the Finance Director of SAB Miller in Slovakia! We had a very enjoyable evening chatting in English despite the fact that most of the group were Dutch – needless to say, their English was very good. Imogen, Tom's daughter, was allowed to stay up late and played with the campsite kittens or stoked the fire. She was a really lovely girl and we didn't hear any complaints from her the whole time that we were there.
Photos: Pulling into Vydrovo Skanzen station; A portable timber cableway that allows the felled trees to be transported over the ground, thus avoiding damage to the forest floor; The camp fire group – there was no singing!

Monday 18th August 2008 – Brezno, Slovakia

We decided to stay another day and, given that the morning was cool, do another walk. Jane handed over some washing to Monique (they put it through their washing machine) and Dion suggested another walk and let us borrow his map. The walk took us in the opposite direction to yesterday, up the valley to the next village of Michalova. It was certainly warmer than yesterday and we were glad that it was partly in woodland, giving us cool shade between the warmer open areas with views across the valley. Every time that we reached a forest clearing, there was a profusion of butterflies of many different types.
Dion had told us about a good restaurant in the village, 'Fantazia', and we headed for that. Not only was it very good, it was also very cheap, £11 including a tip for two two-course meals and beers. We caught the 15:00 bus back to Rohozna and walked up the side road to the campsite.
Photos: A view back down the valley with the campsite in the middle of the photograph; Milking sheep - sheep cheese is common in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria but it is rare to see lamb in butchers or on menus.

Sunday 17th August 2008 – Brezno, Slovakia

Dion has marked a 3 hour circular walk from the site and given that it was a cool day with only a chance of showers, we decided that it was a good day to do it. Dion gave us some last minute advice, outlining the major turning places and the landmarks to look out for.
The walk did not start well. I heard a very loud and frenetic buzzing around my head and flailing my arms, I attempted to persuade whatever it was to go away and succeeded, only for it to attack Jane. It turned out to be two large bees that appeared to be fighting, something that I have never seen before. They went straight into Jane's hair and burrowed in. One eventually flew off but the other was in so deep that I couldn't even see it, although Jane assured me in no uncertain terms that it was still there. Having stung Jane in the head the bee finally escaped. I managed to find and remove the sting and Jane had some sting relief cream, which I applied liberally. We were able to continue the walk with more applications of cream.
The route took us up the hill behind the campsite to the trigonometry point at the top and then along the ridge. From here there were excellent views in all directions including over to the Low Tatra mountains and up and down the valley in which the campsite is located. Yesterday's rain had cleared the air and the visibility was good, only the tops of the mountains were shrouded in cloud. Butterflies were enjoying the huge number of wild flowers in the meadows; puffball mushrooms were sprouting up after the rain and a flock of sheep were resting after gorging themselves on the rich grass. The path then dropped down into the valley, turning left at the single-track railway line where tiny one-carriage trains very occasionally meandered they way, sounding their horns every few hundred metres.
We sat in the shade on a low bank opposite a small farm and ate our sandwiches, finishing just before we were overrun by the free-range hens that had stealthily approached from the farm. For the rest of the walk, we made our way between farms with tethered cows eating the rich meadow grass and farmers turning the cut grass or loading the hay onto carts. It was an excellent walk of 7 miles (11km), full of interest and in ideal conditions, cool, sunny and dry.
The evening was again very cool, especially in the breeze and we soon moved inside. We were preparing dinner when Monique, Dion's wife, arrived and gave us some home-made plum cake. We had it as desert and it was delicious. Dion and Monique are excellent host, they make a point of visiting everyone every day to make sure that all is in order and answer any questions.
Photos: We saw many of these beautiful beetles on our walk, the shell is like a mirror – if you look carefully, you can see my reflection in it; Sheep relaxing.

Saturday 16th August 2008 – Brezno, Slovakia

The day dawned dully after a much cooler night. As I opened the blind on the skylight, I was greeted by a uniformly grey sky and, as we sat in bed reading and drinking tea, the first drops of rain fell. Over breakfast the thunder and lightening started and from then until late afternoon the sky was heavy, with light showers, occasional very heavy rain and no sign of the sun. The skies did start to clear and we had a red sunset but the temperature had only been a chilly 14 – 16°C all day.
Needless to say, most of the day was spent in the van reading and, in desperation, watching an old American film on one of the free satellite channels. Now that we are able to use the satellite TV again, being within the reception area for a 60cm dish, we can at least follow the Olympics and catch up on the news even if we can't get BBC or ITV.
Photos: One of the many barns near the campsite. Almost all of the local families keep a pig in their barns with the hay stored above.

Friday 15th August 2008 – Brezno, Slovakia

I think that this must be a religious spa resort as, just before 6am, bells announced mass in the nearby church. The bells were very loud and were not the few dongs that we had heard elsewhere but went on for a full five minutes, thus ensuring that the faithful were aware of the service and everyone else was fully awake!
There was nothing to keep us at Kovacova so we moved on. Banska Bystrica, a large city, was another recommended stop but, given that we had neither details of what to see nor any idea where to park, we followed the main road through, turning off towards Brezno. We followed the pretty Hron river valley, passing a Schloss (or Slovakian equivalent) at Slovenska L'upca, set on a small hill against the backdrop of the high tree-clad slopes, it looked very attractive. There were no signs to the castle from the road and we later found out that it wasn't open to the public. Just before we got to Brezno we came across a preserved narrow gauge railway and decided to take a look. A train was just about to leave and it was too late to catch it but we were able to get some information from the ticket office. When we got back to the van, we discovered that someone had left a small card under our windscreen wiper – it was an advert for the campsite that we were heading to!
We drove on to Brezno and then on a minor road for 4 km to the village of Rohozna and the Kemping Sedliacky Dvor campsite. This must be one of the shortest journeys that we have made between campsites – it wasn't even lunchtime. We were greeted by Dion, the very friendly Dutch owner, who gave us a drink and chatted to us about the local highlights and his family's life in Slovakia. We then had lunch and relaxed, out of the sun, under the awning.
Photos: This preserved railway locomotive acted as a good advert as it was placed next to the main road.

Thursday 14th August 2008 – Kovacova, Slovakia

Time to move on but first we took a last walk into Esztergom to change our Hungarian Forints into Slovak Koruna (crowns). This meant a late start but we only had a short trip to our next destination. We drove over the Maria Valeria Bridge without any sign of border controls, indeed one of those little tourist trains was taking a full load through what used to be the customs on the Slovak side, heading for Hungary.
The very friendly Austrian couple that we had met in Romania recommended a number of places in Slovakia that they had enjoyed. We headed for the first of these – Banska Stiavnica. You know how it is, you have every intention of doing one thing and end up doing something totally different. This can often be put down to senility (as is often the case with me at home) but this time it was different. We drove into Banska Stiavnica , past the first part of the town is modern and uninteresting, looking for somewhere near the old town to park the van. By the time that we discovered where the old town was, we were in it and there was nowhere to park. We then found ourselves going up a steep hill out of the town with no options for turning around. Further up the hill, well out of the town, we came across a mining museum and ended up visiting the gold, silver, lead and copper mine. It was fascinating, even though the underground guided tour (all 2 hours of it) was only in Slovak. The strangely named 'Open Air Mining Museum' is in part of the very important Banska Stiavnica mineral deposits. The area once had a large number of volcanoes and heavily mineralised water was forced under great pressure from very deep under ground and crystals of different minerals were deposited at different levels. Gold and silver deposits were found close to the surface with lead below and copper at the lowest level. Mining started with small surface pits and, as these deposits were exhausted, deeper shafts were dug accompanied by sophisticated drainage tunnels under the shafts. It was one of the most important mining areas in Europe and lead the technology in many areas, including the drainage, and it was here in 1627 that they first used explosive (black gunpowder) underground, a technique subsequently adopted throughout the world. In our hard hats and waterproof coats, with lamp in hand, we walked a long way through a series of both recent and old hand-hewn tunnels, past exhibits showing mining techniques from all ages.
We drove on to strangely named Recent Sol campsite at Kovacova, just north of Zwolen. The site was quite busy although there was plenty of space for us. We discovered that we were in another spa resort with three spa pools. The waters are apparently good for “motion inconveniences and neurological diseases” but given that we fortunately do not have any problems in that area, we decided not to bathe.
Photos: There were all ages visiting the mine – these are minor miners!; This gallery was hewn by hand, hence it is very narrow.

Wednesday 13th August 2008 – Esztergom, Hungary

Another lazy day – they are getting more frequent, I blame it on the heat! Lots of reading and blog writing and a brief walk into the town for supplies and a visit to an Internet Café.
In the evening we walked back to the square to see who was performing in the festival. The walk took us under the Maria Valeria Bridge and it was great to see whole families taking an evening walk on the bridge between the two countries. It seemed quite surreal to be able to stroll so easily across the border. The band were not as good as last night – it was an 'oldies' group, the singer of which, Jane pointed out, bore a slight resemblance to Barry Manalow and obviously also considered himself to be 'God's gift to women'. He wasn't however God's gift as far as we were concerned so we listened to a few numbers and then walked back to Henrietta.
Photos: The festival site below the castle and cathedral.

Tuesday 12th August 2008 – Esztergom, Hungary

We arrived at Karavan City in plenty of time for our 10:00 appointment, to be greeted by two bits of bad news – the unit was unrepairable and they were unable to obtain a replacement unit because the CBE factory is closed for their Summer holiday. They were terribly apologetic but there was nothing that they could do about it. We had to resign ourselves to the fact that we will be without a battery charger for a few weeks and will probably attempt to get a replacement in Krakow, Poland where we know that there are a couple of potential garages.
We plotted a route to Slovakia via the 'Danube Bend', north of Budapest, which was supposed to be very pretty. This took us on the congested ring road around the eastern side of the Pest, over the Danube and then north on the Buda side. We arrived at Gran Camping (obviously designed for elderly ladies but they let us in) only a short distance from an old-looking bridge over the Danube. It was a great relief to see the bridge as it was the one that we hoped to take into Slovakia but there was some doubt as to whether it existed. Our AA map of Europe showed a road across the Danube on one map but on its more detail map of the Budapest area it only showed a ferry and our old guidebook talked only of a ruined bridge, blown up by the Germans and they retreated in the Second World War. The mystery was solved when we walked into the town via the bridge. The old Maria Valeria bridge had been rebuilt in 2001 in the same style as the original.
We came across a stage and posters announcing the Esztergom Summer Festival and noted that there was a performance that night. We then took the 'Cat's Stairs' from near the Royal Palace next to the Danube up to the castle and cathedral on top of a hill with a commanding view of the Danube and Slovakia on the northern shore. It is easy to understand why the Romans had so many problems defending this border once the Empire had become weakened, it would have been so easy to cross the Danube. We visited the cathedral, the largest church in Hungary, and I couldn't resist the option of climbing to the top of the cupola to see the view. A sign at the bottom warned people with agoraphobia not to attempt the visit but they really should have included claustrophobia (I suspect that that is what they actually meant) and sufferers from vertigo. Nearly 400 steps later, including many on a very narrow two-way spiral staircase made of slippery marble, I arrived at the bottom of the dome that dominates the cathedral. The views were fantastic with the whole of the Danube Bend laid out below.
We strolled down through the town, purchasing wonderful ice creams in a pretty fountained square before walking over a pedestrian bridge spanning part of the Danube and onto Primate Island where the campsite is located.
In the evening we walked to a restaurant just a few minutes walk from the campsite and had dinner on the terrace watching the Danube flow past and the police stopping cars on the road between us and the river. They didn't seem to catch anyone without the correct documents and the breaks for cigarettes or chats seemed to become more and more frequent.
The sound of strong bass notes suggested that the entertainment had started, so we walked for a couple more minutes to the square. The band seemed to be a Bob Marley tribute band all wearing Bob Marley tee shirts although they were all white and did play other music including one Santana number (I wanted more!). At 10:30 they finished and we made our way back to the camp.
Photos: The Danube Bend from the cupola of the Esztergom Cathedral; The Maria Valeria Bridge with one of the many Danube cruise boats; The castle and cathedral at night – note the cupola that dominates the cathedral.

Monday 11th August 2008 – Erd, South of Budapest, Hungary

A very relaxing day doing very little and didn't even leave the campsite. Jane did get some exercise swimming in the pool whilst I prepared the barbecue.
Photos: Jane swimming in the Blue Flamingo pool.

Sunday 10th August 2008 – Erd, South of Budapest, Hungary

When the students returned, they were obviously very quiet as we slept right through.
After removing the Americans' washing from our washing line and neatly hanging it on their benches, we set off for Erd, just south of Budapest. We had read about an Iron Age burial site at Szazhalombatta and wanted to visit the Archaeological Park that had been created there. The Garmin satellite navigation system threw a wobbly and by attempting to direct us down a non-existent road, forced us to cross the Danube and we then had to find somewhere to turn around in order to get back. After that, it was a straightforward journey and we soon arrived at Erd where there is an ACSI-listed, 'Camping Blue Flamingo', campsite. This is a very pleasant, small site with a good sized swimming pool although there was no sign of flamingos, blue or pink. Given that the site is only about 40 minutes away from Karavan City, we decided to stay for two nights. After having lunch at the site, we set off on the short journey to Szazhalombatta, arriving at a town dominated by a huge refinery and an equally huge power plant. The archaeological park was on the other side of the town, on rising land close to the Danube.
The area around Szazhalombatta has been occupied from the Bronze Age, through the Iron Age and into Roman times when an army camp was placed here. The camp at what the Romans called 'Pannonia' was on the 'Limes', the border of the Roman Empire for 400 years until the Huns crossed the Danube and occupied the area. It was however the Iron Age that left the most obvious remains in the landscape (apart from the refinery and power plant) and it was this that we had come to see. Over 120 tumuli litter the landscape in an area in excess of 1.5 sq km. A small part of the cemetery has been opened to the public with reconstructions of Bronze and Iron Age buildings and, the star attraction, an excavated tumulus that has been reconstructed. We walked into the tumulus and, under a hemispherical metal roof we were able to see its complex construction. There was a 10 minute film in English but, the guide explained, the projector had failed so we only heard the soundtrack. The audio was interesting but would have been much more so with the visual! It was very dark inside the tumulus but spotlights then picked out different aspects of the construction and a commentary explained it. This tumulus (number 115, in case you are interested) is one of the largest in the cemetery and it covers a 5.5m square burial chamber with a 7m corridor attached. Flat stones were laid on the ground and then covered with a wooden floor made from oak. A chamber was created by a stone and oak timber wall around the square and many grave goods were put in. The body was cremated on a funeral pyre, the remains of the pyre put into the chamber whilst still hot, a chamber roof of oak timbers added and then covered with soil. The fact that the ashes were hot and that the earth starved the contents of oxygen, meant that the wood of the chamber was carbonised and preserved. We were able to see the wood in situ after over two and a half thousand years – quite remarkable. It is clear that many rituals were involved in the cremation and burial – flowers were found in the soil just above the chamber and many broken pots were include in the tumulus fill.
Photos: An Early Bronze Age house at Szazhalombatta; Tumulus 115 at Szazhalombatta.

Saturday 9th August 2008 – Northern Budapest, Hungary

Although we had previously visited Budapest, we wanted to see it again and so, armed with day tickets for Budapest public transport, we set off for the train station. The weather was not good and we were wearing coats and carrying an umbrella – it was positively cool in the wind.
We went all over the city visiting sites that we didn't visit last time as well as revisiting some of our favourite sites. Markets are always fascinating places to visit but the Budapest Central Market is also in a lovely building, so it is particularly good. It seemed that there were as many tourists as there were local shoppers and the upper level of the market, an open metal walkway overlooking the rest of the market, was largely devoted to tourist shops and eating places. The food here looked fantastic, as it did last time that we visited, and if it hadn't been so early (11:30), we would have eaten there. Next time that we come to Budapest, I will definitely arrange to be at the market at lunch time.
We used trains, buses, trams and metros to get into and around the city and this included mainland Europe's first underground railway that runs down the main Andrassy road. This was fascinating as the carriages are very low (not built for rugby or basketball players) and the line is very shallow, the road must be resting on the roof of the railway. We visited the Underground Railway Museum at the Deak Ter station and read about the history of the line. The building of the railway was initiated by Mor Balazs, a Hungarian who had been educated in England and who had obviously seen the London Underground, the world's first such railway. The line was opened in 1896 and despite huge damage in the Second World War, has been running ever since.
To end the day we decided to walk over the chain bridge before catching a train back to the campsite. Last time that we came across here was with our friends Ann and Nick when there on an anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising. The bridge tableaux of students acting out scenes from the Uprising and the road tunnel on the Buda side were full of exhibitions about life at the time. This time there was a Summer festival that and we started by listening to the Ferenc Radics Ensemble playing Hungarian Folk and Romanian Gypsy music. Ferenc Radics is the first violinist in the Hungarian State Folk Orchestra, needless to say, he was very good! In the centre of the bridge was a folk music and dance group. Three musicians played a variety of instruments including bagpipes, lute and drums whilst two dancers enticed passing members of the public into dancing with them. At the Buda end of the bridge there was the Union Brass Quintet. It was a really pleasant atmosphere and was a lovely way to finish our visit to the city.
After a short tram trip along the banks of the Danube, we caught the train back to the campsite and found a large coach parked next to Henrietta. A marquee was attached to the coach and a large group of students were sat around on benches. The area around the coach, in amongst the parked motorhomes, were their tents. They were very loud Americans and were playing a game of 'I never, never .........', the rules and purpose of which I couldn't understand but seemed to involve taking it it turns to say things they hadn't done of a sexual nature. This went on for a long time at high volume and, given that they were only 5 metres away, we were wondering whether we were going to get any sleep that night. Fortunately, at about half past ten most of them decided to go into Budapest and hit the bars and clubs. The remaining students were quite quiet and we were able to get to sleep although we were certain that we would be woken when the others returned.
Photos: The 'Pal Street Boys' – an excellent set of bronze sculptures depicting a scene from a famous Hungarian children's novel; An early Budapest tube train in the Deak Ter museum; A bride and groom posing for photographs in Heroes Square; The folk group on the Chain Bridge.

Friday 8th August 2008 – Northern Budapest, Hungary

Our guidebook and the very informative Budapest brochure provided by the campsite both recommended the town of Szentendre north of the campsite. Very conveniently, the railway line runs just the other side of the main road outside the campsite and runs all the way to Szentendre. We were able to buy a ticket at a ticket machine on the platform but discovered that this only covered the part of the journey within the Budapest metropolitan area, having to buy a second ticket for the rest of the journey from the conductor on the train.
We had not been able to use the Internet for some time and I had bought the laptop with me in the hope of finding somewhere that I could use it. Only a short distance from the station we found an Internet service but without wireless or the option to plug in the laptop. He directed us to an Internet café a hundred yards further on and we soon had the laptop plugged in. There were a large number of emails waiting for us, lots of blog to upload and many other things that we wanted to do, so 3 hours later we finished! At a total cost of £4, it was very reasonable and it was great to accomplish so much.
After an excellent lunch, we set off to visit Szentendre. It wasn't very busy as we walked in but when we got to the centre, we met the coach trips. Tourist shops, restaurants and cafés lined the roads and the crowds filled them. The architecture was interesting but we have seen much more attractive Mediaeval towns. One interesting feature was the Serbian and, to a much smaller extent, Greek influence. In 1690 Emperor Lipot I called for help in his attempt to expel the Turks from the Balkans. He promised that the Balkan people who helped would be given sanctuary in Hungary should the attempt fail. The Balkan War followed but the Habsburgs were defeated and at least 40,000 Serbs, fearing retribution from the Turks, moved to Hungary and settled mainly in the area of the Danube. Szentendre became home to a large Serbian community that retained there language, customs and religion. It was only after the First World War that conflicts between the nationalities lead to an exodus of most of the Serbs. We visited the Serbian Orthodox cathedral adding to our list of Orthodox churches visited – Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian and Russian (in Sofia, Bulgaria).
Photos: The Danube at Szentendre; The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.

Thursday 7th August 2008 – Northern Budapest, Hungary

The Ford service was booked for 13:00, so we had a relaxing morning on the campsite. Flute music was drifting across the campsite and it didn't sound as if it was a recording. I decided to investigate and found a man a short distance away playing the flute. He must have been professional or a very good amateur as his playing was of a very high quality. He played for about two hours and included very long pieces that I recognised although I couldn't tell you what they were.
The journey to the Ford garage at Solymar should have taken 20 minutes but the roads were very congested and it took us 30 although we still arrived by 13:00. The check-in took about 15 minutes and was incredibly bureaucratic, requiring all sorts of details including the vehicle registration documents. However, we were told that the van would be ready in about one and a half hours, so we set off into the town to find somewhere to eat our sandwiches and obtain some cash. We found a bak but couldn't find a park or even just a seat, so we opted for a small restaurant instead. I had a very large breaded veal escalope with parsley potatoes and Jane had a lasagne. I have never seen such a huge portion of lasagne – Tesco would have sold it as a 'family lasagne' and it would have been a large serving for two people! Needless to say, Jane didn't finish it but when we had finished, she was presented with a plastic container holding the remaining lasagne.
We returned to the garage to find that the van was ready – no problems found - and a bill for £140. It would probably have cost us more at a Ford garage in England – it is amazing how they can create such a large bill in such a short time.
We returned to the campsite via an enormous Auchan hypermarket where we felt almost guilty with our very small amount of shopping.
Photos: The flautist at Romai Camping.

Wednesday 6th August 2008 – Northern Budapest, Hungary

The satellite navigation knew the exact location of the motorhome repairer and, leaving plenty of time to get there, we set off. When the Garmin said that we had arrived, we parked up and tried to find the garage. There was no sign of it, so I went into an office and asked for directions. I was surprised that he directed me to a location quite a distance away but he was confident that he knew where it was. To cut a long story short, we had to ask for directions twice more before we arrived, half a hour late, at 'Karavan City' (not the name that we had been given), close to the original location. They were very helpful and within a hour they had diagnosed the fault and told us that they would either be able to repair the unit (50% chance) or install an equivalent charger. The only issue was that they did not have another slot until next Tuesday but there is plenty to do in the Budapest area in the meantime.
With had already chosen a campsite in the north of Budapest, close to the west bank of the Danube and we plotted a scenic route around the western side of Buda. This area is a park of hills and woodland and there is no direct route through it but we were able to skirt it and admire the views.
We had spotted that there was an archaeological site on our map near Zsambek, marked as 'Romtemplom'. This was on our route, so we called in to see it. Walking up to it, on a hill above the town, it appeared to simply be a ruined church but when we arrived we found that it had been built on the remains of a Roman temple and the site had a commanding view over the surrounding countryside. There had been a church there since at least the 13th century although the remains on view seemed to date from the 15th century. It was a pleasant diversion and also provide somewhere to have a picnic lunch before we continued our journey.
Romai Camping is a busy city centre site but there is plenty of space and we found a large quiet pitch at the bottom end of the site.
Photos: Galopp Major Very Late Iron Age roundhouses; The ruined Mediaeval church on the Roman temple site at Zsambek.

Tuesday 5th August 2008 – Southern Budapest, Hungary

Time to leave Lillafured camping and we are sad to go. I can strongly recommend this site – it is small, very friendly and very well positioned. The owner is very attentive, regularly chatting with her guests and checking the they are OK. When she is not doing that, she is checking and cleaning the shower block. We wish her the best of luck and hope that she will be able to continue operating the site even though she has lost her husband.
We drove the length of the Bukk National Park, climbing through forest with the occasional clearing enabling us to see the view over the park before we descended into Eger. The Tesco hypermarket was a convenient place to stock up with provisions after the lack of shops in Lillafured. We passed the famous wine cellars of Egar where one can taste many local wines including Bulls Blood and then we passed the huge vineyards on the hills outside the town. Coming off these hills, we started the flat and rather uninteresting drive to the southern outskirts of Budapest.
We had chosen the campsite (Galopp Major) because of its position, only 15 minutes away from the motorhome repair centre. It is a pleasant site with a number of pretty, family-sized cabins. Looking like iron-age thatched roundhouses scattered across the site, these were superior to the majority of cabins that we have seen and looked as if they would have been very comfortable. The camping and motorhome area was next to a fishing pond where a large group of ducks were huddled on the shore. It was hot today so we found a shady pitch under young trees. We were the only motorhome there and only a few of the cabins were occupied. It would be an ideal place to come for a family whose interests are fishing and horse riding, as there is also an equestrian centre there that teaches riding. Both the fishing and horse areas were in use but it is difficult to see what else would attract people to the site as there appears to be little to do in the area and it would be difficult to get into the city centre from there.
Photos: Eger wine at an early stage of production; The late evening view from our pitch at Galopp Major.

Monday 4th August 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

At 09:30 we phoned the Budapest motorhome supplier and I was able to explain the problem to a man who spoke very good English. Although his showroom is in a convenient place N.E. of Budapest, they do not have repair or servicing facilities on site. The charger repair would have to be done at their partner's premises 15km away, south of Budapest and the Ford servicing at a garage 10km north in Solymar. This would mean driving around Budapest but we were sure that there would be campsites close to both locations. I suggested Thursday for the repair and Friday for the servicing but said that we were flexible. He made the bookings and phoned back late morning to say that it would have to be Wednesday and Thursday and we agreed.
We spent the rest of the day reading apart from a short trip into the centre to buy bread and eggs and post cards at the tiny post office – the only food shop in Lillafured or Hamor.
In the evening we went back to the centre to have a meal in Tokert Etterem. We both had soup to start, I chose the cold fruit soup and, although it was delicious, it did seem strange having a desert before the main course. The main course was a platter for two with baked trout, fried pigeon breasts, breaded pigeon breasts and venison in a red wine sauce. It was good but a little too much fried food – our first meal here on Wednesday was much better.
Photos: The Lower Falls – these are just behind the Hotel Palota and are the highest waterfall in Hungary. Much of the spring water that supplied the falls is now extracted to provide water for the city of Miskolc.

Sunday 3rd August 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

Yesterday was one of the rare days without rain, although we had heard thunder in the distance. Today we had a thunderstorm as it was getting light and it was still looking a little threatening when we set off for a walk. The route took us behind the campsite and up the steep hill, a very sapping climb as it was warm and very humid under the trees. At the top we came out into the open at the rocky outcrop of Feher-ko and admired the view down to the valley below and the campsite. The walk then took us past a small cave in the limestone with circular water-created holes going into the cliff. The whole area is littered with caves and there are over 900 in the Bukk National Park.
From this point on, the walk became a fungi foray as we spotted more and more varieties. These included Devil's Boletus (a bulbous purple stem with orangey-red sponge pores – poisonous); what I think was Boletus Luridos, a similar mushroom with a straight purple and brown stem (poisonous until cooked but it then turns a deep blue!); an amazing spikey puffball (the 'Punk Puffball'???) and a bracket fungus that was growing on a fallen tree and looked just like pork crackling. We met a mushroom hunter collecting the fungi to sell at market or to restaurants and his basket was full of magnificent specimens.
All of the walks in this area had been on tracks but this route soon became a proper footpath. We soon discovered that tracks were kept clear whereas footpaths are not. Fallen trees littered the path, causing diversions and scrambles over large trunks. We also extended the walk by missing the fact that the route had been changed – we followed the old route signs and only realised when we found ourselves rejoining the original route. Still, we arrived safe and sound at Hamor, a village adjoining Lillafured, although the estimate of 1.5 to 2 hours was very optimistic as it took us about 3.5 hours. We had a very late (3 pm) light lunch at a café in Hamor and then walked back to the campsite. On the way Jane bought a very pretty pendant made from horn. This was not an impulse buy, it was our fourth visit to the stall, so she was quite certain that she wanted it!
Dinner was barbecued chicken and courgettes with roast potatoes cooked with little pieces of pork fat and smoked pork. These gave the potatoes a lovely flavour – the recipe will be repeated!
Photos: View from Feher-ko down into the valley – our campsite is hidden by trees to the right of the closer buildings; The Mushroom Hunter with the largest of his pickings – how much would this cost is a restaurant?; Two of the many 'Punk Puffball' fungi that I found in a small area; I have seen many huge Beefsteak bracket fungi in England, so I have decided that this one should be called the 'Pork Crackling' fungus.

Saturday 2nd August 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

The campsite owner had offered us the use of her PC to check on the Internet and told us that we could take as long as we liked. We found the CBE site and that had links to the sites of the motorhome companies that it supplied. Those in turn had list of agents in each of the countries that they operated. We had a number of options – Hungary, Slovakia or Poland but Hobby didn't have any suitably positioned outlets. We eventually found three potential motorhome service providers through other manufacturers' sites, one in Budapest and two near Krakow. None of these were ideal as we hadn't intended to go to Budapest and going to Poland soon would mean rearranging the schedule somewhat. We decided on Budapest because it is only a couple of hours from here, there are campsites very close to the garage and there is a fair amount to see around the city. The latter is quite important as there is likely to be a wait for spare parts. Our hostess (I really must find out her name!) phoned for us but was told that the office was about to close and there were no English speakers there at the moment. She arranged to phone back after 09:00 on Monday when there would be an English speaker.
The rest of the day was spent reading, doing the chores and taking a short walk up beyond the campsite and down into the village.
Photos: View of the front of the Hotel Palota over the lake.

Friday 1st August 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

Today, top of our agenda was attempting to fix the CBE battery charger. It is mounted under the passenger seat, which makes access very awkward but I was able to get the cover off and, having disconnected the mains, located the fuses shown in the CBE manual. The fuse on the 12v side was OK but the one on the 240v side had blown but there were no other signs of damage in the unit and no nasty burning smells. It could just be the fuse but what caused it to blow? Perhaps it was caused by a mains spike during one of the many thunderstorms? We had to find a replacement fuse and hope that that would cure the problem. Needless to say, I had bought many car and motorhome fuses with me but not one like this.
Our hostess does not speak much English, so I went to her bearing the blown fuse and tried to explain that I needed to buy a replacement. She explained that both she and her late husband, who died in February, were electrical engineers! She drew us a map to locate a shop that may stock the fuses and then went off to see if she had any in the house. In the meantime, she explained the problem to a Hungarian family staying at the campsite and they came back with a selection of fuses but none of them were the same. Our hostess did find some fuses of the correct size and they were 240v but the amperage looked too small. I tried one but it blew immediately.
We decided to combine the fuse shopping with a visit to the city of Miskolc and, conveniently, the shop was near the terminus (at Diosgyor) of the first bus that we had to take. The shopkeeper took one look at the fuse and indicated that we would have to go into Miskolc centre to find one. So we took a long tram ride and got off in the city centre, wandering the streets looking for a likely shop. Jane spotted a Sharp photocopier shop that also offered photocopier servicing, so I tried there. A very helpful man who spoke English said that he might have one but would need to check that it was exactly the same. He checked on the computer and then spent some time examining many fuses in his rack of trays. He held one up triumphantly and I asked for two. He asked me what the fuse was for and I explained the problem – he refused to take any money for them! I was delighted to have found replacements so easily and would happily have paid well for them but this was a very pleasant gesture. If I ever want to buy a photocopier, I will go to that shop!
We then enjoyed walking around Miskolc which, although it isn't full of tourist attractions, is a very pleasant open city with wide roads and interesting architecture. Jane was on her last book (a real crisis for her) and I suggested that we went into a large bookshop to see if they had any English books. When I asked, we were lead to a section with about 50 different paperbacks, at least 30 of which were by Agatha Christie, one of Jane's favourite authors. She bought 3 books for less than £14 – an absolute bargain! The day was going well.
We had lunch in the 'Vig Postas' – so named because it was opposite the post office. The menu was fun with dishes such as 'The happy postman's pork fillet' and 'The postman's wife's favourite carp recipe'. We had an excellent meal at a very reasonable price and set off refreshed for more sightseeing. We climbed the small hill covered with wine cellars, now converted to houses, restaurants and night clubs and also with views across the city. Returning to the main street, we visited a baker and butcher and then caught the tram back to Diosgyor where we got more supplies in the supermarket before catching the bus back to Lillafured.
The moment of truth had come! I put the fuse in, switched on the mains and ........ it blew immediately. Not really surprising but a great shame – it will need to looked at by a garage. Henrietta also needs a service, so we decided to try to find somewhere to do both.
Photos: Rehersals for an open air production of a Donizetti opera in the centre of Miskolc; A designer outlet soon to be opened but at least they have made a good job of restoring the building.

Thursday 31st July 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

We set the alarm a little earlier so that we would be in time to catch the bus that would take us to the beginning of walk number 5 from the guide. This sounded interesting with an iron foundry, trout farm, springs, sink-holes, dolinas and caves occupied by Late Stone Age man with ritual cave bear bone deposits and scratched pictures of hunting scenes including cave bears. Too good to resist.
Either the bus that we wanted to catch didn't run or it took another route. Faced with another 25 minutes to wait until the next bus, we decided to add another 3km to the 7km of the walk and cut out the bus trip. This took us along the side of the Hamor Lake and then the stream that feeds it until we arrived where the bus would have dropped us off – Ujmassa. Here there is the remains of a blast furnace and a museum telling the story of iron working in the area. The foundry there used the abundant resources of wood for charcoal and water for powering the waterwheel-powered hammers.
A further kilometre along the main road was the trout farm that also had a restaurant attached. It was however too early for lunch so we took the path that lead straight up the steep hill. As soon as we entered the forest, there was a pervasive smell of fungi. Frequently we detected the unmistakable aroma of the phallic-shaped, foul-smelling Stinkhorn but we saw large numbers of small Puffballs and many other varieties. After a slow ascent with many stops, we arrived at the top of the hill. It was at this point that we heard the first rumbles of thunder, but they were a long way away and there was still blue sky and white clouds above us. We continued for some time as the thunderstorm came closer and came across a picnic area close to a spring and sink-hole and decided to stop for lunch. Not a moment too soon! The rain started and for the next hour it poured down, but we were sat in the dry with four other walkers two of whom arrived some time after the downpour started – they were very wet! Eventually, some water started to percolate through the tiles and wood of the very solid-looking roof and we moved around the seats to avoid the slashes from the drips. Donning our wet weather gear, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retraced our steps to the main road. This was easier said than done as the steep path was now very slippery and often had a stream running down it. We emerged from the forest opposite the trout farm to see a large number of people waiting at the bus stop – we joined them. Ten minutes later we were on the crowded bus heading back to Lillafured.
Jane washed our dirty walking trousers and socks and was about to hang them on the washing line when our hostess produced a small spinner and took the spun clothes to hang them in her garage. We already really liked the site and it has gone up even more in our estimations – a small site with an attentive and helpful hostess, excellent!
I had finished writing this blog entry and we were reading books when the lights went off. The 240v sockets were working but the lights weren't. My initial thought was that a fuse had blown, probably caused by one of the bulbs failing, but eventually I realised that the whole 12v supply had switched off. This happens when the leisure batteries run out of power but that should never happen when the van i connected to the mains supply as the batteries are constantly charged from the mains. This lead me, wind-up torch in hand, to the problem – the battery charger unit had failed. It was too late to investigate the problem further so we went to bed.
Photos: The Ujmassa blast furnace; The forest train arrives at Ujmassa.

Wednesday 30th July 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

A proper walk is on the agenda today. We selected one of the five walks from the photocopied guide and I worked out the route on the small map that we had been given. The route started almost opposite the campsite and took us up through the forest to Sain Istvan's Lookout at approximately 600m. The views had been obscured all of the way by the forest but here there was a small rock promontory that gave a view over Lillafured and down the gorge towards Miskolc. The wooded hills stretched off into the distance. As we stood there, two Sakers flew above us. The Saker is a
relatively rare bird of prey in Hungary but is often seen in the Bukk National Park. I saw the first pair of these birds as we approached Miskolc on the way to Lillafured and, not knowing about the Saker, described them as oversized Kestrals.
After continuing along the hill for some time, we then descended steeply, crossing the narrow-gauge railway before arriving at the stream that flows into Hamor Lake. The remaining walk was flat taking us along the banks of the lake to the Hotel Palota. We had a meal at the Tokert Etterem (etterem = restaurant) next to the Hotel Palota and I can highly recommend it. We both chose traditional Hungarian dishes, I had roast pig knuckle with Baker's potatoes and onions and Jane had slices of roast pork with peppers stuffed with feta-like cheese - excellent food. We returned to the campsite totally stuffed – our late tea consisted of a boiled egg and a plum.
Yet another thunderstorm started in the late evening and rumbled around the surrounding hills for over an hour but this time we were spared the heavy rain, only a few drops fell.
Photos: The view from the St. Istvan lookout.

Tuesday 29th July 2008 – Lillafured, Hungary

We had a relaxed day today, strolling the few hundred metres down into the village for an exploration. There is a large park, a huge and very pretty hotel (Hotel Palota, built to provide work for the unemployed during the slump in the 1920's), a narrow-gauge forest railway, two caves open to the public, a lake (Hamor Lake), a number of cafés, restaurants and pensions and the whole village is surrounded by wooded hills. In other words, it is an ideal tourist resort.
In the early evening, I got out the gas barbecue and felt somewhat guilty as the true campers (those in tents, and they were in the majority) started a fire and, sticking their meat and vegetables on whittled sticks, they proceeded to cook over the fire. It was a great way of bonding and three families sat around the fire chatting. I would have liked to join them although, given that the conversation was in Hungarian, I would not have been able to contribute much. Our marinated and grilled pork chops were very nice but I suspect that their wood-smoked meal tasted even better, if only because of the effort that they had put in to cook it.
We had all finished eating when the thunderstorm started – we are beginning to think that they are following us – is it personal?
Photos: The Hotel Palota; Limestone cliffs at the lower end of the village provide excellent climbing; Cooking and bonding around the campfire.