We picked up our first real co-trekker when we headed back across Europe from England to Budapest in Hungary. Making the flight, on WhizzAir which had less space between seat rows than between you and your neighbor's armpits on the London underground during peak hour, was us and mlungu Brett's brother, Ryan Sacks who join us for the full toot trek in Budapest. We knew nothing about Budapest and so chose this random-to-us destination over the even more random Bratislava and the very well known Edinburgh Fesitval in Scotland. The main reason for choosing Budapest, though, was that we wanted to be in Hungary for the following weekend anyway to get to the Canoe/Kayak World Champs being held there (see our upcoming blog on Szeged, Hungary).

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is a more authentically eastern European than the bit more commercialised Prague. It's cheaper, less developed, and more rustic than Prague but it's still a developed enough city to boast an efficient and useful subway and over ground public transport network. The city is small and even though its separated into the Buda and Pest sides by the Danube River, it's quite easily walkable by the more energetic - even between Buda and Pest.

We camped on the Pest side which is less suburban and less expensive than the Buda side. It also has more for the visiting tourist to see and is the side that more locals hang out on for eating out, chilling in baths and going out at night. The baths are indoor and outdoor Turkish style natural warm spring baths and are a major attraction for both locals and tourists. They're busy with the elderly getting their day started in the morning but convert to a middle aged to younger crowd in the afternoon. In summer they even start throwing night parties - but we left just before they started. There's a great mix of restaurants and food options from local goulashes to western food to McDonalds. We found that the Jewish Quarter - which surprising to us is actually the cool part of town with lots of restaurants and night spots - was the best place to eat out as this was where the locals go so you won't get hit by inflated tourist prices. The Jewish Quarter is also famous for its ruin bars which are called as such for their random thrown togetheredness, evolving sizes and overfilled open spaces. Most ruin bars are a mix of indoor and outdoor and you're as likely to get a seat in a car converted into a table as you are to be sitting in a room on an office chair with psychedelic coloured walls. Szimpla Bar is probably the most famous of these bars and definitely worth a visit. Go there to get a local D or Z beer, a shot of palinka or buy a fresh peeled carrot stick when the waitress comes round with them. If you choose the palinka route just wait at least half an hour between shots cause this very strong local schnapps is a well known creeper but a great party starter.

We did two really interesting walking tours while in town. The first was a tour of the Jewish Quarter on which we learnt that Hungary has over 100'000 Jews - which is more than double that of South Africa. The tour, although Jewish Hungary focused, also gave lots of insight into the history of Hungary and Budapest but it focused more on the Pest side of the city. The second tour we did was a general walking tour that also went across the bridge to the Buda side of the city. This tour was equally fascinating and gave a lot more insight into Hungary's history and its famous inventions and people - you'll be surprised by what this country has created. Like Prague, you'll also be surprised by how much the city has developed in just over 20 years since the end of their communist ruling.

The best part of this city for us, though, was just being and hanging around there: walking the streets; taking in their culture and warmness; and just enjoying chats and drinks with new people and their stories. It's a great city and we even popped back in just after Oktoberfest for our final weekend in Europe.

Ryan, it was awesome to not only get to see you and catch up but to also have you travel with us and get a taste of what we're all about on the trek.

Trek on...Brett and Darren