An unremarkable day but a pleasant one.
I started with coffee and a poppy seed Danish at the café then loaded up with supplies for the day at the shop (including insect repellent after my last camping experience). Initially, I made good progress down a broad valley which made me too early for the recommended bean soup at Bableves Csarda. Then the big climb of the day up to a kilato (lookout tower). Some men were there and told me something in Hungarian. Not understanding I smiled and carried on. Then I realised it was to warn me that they were painting the picnic benches, tables and wooden steps and platforms of the kilato. Fortunately I had not sat down on the bench but only went half way up the kilato in case the damp preservative was dissolving my boots!
Continuing along a ridge through trees I disturbed a deer in the path which bounded off into the bushes. Not quite as impressive as yesterday when I startled a wild boar piglet in a muddy section of track. My passage often seems to result in things crashing through the undergrowth, but I rarely see the animal responsible. At the end of the ridge there were a few dead looking villages in the following valleys, one of which had a nice exposure of ancient lava flows and pyroclastic deposits, although I found the signs (which had an English translation) rather confusing.
Inevitably there was an uphill section at the end of the day, partly along a pipeline route. The path led to Saint Laszlo's pilgrimage site. A grand affair with an outdoor auditorium, mosaics, a basilica, lots of confessional cabins, a holy spring in a gorge and a coffee shop (closed). After a bit more climbing I found a place to camp, this time in the open where trees had been felled, with a view and a gentle breeze to keep away the mosquitoes. This time orange, spotted butterflies took an interest in my rucksack and tent, while some large ants tried to eat my tea and bits of me.
Continuing along a ridge through trees I disturbed a deer in the path which bounded off into the bushes. Not quite as impressive as yesterday when I startled a wild boar piglet in a muddy section of track. My passage often seems to result in things crashing through the undergrowth, but I rarely see the animal responsible. At the end of the ridge there were a few dead looking villages in the following valleys, one of which had a nice exposure of ancient lava flows and pyroclastic deposits, although I found the signs (which had an English translation) rather confusing.
Inevitably there was an uphill section at the end of the day, partly along a pipeline route. The path led to Saint Laszlo's pilgrimage site. A grand affair with an outdoor auditorium, mosaics, a basilica, lots of confessional cabins, a holy spring in a gorge and a coffee shop (closed). After a bit more climbing I found a place to camp, this time in the open where trees had been felled, with a view and a gentle breeze to keep away the mosquitoes. This time orange, spotted butterflies took an interest in my rucksack and tent, while some large ants tried to eat my tea and bits of me.
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| Typical path through the woods |
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| Outdoor altar at St Laszlo's pilgrimage site |
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| Camp site |
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