I
headed out of Vienna after three days. The morning was pretty grey and I had
a little rain. By early noon though the sun was out. The most touristy part
of the trip is over. You see a lot less bikers east of Vienna than west. Most
people ride Regensburg or Passau to Vienna. Not too many people go onto Bratislava
even though the path is good the whole way and pretty well marked. The trail
had been on the south side of the Danube from Krems to Vienna then you cross
over to the north side of the river on the A23 bridge which is on the SE side
of town.




I
left Bratislava after two nights. I crossed the river to follow the bike path
and immediately got lost. The problem is you can be on what you think is the
bike path and the path slowly gets worse and worse which can be normal for
a bike path or it can mean you're incredibly lost. I ended up on some mud
flats along the Danube where the mob dumps bodies. Finally I saw some people
in the distance on bikes and followed my "trail" to where it merged
again with the real path. I am actually thankful for getting lost this time.
About ten minutes after picking up the correct trail I bumped into Istvan.
He was sitting on a cement barrier by the side of the path looking a little
uncomfortable. He had ridden from his home in Budapest to Passau and was on
his way back to Budapest. The long bike ride was taking a toll on his back.
I gave him Advil from my pack and in a few minutes he was up and feeling good.
He said "when you get to Budapest, you stay with my family", so
I did.
Thank you very much Istvan.
We
rode together the rest of the day to the town of Gyor. He was going to continue
on and get to Budapest the next day and I was going to take a little more
time. He got me set up at another university dorm, this time a lot nicer.
I did have to try and explain for an hour to the attendant at the front desk
that I couldn't open the door to my bathroom. But he was a nice guy and he
got me into the computer room on campus so I could get online.
The next morning the whole town of Gyor was turned into an outdoor market.
This was another town that wasn't real easy to get out of. I asked a guy in
a bike shop who explained to me in German how he thought the best way to get
out of town would be. (I don't speak German)









About
five minutes after that I got to an intersection where either way could have
been correct. A minute later I had three people who looked like locals giving
me three different directions on how to continue east to the Village of Komaron.
I took the most sensible way and it ended up correct. Soon I was out of town
on a bike path. The bike paths often disappeared and you had to ride on the
road. But traffic was usually very light.
I had met an American couple traveling with their little daughter by bike in
Germany a couple times and once again in Austria. They were also heading to
Budapest. We were following the same route in Germany. Then, the day I went
from Tuln to Vienna, I passed them coming the opposite direction on the path.
They said they got into Hungary and the roads became too busy with no place
for bikes. I think the book I picked up in Vienna helped me out a lot. Even
though I couldn't read the German text the maps are usually very good.
This picture was taken on my last evening before getting to Budapest in the
town of Sutto. Looking downstream at the Danube.
The
next morning started out grey which slowly became drizzle that developed into
a downpour. I would stop about every hour to warm up and try to dry off and
wait for the rain to stop. First I stopped in Esztergom where there was a little
mom and pop cafe/pub sort of place. There were only a few people in there. No
body said anything to me accept I was given very warm "hello's" as
I left. I stopped about an hour later hoping the rain would stop while at a
cafe in in Visegrad and got a hamburger with no meat and a lot of ketchup. The
woman saw I wasn't eating the burger and brought me out the other entree on
the menu on the house, french fries.
Just
after Visegrad you can take a passenger ferry to an island (Szentendrei sziget)
in the Danube that stretches many km south toward Budapest. It worked out
well because the traffic started to get pretty heavy. The rain stopped right
before I got onto the ferry so I was really enjoying the ride now on this
quiet island with very little traffic.
This and the previous shot were taken on the island. (Szentendrei sziget)
After about 20km or so you can cross back over on another ferry in the town
of Szigetmonostor. From there you can pick up a bike path taking you south
towards Budapest. By that time the clouds had completely disappeared.
This
is Margit Bridge in Budapest looking south at the Parliament building on the
Danube. Over 2,300km and not one flat! One piece of advice is get kevlar tires.
If anyone has any questions or is going to be touring, email me.
Martin Brennan
mjbre@hotmail.com
You
stay on the north side of the river until you get past the town of Stopfenreuth
where you cross back over. From there it's a straight shot to the Slovakian
border which can be a little intimidating on bike but no real problem. I exchanged
money at the exchange office there and the guy tried to cheat me out of money.
Immediately after going through the border, cross to the other side of the
road. That is where you can resume the bike path. I started to follow the
trail on the right side which didn't look too promising and a Slovakian man
on a bike whistled to me from the other side indicating his was the correct
side to be on. After the border, it's only another few km until you get to
the bridge that takes you over to Bratislava which is shown in the photo.
This photo was take the next day from the Bratislava side of the Danube.
This
is the castle that overlooks the Danube and the rest of the city. I arrived
in Bratislava on a Wednesday at about 4:00. My map of the city wasn't good
and the tourist office was closed of course because it was Wednesday. I was
talking to a couple of Australian guys who told me where the hostel was but
it was a little ways away. I never did find the hostel. While looking for
it I got lost and a Slovakian guy on a bike pulled up next to me at a stop
light. He told me he knew of a better place that was closer so I followed
him to the university dormitory (Bernolak). So I stayed there. The lobby was
harmless enough but once you get past there it goes downhill. You can barely
make out that the walls are all painted a deep communist grey under all the
grafitti. You have to open the elevator yourself which only fits about 2-3
skinny people. I had my bike with me so I had to tilt it up onto it's back
wheel.
But
remember to hit the button for the floor you want before you shut the door
to the elevator because the light shuts off. I was heading to the ninth floor
which wouldn't have been bad if the elevator went to odd number floors. So
with the bike on my lap with all it's gear I rode the elevator up to the 10th
floor in the dark and walked it down to my suite on the 9th floor. But I did
have my own bathroom. I did have a great time in Bratislava and I definitely
suggest going there. The streets are great to walk around. It's inexpensive
and friendly. I was having a drink at an outside cafe my second nite there.
And a group of local people at the next table saw I was alone and invited
me over to sit with them.