Changing landscapes.

Budapest.

Our next destination from Prague was Budapest in our 8th? country. We move so quickly at the moment it is hard to remember what the actual day is, never mind the date! Budapest was lovely if not a very large city. It seemed unrealistic to try to be able to see it all in a day so a few of us opted for some rest, relaxation and a good scrub in the historic thermal baths. So for around 13 quid the next few hours were spent in thermal pools of 38 degrees and in the steam room, watching the dirt and muck sweat away! After this we all met up for a beer as we had our first truck birthday. Me and a couple of the others were on card making duty and we were very pleased with our efforts and we hope so was Debbie (happy birthday). We seem to have a lot of truck birthdays, about two a month in fact and quite a few of those are 30th birthdays. So in all in all Budapest was great, and preferred to Prague.

Camping Budapest.

After another boarder crossing we entered into Romania. Straight away a definite change is evident. As we drove through small farming hamlets machinery has been replaced by shovel and spade, piped water is now a well in the garden and the houses of far more basic construction. Reminiscent of the Mediterranean, the grandmas and granddads sit outside the front door in the setting sun to chat and observe the comings and goings of village life.

Our plan was to find our first bush camp. I pondered what the essentials must be when trying to locate a bush camp and I came up with the following: must have tree coverage for toilet business, must be flat, must not be too close to a village to not attract unnecessary attention and so a fire can be built. Well perhaps our camp didn’t quite fill all these criteria! For a start we were on a hill and I consequently spent a lot of the night wriggling back to the top of my sleeping mat after waking to find myself pressed against the bottom. No real tree coverage, luckily I didn’t need any! As regards village attention, this was from 3 local boys, around 12-13 years old, who at first appeared a bit cocky, smoking and shouting random stuff at us. However after a football appeared and game of football (the universal leveller) ensued with some of the lads from the truck all was well. I must say it was taken very seriously by all involved!

First Bushcamp.

The next day we drove towards the town of Sighsoara. We had a lunch break of a couple of hours and a few of us took a walk through the length of a beautiful gorge taking about a 1 ½ or so. It was lovely if not a bit close to the edge and to the stream below at times! The rest of the day was the drive to town and to a hotel as the campsite isn’t open until June. Well the hotel was a welcome break from the tent and a very comfortable night was had in a real bed with a bathroom just a few steps away, bliss!!! Today off the explore Sighsoara before back to the bush tonight as we head towards Bucharest. Happy days!

Beautiful gorge walk.

Prague

Today was spent discovering the delights of Prague…..in the pouring rain! We have been very lucky with the weather so far so can’t really complain too much. I was expecting Prague to be similar to Riga with lots of spires and red roof top views. It was pretty but maybe due to the weather casting a dullness over the town I have to say that I prefer Riga, though of course there may be some bias there! We fit in most of the sites about town, had a few Czech beers before heading back to a very wet and cold camp. This is the first time my tent has had a rain test and I am very pleased to say that is remained fully watertight! The plan for the next day was for an early start and long drive day to get us to Budapest for the next couple of nights. See you there...

On the road again!

Most of the third day was spent travelling to our next destination of Bamberg. The campsite is by a river and has a wonderful toilet/shower block! It is amazing how already these things have become so important to us all. The weather had also suddenly turned to glorious sunshine. Spirits were high, and further elevated by the great campsite and the fact that this would be our first two night stop over somewhere. Time to catch our breath, and do a bit of washing! Dinner was my last night on cook group for a while, as the next group will rotate from tomorrow. The rest of the evening was spent playing backgammon and drinking red wine with new friends, perfect (also safe in the knowledge that I could sleep in tomorrow!)

The following day we took a lovely riverside walk into Bamberg, which is a UNESCO protected town, very pretty with lots of well preserved half timbered houses. Had a bit of lunch, a wander through town and to the first internet café of the trip. On the way back to camp we strolled through the market buying juicy, sweet strawberries from the market. The weather has been amazingly warm today, even requiring the first slap of suncream. It’s incredible when I think that only 4 days ago I was in dull London. Bring on Prague!

Today has been a long drive day from Germany and into the Czech Republic to our campsite near Prague. Again this will be our base for the next two nights. The drive was about 400 km. We usually stop every few hours for a toilet break and then at lunch time we prepare a quick lunch from the truck of rolls with ham and cheese etc. However not today! We appeared to have been travelling in sync with a German tourist coach in the direction of Prague and at our lunch time stop the bus was at the same pit stop at us. Within no time at all they came over to offer a whole joint of ham, various breads, tubs of potato salad, coleslaw and two tubs of chocolate and vanilla desserts. What a feast!

So here I now sit outside the camping reception on wi-fi again, drinking my Czech pils, tent pitched. Tomorrow we head into Prague, so more from me then!

The first 48 hours!

So my last night (Saturday) was spent in London after a particularly nausea inducing national express ride from Mansfield bus station. A tearful farewell was made with Mum and Dad and very kindly Sharon and Stuart were also there to see me off. My backpack never did manage to make it below the 20kg mark or to loose the additions to the outside of my sleeping bag, mat, pillow and, tent all secured with bungee cords. Final dimensions…..vast! Any concerns I had regarding getting to my hotel were soon dispelled when the lovely guy sitting next to me on the bus offered to help me carry them to the hotel, amazing. Already the serendipity of travel is evident.

The potential plan was to meet some of the group for a few drinks to allay a few pre-trip nerves however the mutual decision turned out to be that it was probably best to all get an early night (if sleep at all was possible) to ensure that we were all bright eyed and ready to begin our adventure the following day.

So the morning arrived and I managed to make it the short distance from the hotel to the truck (it’s not a bus!), and the group of people I was about to spend the next six months of my life with. Slightly nervous of course, but more a sense of excitement of what lies ahead. At this moment it is all in front of me, all the experiences to have, things to learn, friends to make, culture and life to learn about and engage with. I had waited a long time to get to this point.

So first off was a short ferry ride over the channel- Dover to Calais the usual route. First conversations were had with people and it was such a relief to finally hear, voiced by others, all the things that I had been hearing within your own head for the last few months! Talk was rife with thermarest thickness, sleeping bag seasons, torches and general gadgetry etc. I had furiously worried that my pack would be the largest and heaviest and I was relieved to discover that, though one of the larger, it wasn’t actually ‘standout in a crowd’ big!

The drive through France and Belgium was a few hours to our first camp for the night in Tournai at an organised camp- site and therefore hopefully a guaranteed shower in the morning! Our crew (Tim and Cheryl) helped to set up camp and erect tents, tables and get the evening meal on. Though tents are provided I have decided to use my own 1-2 man tent, as on a trip of this nature/length I feel that my own space at the end of the day is important for keeping my sanity! It pitched up beautifully and I was quickly ‘installed’. The first meal was a tasty soup and spag bol all washed down with a couple of glasses of wine from the truck bar. Which was ironically from a box of namaqua!!! For those that don’t know me so well, me and namaqua are well acquainted. Managed to sleep ok, though awoke early, as I appeared to have drawn the short straw and had first morning cook duty! Being up so early did however have its advantages though as I managed to claim one of only 5 or so hot showers before the hot water ran out on the campsite.

Second day was a 5 hour drive to Cologne and onto out 3rd country already! Views were limited due to lots of fog but the time in the truck allowed me the opportunity to teach two people how to play backgammon so now I have people to play with me! Our campsite for the night was on the River Rhine and once again camp was established quickly and with a minimum of fuss. A quick lunch and off into town.

We were given maps and advice of where to the catch the tram to the town centre. The main site of Cologne is the Dom cathedral, a huge Gothic structure taking over 600 years to build and at one period claiming various titles of largest ecclesiastical this and that in Europe. So in a couple of groups we set off making this our site seeing aim. We had been told that a walk to town would take approximately 45 minutes…..2 hours later and the silhouette of the church tower on the horizon had still not become any larger! But still we marched forth through the annual Cologne bike race finish line complete with TV camera’s and circling overhead helicopters. Made a quick stop at the Lindt chocolate museum which of course has a large gold bunny crowning it’s doorway.

When we finally made it to town the cathedral it was indeed impressive. What could not be guessed is that the highlight of Colongne would be the visit to the toilets in an adjacent café in a ‘Tea at the Ritz’ style. For the bargain price of 50 cents you could visit the pristine basement toilets complete with attendant, opaque doors at the turn of the lock and beautiful sensor control sinks. Heaven after the awful loo's and no hot water back at the campsite due to current refurbishments. After numerous visits from the group we managed to tear ourselves away to a beer hall for the local sausage ‘by the meter’ and beer combo. After another night under canvas we set off for Bamberg which is where I sit now trying to fathom out how to layout this blog, there should be some photo's to follow!

Off to see the world, starting from Mansfield bus station!