Last nights sleep didn’t feel like long enough! Before we knew it, we were back downstairs having breakfast in the big hotel hall. It’s a huge hotel, which must have been very grand in its day. After eating in the formal hall, (nice, but a bit weird being the only people in there!), we took coffee and a few extra pastries into the conservatory terrace that had big comfy chairs and a view down to the river.
After checking out, and squeezing our bikes past a van that had blocked us into the hotel courtyard (and found some suits of amour), we finally emerged out into the big town square of Baja.
As the route for the day seemed to pass through no towns and tonight we were due at a remote guest house, we spent the last of our Hungarian cash (Hungarian Forits - HUF) and loaded up our panniers.
The first section was unpaved, but dry enough to be okay to ride on (and better than the road, as there was not much in the way of traffic passing us).
The verges of the dyke were covered in flowers today. Perhaps the warm temperatures have suddenly encouraged them out? We stayed close to the Danube and smaller little rivers that seemed to have been ‘tapped’ off the main flow.
By 2pm we reached a crossing point of the Danube, where a ferry could take you over to Croatia, on the opposite bank. We’ve opted to stay on this eastern shore for a number of reasons - partly due to it being hilly in Croatia and needed another currency, but mostly due to the fact that there still remains the risk of land mines along the route!
In the search of somewhere to stop (ie a bench to sit on!), we pushed on, changing direction to an easterly course and heading away from the river slightly. In a small village we took shelter and enjoyed some food outside the church, and admired some old Ladas.
We were both tired on the final section, but the change in direction of travel meant that the wind was at our backs again and significantly eased the physicality of the ride. It almost felt like being in an e-bike and much less effort that the tiring headwind of the last few days.
We had thought that we’d end the day crossing into Serbia, but had mistaken the country border with that of a different Hungarian county! As such, we are still in Hungary, but only for a few more kilometres. Tomorrow, we will be in a new country for us both.
This tour has certainly provided a range of accommodation and tonight’s is a quirky as they come. Without anything else to really choose from, we are spending the night in a room in what seems to be a former hunting lodge?..
There’s a really elaborate fire place, and all manner of curiosity’s. The owner is very friendly though and speaks German but no English. We are muddling though thanks to some distant GCSE recall, helped along with Google translations! There is (was) a quality sound system here though. Ha ha!
