Goodbye Low Tatras and hello Hungary

Our time in the mountains is over! Today we cruise downhill. That is what we think as we mount up and leave beautiful Banská Štivnica behind and head for Hungary.

It is not quite the downhill we had from Donovaly Pass but the first 40km downhill on the “Feck Arse Bollox” hill passes quickly, and we pull into Dudince for lunch.

We had originally planned an overnight stop in Dudince, drawn to the idea of a spa town, however when looking for accommodation all we found were unappealing large resort hotels, and, given the first half of the day was allegedly downhill, we decided to push on all the way to Esztergom.

The highlight of  Dudince for me is the “Chinese Tofu” dish I find on a restaurant menu. Vegie protein twice in two days! We eat and, mindful we still have more than 60km to travel, we hit the road again.

There’s a trap in looking at route elevations. The eye is drawn to dominating downhills, and can miss seemingly innocuous uphills. I can tell you the innocuous uphills, on top of mountain-weary legs and a sharp increase in temperature, make for a very long afternoon in the saddle on the way to Esztergom. We mitigate with stops for drinks and ice cream, and a photo opportunity in Pavlová, but we are both cheered when, after huffing up the last hill – a short but sharp 12 percenter – we glimpse a distant view of the Esztergom Basilica and realise we are almost home (home for the night, that is).

Approaching the Slovakia-Hungary border, we are both struck by the absence of any signs pointing to the border crossing, but we are approaching by a lesser road. However, with the trusty Garmin still pointing the way, we find our way to the Maria Valeria Bridge, which crosses the Danube into Esztergom, and 500m later we are in Hungary!

We have plotted a route to our hotel, but in the bright sunlight I am unable to read the Garmin screen. A waitress from a nearby café tries to help, but we end up having to use our offline maps and a bit of luck to find Hotel Szent Kristóf which turns out to be a charming, cycling-friendly and family-run hotel, and our room “the best room in the hotel” has a lovely view of the Basilica.

We clean ourselves up and head back into town for a beer and dinner. We look for a place with a view in this picturesque town, and wind up at Mediterraneo Étterem, a Mediterranean restaurant near the bridge and with a view of the Basilica. Hungarian is a language like no other, and I have been preparing for our visit by listening to podcast lessons. It is still a little overwhelming to be confronted by a language that has no bearing to anything familiar and I am relieved to find the restaurant has English speakers AND an English language menu. We order beer, and I pick my way around the menu to put together a vegetarian feast for myself, delighted to find that the pickled cucumber salad I have often ordered at our local Hungarian restaurant is a real thing that I can order in Hungary.

We have travelled 488km, climbing over 5485m in just seven days, including one rest day. It seemed ambitious while planning, and certainly felt ambitious while travelling, but now we just have a glow of self-satisfaction, some intense road weariness and very full tummies. Tomorrow, Budapest!

Stats for today:

• Distance:108.9km
• Climb: 600m
• Average speed: 20.8km/h
• Average temperature: 26C
• Moving time: 5:14:29
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at the Mediterraneo Étterem, where we had a great view of the Basilica.

Along the way today: