Hotel Napfeny Siofok

Ranek piekny i sloneczny. Pomimo porannego chlodu, dzien jest piekny i robi sie coraz cieplej.
Pakujemy graty i po 3 dniach opuszczamy Zadar. Pozegnal nas pieknym i bezwietrznym zachodem slonca.
A wiec: w droge !!
Zblizamy sie do lancucha osniezonych gor, ktorymi wije sie autostrada. Szczyty przyproszone bialym pudrem. Przekraczamy lancuch gor, na szczescie pogoda utrzymuje sie. Znow puste drogi, wiec mozemy "gaz do dechy" ;)
Tymczasem na ...

Niewazne, kto wymyslil! Wazne, ze szczesliwie jestesmy na miejscu.
Kierujemy sie do Tihany, ktore znajduje sie na malym polwyspie na Balatonem.
Kazdy z nas ma jakies wspomnienia z tych miejsc: z blizszego lub dalszego dziecinstwa.
Pilotuje Marcin, dzieki ktoremu bezblednie trafiamy do celu.
Fajne lokum w wymarlym miasteczku znajdujemy bez trudu... jestesmy jedynymi ...

I arrived at Keszthely feeling knackered, we couldn't find a campsite and endured a 2+km walk (with packs!!) away from the train station, until we were guided in the right direction. I spent the afternoon sleeping whilst LP went to the baths in the neighbouring town of Heviz.

In the evening we walked into town and were a little ...

Tihany is a small peninsula on the northern side of Lake Balaton, it was a 45min bus ride from Balatonfured... The town centre was extremely provincial, with the exception of some very touristy/souvenir shops there was very little else there...


We ...

... of dutch guys who were in the cabin next to us and we proceeded to go for more drinks, the bar on the campsite was closing, but the barman filled a 1.5L plastic bottle with red wine from the 'tap'...

On our second night, the guys generiously treated us to a traditonal meal in a local restaurant in the town centre...

... camp out at Balaton lake, working on the van and relaxing as well. I am unstressed and living the moment! Visiting Touristy Tihany as well (LP says Too cute to be true ;-))

After my time with Roman and the van repaired, it is time to move on again. The one big deadline is crossing the Kunjib pass going from China into Pakistan. To be sure that the pass is open, we have to be there by the end of October. Untill then, schedule is open to change ...

... we go for a swim in the lake. The atmosphere is very relaxing and the water is amazingly warm. We spend the whole morning sunbathing and swimming on the clear waters of the lake and at 4.30 p.m we go for a walk through the esplanade. The town is lovely and impeccable, full of tourists (the great majority of them in their 60's) but it doesn't matter.
Later we buy a delicious chocolate pastry in the ...

Today was the day we left Austria and entered Hungary. A friend of mine from GSK, Adam Zsinko (a true legend, as you will find out as you read on), lives in Budapest and kindly gave us a locals suggestion of a route down to Budapest, and a list of things to do and see whilst in the capital.

The first two days consisted of a trip down to the Lake Balaton district in Hungary's southwest. We started out from Vienna, and ...

... off the busy road and to see some nicer neighborhoods and small towns. Once we left the lake however it was similar to the prior day with some additional trials. A guy yelled at us for standing in the road looking at our map despite the fact it was a deserted small town with wide roads and plenty of room to go around. We also had a group of young guys spit on us. Also our country road at one point turned ...

After a family orientated France, we flew via London Stansted to Lake Balaton, Hungary last Thursday and enjoyed some relaxing times both at the lake and in wine country for just over a week. Keszthely was our first port of call, a pretty lakeside town, with a lovely church and cobbled stone streets. We stayed in a nice 'pension' (guesthouse) and this was also where we celebrated Mandy's 29th birthday. In Keszthely there is a fab castle called the Festetics Palace ...