Hungary – 28 July to 3 August 2008

'Szia' to the land of the Magyars! But Hungary's history started before these tribes from Turkey united in the 10th century under the first king and patron St. Stephen. The Romans were here and by 450AD Attila the Hun ruled for a while until the Magyars crossed into the Carpathian basin. The Turks upset the prosperous medieval state in 1526 and occupied the land for 150 years until the expulsion by the Hapsburgs. After being on the losing side of WWI Hungary lost 2/3 of its territory and to regain it, the nation leaned towards the Axis side in WWII, resulting in Soviet control after the war until the republic was proclaimed in 1989. The result is a fruit basket of cultural influences and styles.

After the easy entry of another unmanned border into the country, we drove south and took a short but rather expensive ferry across the Danube, and continued north to Visegrad, superbly situated on the Danube's abrupt loop between the Pilis and Borzsony Hills where hills and lush forests rap themselves around this beautiful river. Once a Roman fortification, its main attraction is its hilltop 13th century Citadel with gorgeous views of the Danube valley. After reviewing the cost of entry to the Citadel, we opted to give the castle a miss. Gr3 settled for some cold beers and ice-creams while GR1 drove to a gorgeous viewing point for pictures.

As it was still early afternoon, we decided to head straight for Budapest and our two night stay-over at Zugligeti Niche Camping snuggled between the Buda hills . We were warmly welcomed with some cold drinks, informed of free internet, free hot showers and that breakfast was included - what a place!! This was our initial base to fall in love with Budapest that straddles the Danube River. After updating our diary entries, downloading some photos, reviewing and sending a few emails and lastly, updating our budget sheets, we were ready for bed and awoke refreshed and energised for our time in Budapest .

Most of the next day was for fruitless Pakistan and Iranian visa enquiries but were advised to try our ‘luck' in Istanbul Turkey, we could only hope, but remained confident!! We did a driving tour through the ‘ Pest ' section of the city from the city park and Heroes Square (built to honour to Magyar conquest 1000 years ago) down Andrassy Avenue with its world heritage listed buildings to the great market. This vast steel and glass structure is the place for souvenirs, fresh produce and of course Hungarian snacks, where we had the biggest yummiest pancake ever and a local dish called Muzsaka! Fortuna camping was the spot for the nest 2 nights, primarily for the pool complex where we spent the first day chilling around in between washing and teaching duties. We were greeted by a very friendly and some-what ‘humorous' Hungarian who also gave us directions to a place that could fill our gas cylinders. In no time the kids were ready for the pool and loved the super tube waterslide after which they tried to pick plums before an old lady scuttled them off! The next day we eventually managed to fill our gas cylinders before walking through medieval Buda on Castle Hill for stunning views of Pest and the magnificent Parliament building. Unfortunately the Neo-gothic 13th century Matthias Church was receiving a face lift, but the adjacent decorative Fishermen's Bastion with its views of Budapest was the perfect setting for stunning pictures. But this world heritage hill wouldn't be complete without the massive and often rebuilt Royal Palace, where we sampled a tasty twirly cylinder Hungarian cake. On return to our vehicles, not only did we both receive parking fines, but Tipperdee had the driver's door lock badly damaged by a failed break in! Just another character building experience that will force Gary to be a gentleman as his door can no longer be unlocked from the outside! It was time to head home and after a lengthy stay at Tescos, we managed to enter the campsite just before closing time and almost spent the night outside the entrance to our camp - reminding us of GR1's experience in Potsdam , Germany .

We spent the 1st August at one of Budapest's 100 thermal springs – the decadent, opulent 19th century Szechenyi Health Spa with 9 pools, Jacuzzis and saunas, all with 38 degrees mineral water - a heavenly day! Unfortunately we were hurriedly escorted out at 7pm, but our day was crowned with authentic goulash and fisherman's soup at the lakeside Anonymvs Restaurant beside the fairytale Magyar Museum. We spent the night bush camping right in the heart of this green Varosliget Park accompanied by the thumping and very tempting sounds of a nearby club.

En route south from Budapest the next morning, we first stopped at Gellert Hill for impressive views of the capital from the Citadel and a close-up look at the freedom or liberty statue that ironically was erected in 1947 and which is the only Soviet statue left! A few km further south, Statue Park houses the gigantic monuments of the communist era – instead of them being destroyed as in many former eastern block countries, they were removed from the capital to this resting place. Heading for the Great Plains, the Puszta, we bush camped in Kiskunsag NP – really prairie land with cattle who walked straight through our camp forcing us to move to the other side of their path! We had a quiet, peaceful night and were only disturbed the following morning around seven o'clock with the herd returning to the fields to graze. Biczo Csarda and the Lipizza stud farm proved another highlight of our Hungarian experience. We were here for the legendary horse shows and traditional food. It started with apricot schnapps, local bread cooked in a wood brick oven served with garlic cottage cheese dip, and were then fetched with a horse drawn carriage to the arena for the horse show by traditionally dressed riders with whips. The horse show was incredible and we marvelled at the discipline and skill of the horses and their herdsmen, surprised to see the types of tricks they could perform with the loud cracking of the herdsmen's' whips. Jo was chosen to demonstrate a public beating with the cracking whip! Thereafter the main course was served to the tunes of gypsy music. Goulash soup and a typical Sunday lunch with fried chicken, potatoes, veg, pork and goose livers - accompanied by free flowing red and white wine, made this an unforgettable event! As a reminder, GR3 just had to purchase a locally crafted whip of their own. On this high we departed driving east and bush camping near the border at Gyula.

Our time in Hungary was over and we were about to enter the ‘Wild West of Eastern Europe', but with visits to the Spa Bath and the Hungarian Horse Show still fresh in our minds, we were keen to explore a country that just recently joined the European Union!! Szia Hungary !