Hello everyone!

There are 2 things I forgot to write in the last blog which I wanted to include so I am going to put them here:

- Felix (who we stayed with in Vienna) is a unicyclist and goes to unicycle conventions all around the world. The most amazing thing is he unicycled from Montreal (Canada) to Mexico!! He has a special touring unicycle which he can attach 2 paniers to!

- On the way through the vineyards in Austria we met a French/French canadian couple on their bikes with their toddler riding in a bike trailer - they have been touring for 9 months through Europe! They had the washable nappies drying on the back of the bike trailer and they even wild camp most of the time!

To continue on from the end of last blog, we realised that the campsite in Slovakia included entry to a thermal bath so we went in that in the morning, then we left the campsite with Irwin (the swiss guy cycling to Kiev) and cycled with him that day. We crossed over a bridge which took us across the border from Slovakia to Hungary and rejoined the route in our book. The route took us on very busy roads with lots of big lorries going past but there was no alternative. Sometimes people drive past so fast and so close to you that you think they're going to hit you, so we found ourselves gesturing angrily (arms in the air) to many of the drivers!

That afternoon as we were approaching the Hungarian town of Esztergom, a huge downpour started! The three of us sheltered under a garage roof with two local guys and all the bikes which was funny. We were planning to camp that night but because of the weather we decided to stay in a hostel. It was a lovely hostel attached to a bar and art workshop and the host told us that it used to be an artists residence which is why the rooms are all so artistically painted! The next day in the morning we decided to stay an extra night and have a proper rest day as we both had sore knees and felt that every time we do a rest day we walk miles around a big city! So we went up to the grand fort and church in Esztergom with Irwin to visit and we climbed up the tower where we had amazing views of Hungary and Slovakia. We said goodbye to Irwin who was continuing his cycle trip to Kiev and we spent the rest of the day resting in the hostel and chatting to Katya, the hostel host.

The next day we set off and took a ferry to cross the Danube as our book suggested to reach a lovely cycle route on the other side. Suddenly there were loads of cycle tourers in groups who were doing the stretch from there to Budapest. That night we had organised a warm showers stay for 2 nights with a guy called Daniel who lives in Szentendre (a small town 20km before Budapest). We met him in town and then he took our paniers in the car to make it easier for us to cycle up the really steep hill to get to his house. It felt almost vertical! Daniel's house was an incredible wooden house in a wild forest garden so it felt like being in the middle of the wilderness. He had warned us in advance that he doesn't have any running water at the moment as a pipe broke so we all walked further up the hill behind his house to collect water. We went right up to the top first to see the amazing view out over Szentendre and even to Budapest! We filled 2 buckets and loads of bottles with water from a spring and walked back down to his house. We had a lovely meal and went to sleep.

The next day Daniel gave us a lift into Budapest on his way to work as we had planned to visit the city. We looked around, walked up Gelert Hill, looked at the parliament buildings and went to a few nice parks. Then we got the train back to Szentendre and walked up the hill to Daniel's house. We had a bonfire in the back garden and cooked potatoes, halloumi, veg and Daniel's amazing stuffed peppers, so that was really nice. It was really interesting chatting to Daniel and hearing his ideas and about his trips.

The next morning we said goodbye to Daniel and he left us the key, then we went back up the hill to fetch water, had breakfast and set off. It was quite scary coming down that hill on the bikes but we made it down very quickly. Daniel had suggested that we visit Lake Balaton which is a huge lake west of Budapest. As we had worked out that we actually have quite a lot of spare time, we decided to go for a few days, before returning to the route. So we cycled into Budapest to get the train to Balaton. We did a tour of all the train stations before finally finding the right one! It was difficult getting the bikes on the train as it's a very steep into the train but luckily people helped us. We spent 3 nights camping in different places arond the lake and cycling in between. It was really beautiful and so nice to swim in the water, which was a bright blue chalky colour. We also walked up a hill for views of the whole of Balaton.

We got the train back from Balaton to Budapest and decided to stay for 2 nights in a hostel. We spent a day visiting Budapest and going to Szechenyi thermal baths which was good but strangely we had our combination lock stolen, but luckily not the bikes. We had also put our d lock attaching the wheels together which must have prevented them from stealing the bikes. Phew! So the next day before setting off we bought a new good lock with a cable.

We had a few days of cycling along danube on terrible cycle tracks and wild camping by danube with lots of mosquitoes! Sometimes we cooked inside the tent to avoid the swarms of mosquitoes. We had organised to stay through warm showers with a Swiss lady called Henrike who now lives in a village in Hungary. The day on the way to her place all the shops were closed for a bank holiday which we hadn't known before, so we didn't have anything to eat except cherries we picked from trees. We were so happy to arrive at her place and to shower, wash clothes, eat pasta and swiss cheese, drink wine and chat with Henrike. She had done a cycle tour to Hungary a few years ago and when she arrived in Hungary she knew that's where she should live, so when she retired she moved there.

The next day we stopped briefly in a town called Baja where we met a nice American/French couple cycling from Budapest to Belgrade. They had had their bikes stolen in Budapest at the Szechenyi baths and had had to buy new ones. So it must be a hot spot for bike theft and we felt very lucky to still have our bikes. Later that afternoon we took a ferry across the Danube and continued cycling. That evening we started looking for somewhere to camp by a small village so as not to be right next to danube in the hope that the mosquitoes wouldn't be as bad. We found a spot and went to ask a man working in his vegetable patch if it was ok. Vianney drew a picture of a tent and 1 night (with the moon and stars!) as a way of asking. The man said no and told us to continue on. Then we saw a smiley lady so we asked her with the same picture and she said we could pitch the tent on a patch of grass outside the front of her house! So we did and it was nice to to feel we didn't have to hide as we had permission. Lots of people went past and waved at us. Then the lady's son and daughter in law came and spoke to us in English and asked if we needed anything. The next morning the lady gave us sausage (!) and biscuits to take with us. We said goodbye and thanked her. What a kind lady. We set off and that day crossed the border into Croatia. We cycled through a nature reserve and saw wild boar (some with baby boarlets!), white storks, black storks, herons and egrets. It felt like a bike safari!

That night we stayed with a lovely girl called Janina through couch surfing who is a student in Osijek. The next day we cycled through a town called Vukovar which still shows a lot of damage left over from the civil war, including a damaged water tower which is now a memorial. That night we wild camped near an abandoned house (maybe a summer house) and made friends with a nice dog who I named Maya. She was very hungry so we gave her some of our food. It started raining so we got into the tent but poor Maya was outside and then in the night she squashed herself in between the inner and outer compartment of the tent to keep dry! I was sad to leave her in the morning but knew she couldn't come with us. So we crept away when she was asleep so she wouldn't follow us. That day we crossed the border into Serbia and cycled along very bumpy tracks to reach Novi Sad. There was some kind of festival there with lots of children singing which was interesting. We stayed in Maya guest house (a sign!) and amazingly it had a tv and it was the night of UK elections so we stayed up late watching the election results come in which was exciting. We spent one day in Novi Sad which is a nice city. The next day we set off and continued along the Danube. We saw some bee eaters along the route which I had never seen before. That night we camped by a cliff top high above the Danube with beautiful views. The next day we stopped at the Danube for a swim and saw a man taking his pigs across the river in a small boat. That afternoon we arrived in Belgrade and stayed in a hostel run by Tamara and Josh. We had a good day exploring Belgrade and chatting to Josh (a nice guy from Manchester) and the other people staying in the hostel.

We left the next day and continued on the route. That day a guy called Branko stopped his car next to the track to talk to us about what we're doing and where we've cycled from, he was very friendly. Then later that day Vianney had a puncture so we stopped in a village to fix it and a lady came over and was saying 'kave heidi' - she was inviting us to her house for coffee! So we sat in her garden and drank coffee with her and met her 3 grandchildren. She also gave us a bucket of water to fix puncture. She was so kind and smiley. It was really nice cycling through small serbian villages as people often waved to us as we went past. That night we tried to go to a campsite by the danube and a man welcomed us but said unfortunately they cannot accept external guests but we can use their showers for free. We were so happy so got our towels ready and walked to showers. But a woman stopped us and told us to leave. We said hopefully 'ducha?' (shower) but she said 'nyama doucha' (no shower) very sternly so we left still grubby and dissapointed. We carried on and found somewhere to camp near the Danube. On the way we saw a few black tortoises sliding down the concrete flood dyke! We heard a few gunshots which we realised was farmers hunting wild boar, but I was slightly worried about being accidentally hit! But obviously it was fine and the next day we met 2 french guys on the route going to the Black sea but they were going much faster than us so we didn't see them again. We had a couple more days of wild camping and then stayed in a campsite which was a man's back garden but at least we had a shower! The next day we cycled quickly to reach the ferry to cross the Danube, where we met a nice german guy carrying a huge stick on his bike to hit the street dogs with (they bark and snap at your heels as you cycle) but at that point I thought that was quite over the top! After we crossed the Danube, the scenery became much more beautiful with the start of the Iron Gorges and lots of wildlife. That afternoon we both swam in the Danube which was very refreshing as it was starting to get very hot. Then we met a german grandfather and grandson cycling together, Hans (in his 70s) and Niklas (9). We then all met a german/dutch couple who were about our age cycling from Istanbul to Germany, so we exchanged information on routes etc. That evening we wild camped with Hans and Niklas next to the Danube and in the morning we all ate breakfast together on the beach of the Danube. Hans and Niklas were both really nice and Hans is very wise. Niklas already spoke much better English than our German! This was their final destination on their trip so they were getting the bus back from Golubac.

That day we cycled to this big fort in Golubac which was next to the route and then up and down hills through the gorges. This was the most dramatic scenery we have seen yet with huge rock faces and the Danube fast and narrow below. We stopped to eat our packed lunch next to some fishermen and one of them took us to his friends house to drink rakia and we then bought some real honey from him. We carried on and there were quite a few road tunnels which was scary to cycle through but we put our lights on and cycled fast as there wasn't much space for cars to pass us. That day we stopped to visit Lepiski Vir which Hans had told us about - it's an ancient mesolithic archaelogical site which was moved up from the edge of the river when they flooded the Danube for the dam. We carried on through more gorges and tunnels and that evening arrived in Domni Milanovich, where we swam and then found somewhere to camp at the edge of a field. The route the next day continued through the gorges with quite a lot of ascent. We saw this big face carved into the rock which is Decebalus Rex who was an ancient king. At this point we left the recommended route as we were on the way to our woofing farm near Zajecar. We should have crossed into Romania at this point. That night we camped by the river in Kladovo and it was very windy.

The next morning we chatted to a lovely French/Serbian lady and her Dad. Her Dad sang us a traditional Serbian song which was beautiful. Then we spent the day cycling to Negotin where we stayed in a nice guest house. It was getting very hot and the route was hilly as we left the Danube and started into the hills on the way to the woofing farm.

To be continued...!

If you'd like to follow our journey you can download strava and look for vianney petit-gombert.

Also we're raising money for Medicines Sans Frontieres. If you'd like to sponsor us go to: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VianneyHannah. Thanks!