There ends the tour

Gearing up for the day

Today is the last day of cycling. We are served an elaborate and delicious breakfast and Hotel Belleview. We come out to take the group photo. It is the finest hotel of our tour. However we have spent the minimum time at the place. We have to rush now.

Spanish Cyclists

The route says we need to take a ferry after riding for around 45 minutes, then ride another 20 kms and take another ferry. Finally we have to catch a boat to reach Budapest. Quite complicated yet interesting. We are told that the ferry is every hour. It is already 8.00 am. We jump on the cycles and head to the Danube River. The route is very close to the river today. We cycle in and out of the forest and hit the river bank well ahead of the schedule. It is empty. There is no one around. We get busy in clicking the pictures and calling India since we realise we have hardly used our phones. In a few minutes some cyclists arrive. We try to talk to them. There are three cyclists from Spain. They are in the age group of 75 to 80 years and they have cycled 600 kms in Austria. We also meet Mr. and Mrs. Kirshener from Germany. They have met us almost every day during the tour. Very enthusiastic couple indeed.

The Route Along Danube

The ferry arrives and our excitement is at peak. We board the ferry along with our cycles. The ferry is on the other bank before we realise. We carve our way out and take the cycle path along the route. It is yet another beautiful route. Long grass lands are by the side and smooth tar road is spread out in front of us.

The route is along the river and next to the highway. Mountains to guard us on one side and the river to pamper us on the other side.  Expanse of river is mind blowing. There are tiny villages on both the sides.  They are connected by a ferry which runs every hour.

Soon we reach another ferry station.  Some of our anxious members think that this is the station to

Smita in action

The villages are well planed and excellently maintained. People look relaxed and happy. We try to absorb every bit of the goodness of  these towns.  As we proceed further try to match the description given in the guide. The route gets  us closer to Danube river.

We suddenly take a diversion and come on the main road. We are not sure if this is a correct route. Sachin has already gone ahead as usual. As we collect ourselves together, a small debate takes place. There is no one around to ask. Hence the debate prolongs than expected. Suddenly we see a local and we take charge of him. He tells us that we are on a correct path. We need to cross the underpass to get back to the road by the side of the river.

Sachin : Proof of Disagreement 😀

As we are under the bridge, Sachin brings the journey to a sudden halt. He wants a picture of him as a
proof that he was taking us on a correct route. We oblige to his demand and proceed further in the fear that we might miss our ferry.

As we reach the ferry station, Chandan pays for all of us and we board the ferry again. As we reach the other bank we realise that the route it much more beautiful. It is past lunch time, hence there are no people around. The water is also still as if it is having afternoon nap. We see a man with the dog. The dog is taking a dip in the river. There are small fishing boats parked at the river bank. The benches and lush green grass invite us to take a break for a while.

Sachin and Chandan

We decide to eat our Indian snacks while absorbing the nature. Since we are not sure as to how long it is going to take, we decide to get back quickly on the saddle. As we proceed further, the water looks greener and darker. We wonder if Danube is bidding us farewell on the last day of our journey.

After riding for an hour or so, we reach the main road. We try to figure out  the direction on the map. It says turn toward left. This time without any debate everybody follows the instructions. The road leads us to the Danube again. We see much activity on the river bank. It is well paved and protected. There is a small town  facing the river. As we enquire, the town is called Szetendre.

This is the town from where we are going to take our boat to Budapest. The ticket counter is closed. We have reached early. Since we have time. We head to the town to explore if there is anything interesting. There is a market flooded with  artifacts.  It is interesting to see the market area in small towns. You get a good bargain in these markets. Budapest is famous for varieties of chills. We see a shop loaded with different types of chilies. All of us scatter in in the market to buy a few things.

City Center Szetendre

As we take a walk we see the main square decorate with lanterns. There is a church but we do not have enough time to go inside.

Sangita : Feeling Accomplished

We try to get the feel of the town and rush towards the boarding bay. The boat has arrived. And before we realise it is full of people. We park our cycles on the lower deck and take our seats on the upper deck. The boat rejuvenates our energy. We are now trying to recollect every bit of cycling. There are other cyclists as well on the boat. The German couple is next to us. They are going to France next year. They want us to join them for the next trip. We exchange contact details and try to forget that the trip is ending.

First Glimpse of Budapest

The boat is gigantic.  But it cannot compete with our experience on this tour. All of us have known each other for years. However we learnt to stand each other and stand by each other in this trip.

We will reach Budapest in an hour and  will cycle our last miles to the hotel. We are going to miss everything we did here. Sachin will not make those hilarious videos on his mobile.  Milind’s clicks from his camera will go missing. Sangita’s sense of posing for the photographs will have to wait for another trip. Shekhar will have to wait till he sees another exciting museum to make poems.  Chandan will miss his map reading, Narendra will have to hold on to his expert comments now. We will miss Sharvari’s adventurous jumps. Smita will miss the days of her maiden cycling trip  when she gets into her car to reach office. I will miss all these fabulous people I cycled with for last seven days.

But above all, we will miss our cycling, our laughs over trivial matters, our fights for getting extra groundnut from chivada, and most of all we will miss Danube River.  

L to R Shekhar Sangita Ashwini Narendra Sachin Chandan Milind Smita and Sharvari

Road Untrodden: Enormous Journey to Esztergom

My Journey Mate

“Today’s route is slightly complicated.” Chandan is beaming with  enthusiasm as he studies the route. We will cross Danube river on the bridge today and cycle on the Slovakian side for some time. Later we will cross the Wag River and again come on the Hungarian side and will continue cycling up to the historic town of Esztergom. 

The Yacht Club

We finish our breakfast quickly today since there is not much of a choice. As we cross the bridge and reach the Slovakian side, it feels stunningly beautiful. We are blessed with a clear and cool  weather today. 

The path is excellent. Fresh grass on both the sides is welcoming us. ( According to Milind, the grass is so fresh that you feel like eating it.😃) We are full of energy and are getting used to our routine. There are some other cyclists following the same route. There is a yacht club we must visit  as per the guide. It is a small club with no one around. We take a quick look and proceed further. The poppy flowers have disappeared.  Road is paved though the baron grass land along the Danube River. 

Heep of Dry Garbage : Hungary

 I see a tiny hill in the midst of grass land. As the curiosity is aroused I focus my camera lenses  and zoom it as much as I can. And to my dismay I realise it is a heap of dry garbage. I can clearly see a small mountain of plastic junk overlooked by the vultures flying around it.  So the situation in Hungary is no different. 

Selfie Time : Road Unpaved

Today’s route is mesmerizing. I feel in the heart of heart that this road should never end. And of course it comes to an end. We are suddenly dumped on a path we  never dreamt about. It is a bear path with no surfacing. It is decorated with grass and sand. We try to reconcile with the path. It is really difficult to keep our balance and pace at the same time. There is another path parallel  to this path at 10 feet above us. We hope that it is a better road and climb up the dike with our cycles. However to our disappointment it is no better. Hence after a lot of deliberation we decide to continue on the dike. We struggle to  push the peddle. The path seems to be really long. After cycling for an hour or so we decide to give up to the route for  Bakarwadi and Chivada give us some energy.

One for the road

some time and sit down in the middle of the road. Snacks come out of our saddle bags.
rizing. I feel in the heart of heart that this road should never end. And of course it comes to an end. We are suddenly dumped on a path we

As we cycle down this path and try to make friends with it, the path ends suddenly and we are back on the tar road. Our effortless cycling gives us a feeling of floating in the air. We are rejuvenated. Today  we will not go directly to the hotel. We need to visit the Basilica in Esztergom.  It is regarded as Rome of Eastern Europe. As we ride past the green fields and clear streams, we suddenly reach a huge bridge on Danube River. 

The first thing we notice is the gigantic structure of Basilica. It is situated on a small hillock and

Basalika

hence is noticeable from a distance. As we click the pictures, a group of teenagers crosses the bridge in the opposite direction on their push bicycles.

We carve our way though the town and reach the base of Basilica.  There is one hour  before it closes. Hence without wasting time we rush towards the entrance. As we go inside, we are flabbergasted by its sheer size. The gigantic dome, huge organ in front of the altar, the holy Christ everything is so enthralling. 

Girls on the Bridge

We come out and spend some time observing the surroundings. There is still enough daylight hence we decide to rush to the hotel. It takes us almost 45 minutes to reach the hotel. It is at the fag end of the town.  We are awestruck by the view of the hotel. It is one of the finest hotels of our trip. However since it is far away from the city center, we have to take a bus back to the town to eat. We do not want to go back on our bicycles hence we decide to use the city bus. 

We reach the city center and eat in a Chinese

Dog Carriage

restaurant. As we wait for the bus to go back to the hotel, we take a final look at the town. Everything has closed down as the Sun has set. As the bus arrives, Chandan Takes out Euros to pay for the tickets. The bus driver nods his head in denial and says he will accept Forint which is a Hungarian currency. We do not have any. This is probably the last bus and we have no time to change the money. Driver is quite adamant and asks us to get down. There is a man at the door who tells us that he is willing to change Euros. He gives us the money in exchange for the euros and we are inside the bus.

Without much difficulty we come back to the hotel. It is already bed time. We now hit the bed without any word. Tiredness takes over from here as we dream about our last day of cycling. 

A RAINY RIDE TO KOMAROM

Danube at Komarom

As I peep out of the window in the morning, I shout, Chandan look, it is raining.  “The weather forecast in Europe is very honest. If they say it will rain it will, Ashwini!”  Chandan tries to educate me. We get ready and start loading bags on our cycles. Sachin is trying his wits on his mobile. After greeting (god alone knows whom) he talks into the camera. He says, "the entire backyard of the hotel has been dug by Chandan in search of his wife's safety jacket." All of us burst out laughing. But our laughter disappears as soon as we hear Sharvari saying that she has a flat tire.

Sachin, Shekhar and Milind decide to use their knowledge of cycle repairs which they had recently acquired from Rane Guruji. I quickly check in the hand book if there is any cycle repair shop nearby. I call up the shop and the person tells me in his broken English that the shop will open and 10 am. I am not sure if I heard him right and hence I go back to the receptionist to reconfirm. She  speaks to him in Hungarian and we get to know that though he usually opens the shop at 10 am, he is not going to open it today. 

I come back and check on the progress of tube replacement. Everybody is now giving instructions all the time.  Finally the cycle is back on wheels. We congratulate each other for the success and start riding. 

As we land on the main street, I discover that my rain jacket is clinging to my saddle. I try to adjust it however before I am able to do anything I come down crashing. Everybody assembles and tries to comfort me.

  I realise that it is a minor accident. We are back on our cycles and are trying to get back on the cycle route. We try our best to read the maps. However today is not a normal day. We somehow find a route which is marked as a cycle route. 

In front of the Fort : Komarom

It is raining heavily. We are cold. Almost freezing. All of us are now on a cycle track and are relaxed. Everybody is trying to warm up in his own way. Some of us are trying to jump and get the energy, somebody is riding fast to get the warmth and some romantic personalities are dancing to the Bollywood tune. Sachin and Milind collectively declare that Shammi Kapoor picked up  his style from our group members. 

We now try to read the signage and ride hard. We have now taken a route along the highway. The speed of vehicles is scary, however the distance they keep between us ensures us of the safety.  We are riding in hope that it will stop raining soon. 

Sachin and His Cycle

It is almost three hours since we started our journey. We see a small store on the highway. Everybody halts to check if we will get some coffee in there.  As we go inside, the lady helps us with a small cup of coffee from the vending machine. We see lot of eatables in the store. Each one of us picks up chips and chocolates.  As we munch our chocolate warmth and energy is retrieved. 

As we come out, the cool wind embraces us. We now want to reach our destination as soon as possible. It has not stopped raining. Komarom is now only 10 kms. away. We peddle harder to get to our destination. 

Finally we are in Komarom.  We find Hotel Corner without much difficulty. It has stopped raining

A relaxing moment

now. We are in no mood to ride our bicycles today for sight seeing. However since it is a tiny town we decide to ride our cycles. 

The fort recommended for sight seeing is already closed. We decide to do a photo-shoot at the back of the fort which is on the river bank. The area is enchanting. The quietude of this place is mesmerizing. We click photographs crack jokes, listen to the sound of nature and try to absorb the silence of River Danube inside us. As the sun is setting we decide to cycle all the way to the other bank of the river. This is a peculiar place. The river is a border for two nations. We are in Hungary and the other side is Slovakia.

Baklava : Turkish Desert

Shekhar has the privilege of deciding the restaurant to eat today. He takes us to a decent Turkish restaurant. Our excitement rises as the menu arrives one by one. We are delighted with the delicious food we are served after the strenuous cold rainy day. 

Our stomachs are full and the minds are absorbed in the beauty of the tiny town. We come back to the hotel in anticipation of another exciting day.


To be continued ..............