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.