Today the route was along farm tracks and on the embankments beside drainage ditches and canals. However it did not start well. At 3:30 am I had an attack of diarrhoea and another at 6:00 am. I am assuming it was the stuffed cabbage and Debrecen sausage I ate last night. A local dish, probably only requested by rare tourists. Drinking lots of water I decided to forgo food until the evening, so it was just a small black coffee at the station before I caught the train (and a panic about where I put my phone).
After the train took me to Nagykereki with a pleasant bonk-bonk-bonk rhythm I headed off through the village with some trepidation given my previous experience in the area (see day 30). It was difficult to avoid attracting attention as dogs barked at every other house, people were cycling past with their morning shopping and a group of men stood waiting for something. They stopped talking as I approached, I said a polite "Jo Napot" and passed by.
Eventually I left the village and walked through fields of maize and sunflowers. In July the maize was green and the sunflowers had their yellow heads held high towards the sun. Now the maize was straw coloured and the sunflowers grey, sadly hanging their heads. The wild flowers were however just as pretty.
A lot of the walk was beside drainage ditches and there were plenty of little flies forming large swarms, constantly changing shape. In places the house martins were out eating some of them. Elsewhere a stork flew with lazy wing beats and a small lizard crossed my path.
I do not normally use a walking stick (or are they called trekking poles?) but I did this time as one book advised it as a defence against dogs when walking in Serbia. It proved helpful here as well when a black dog raced up to me barking and with bared teeth. He clearly was not wanting a pat! Fortunately waving my stick helped keep him at a safe distance although he followed me for a while.
Reaching Berettyoujfalu I was thirsty so stopped for a Pepsi at a bar. Another customer tried some conversation but my lack of Hungarian made this difficult although he and his girlfriend valiant efforts with their limited knowledge of English. So I showed him a card I had made up with some help from the author of the best website of the Kektura, Bela Horvath. It says I am an English tourist walking on the Alfoldi Kektura, I am not lost, I am not a refugee, or in Hungarian "Angol túrázó vagyok. Az Alföldi Kéktúrát járom. Nem tévedtem el. Nem vagyok menekült. Köszönöm!". They thought it very amusing.
Spending the night at the Liget Szallashely and have just enjoyed a meal at the Bella Costa restaurant. Hopefully I will not have to rush to the toilet tonight!
After the train took me to Nagykereki with a pleasant bonk-bonk-bonk rhythm I headed off through the village with some trepidation given my previous experience in the area (see day 30). It was difficult to avoid attracting attention as dogs barked at every other house, people were cycling past with their morning shopping and a group of men stood waiting for something. They stopped talking as I approached, I said a polite "Jo Napot" and passed by.
Eventually I left the village and walked through fields of maize and sunflowers. In July the maize was green and the sunflowers had their yellow heads held high towards the sun. Now the maize was straw coloured and the sunflowers grey, sadly hanging their heads. The wild flowers were however just as pretty.
A lot of the walk was beside drainage ditches and there were plenty of little flies forming large swarms, constantly changing shape. In places the house martins were out eating some of them. Elsewhere a stork flew with lazy wing beats and a small lizard crossed my path.
I do not normally use a walking stick (or are they called trekking poles?) but I did this time as one book advised it as a defence against dogs when walking in Serbia. It proved helpful here as well when a black dog raced up to me barking and with bared teeth. He clearly was not wanting a pat! Fortunately waving my stick helped keep him at a safe distance although he followed me for a while.
Reaching Berettyoujfalu I was thirsty so stopped for a Pepsi at a bar. Another customer tried some conversation but my lack of Hungarian made this difficult although he and his girlfriend valiant efforts with their limited knowledge of English. So I showed him a card I had made up with some help from the author of the best website of the Kektura, Bela Horvath. It says I am an English tourist walking on the Alfoldi Kektura, I am not lost, I am not a refugee, or in Hungarian "Angol túrázó vagyok. Az Alföldi Kéktúrát járom. Nem tévedtem el. Nem vagyok menekült. Köszönöm!". They thought it very amusing.
Spending the night at the Liget Szallashely and have just enjoyed a meal at the Bella Costa restaurant. Hopefully I will not have to rush to the toilet tonight!
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| Sunflowers awaiting harvesting |
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| Some of the wildflowers beside one of the embankments the path follows |
Liked the card, haha. You returned prepared.
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