Some much needed rest before the craziness starts

Sorry for the lack of updates, really it just came down to the fact that we were all having too much fun in Budapest. The 3 days of not riding was very much needed as it helped heal some of the riding wounds. Assuming wounds can heal if you don’t really sleep. Budapest is a lively town that doesn’t really like to sleep and we had very few problems fitting right in. We are all beginning to master the mid afternoon nap. It seems that if you get 6(ish) hours of sleep a night and get a good hour in the afternoon you will be more than ready to face the rest of the day. We of course were not aided in this cause by the fact that the place we were staying had a huge courtyard party every single night that lasted until 4am.

Our Budapest experience was hardly confined to the evening hours. Most of us took the days off to actually play tourist in the city. We hit up various museums and churches around the city. My favorite attraction by far was the underground military hospital. A large tunnel system was converted into an underground hospital / nuclear bunker and has just recently been opened up to the public. Almost all of the equipment including the medical supplies and tools are original and date back to the 1960s. It didn’t hurt that the average temperature of the bunker was 14C and also provided a break from the heat.

Another part of the tour I don’t speak about nearly enough is our external and internal engagements. In Budapest we met with the local chapter of the Young Greens as well as members of Green Bikes. Most of the Green Bikers had just finished a tour of their own so it was great to swap stories. The Green Bikes tour is also pretty unique as they do a workshop in the towns they go through so they have an extremely interesting take on external engagements. Who knows, you may even see a Global Agents for Change / Green Bikes world tour coming soon!

After three days it was time to get back on the road again, and this time we were met by our host in Solt in Budapest and he and a friend rode with us all of the way to the soccer field we were staying at. It was also the first time all 20 of us attempted to ride together as a group. Needless to say things took a long time and I think our host may now be selling his bike but at the end of the day all was forgiven and forgotten as we ate an amazing egg goulash and chatted the night away.

That brings us up to today and the town of Mohacs which is our last night in Hungary. We didn’t actually have accommodation here so we sent a fast pod ahead to try and sort it out before the rest arrived. As has been the experience thus far with our trip we rolled into town, found the town hall and put on our best Canadian accents and polite smiles. Within about 10 minutes we had located a place to sleep that was not only on the Danube but also had toilets and running water. It really is a testament to the kindness of everyone that we have met so far that this trip continues to be possible. The amount of times daily that we get lost and need help with directions when most of us can only speak English is hard to put a number on. It really does give you hope for this global community that we live in.

Up next we have a quick stop in Croatia tomorrow and then we will be heading out to Serbia for four days. Serbia is going to be particularly interesting as we can’t bring our car there as no one would insure it. This is simply yet another challenge we are going to have to face but none of us are overly worried. Really it is just the state of being that we have been living in for the last few weeks. When the going gets tough the agents get going. But really, it’s been a lovely summer breeze so far.