Graz – Piestany – Čachtice – Nitra – Györ – Gánt – Balatonfüred – Straß – Graz
Again it was time for our summer tour. This time, Michael accompanied us. We planned only two destinations: the ruin of Čachtice in Slovakia and the Lake Balaton in Hungary. We would have started headless without preparation or maps, but fortunately we got a sat nav shortly before, because this would have ended in an annoying odyssey otherwise.
Redti packed too much stuff, as usual. Fortunately we didn't needed the slicker or any tools:
Our fully loaded bikes (Clemens, Michi, Redti)
The first day:
We took the freeway to Jarovce in the South of Bratislava. This was boring as usual, except for the part on the Simmering. From Jarovce we chose our way through the heart of Bratislava. The suburbs of Bratislava look way run down, the asphalt was quite rough sometimes. But the entry to the business district (I’m not sure if it was the business district, but it looked like one) was very impressive. When we finally fought our way through the horrifying traffic jams of the city in the heat of the afternoon we drove fine country roads to Piestany. It was late afternoon, and we discussed, if we wanted to stay and search for a camping place or do the last 30 kilometers to Čachtice and visit the ruin the same day. Well, it was a wise choice to stay and rest.
So we had a fine relaxing evening swimming in the river, eating Slovakian Gulyás and drinking cheapest beer.
Michi and his bike:
Somewhere at the austrian-hungarian boarder. Much more wind engine's will follow:
We enjoyed the evening at the cold dammed lake Slnava:
The second day:
Rising up early that day, we headed towards Čachtice. The route was a beautiful single-laned road through forests. When we arrived, we puzzled: were the f* is this castle?! We were in the middle of nowhere, nothing in sight. Well, the ruin was on a “mountain” above us – looking as spooky as we expected. The steep path was hard to walk, especially because of about 30 degree Celsius and us wearing heavy leather.
After this very exhausting ascent, we were soggy and tired, and our feet hurt from the damn biker boots, but it was totally worth it.
Back down in the valley, we headed east. We wanted to see the backcountry a bit, before we cross the Hungarian border. There we found one hell of a nice road, maybe the one and only curvy in a land full of straight streets to the horizon. A good meal gave us the strength for the rest of the day’s tour, which contained a mogul field of a road to the border. The hopping was like on a galloping horse.
In the evening we arrived in Györ. We searched for hours for a fitting place to stay for the night. The camping place as well as the hostel we found in the sat nav didn’t exist anymore, and the hotels we found were either too expensive or had no garage to hide our motorcycles. So we drove 10 kilometers out of Györ, where we found a lovely little camping place. We ordered rooms (cheap, but moldy), because we didn’t want to build up our tent and sleep on the ground.
We started early:
At the Castle of Čachtice where supposedly the blood countess lived and died (Yes we looked really struggled ;)
The path was more exhausting, then it looks in this picture:
Yes, this camping place is closed:
The third day:
Again, we headed east, found fine roads along the borders of Hungary and through the national park Vèrtesi Tájvedelmi Körzet. Afterwards we were driving along the northern shores of the Lake Balaton, looking for a nice camping place with access to the lake as well as affordable bungalows – again, we tried to avoid the tent, which wasn’t easy, because the prizes in the high season around the Balaton are… well, not like in the rest of Hungary.
Straight roads:
It was fucking hot:
The fourth day:
We took a break from riding, giving our bottoms chance for recovering. Restaurants and entertainment were nice, and we had a lot of beer and grilled meat.
We also had time for some more photos:
A tribute to the adventure rider forum:
The fifth day:
We had no idea, where we ought to drive. East again? Nah, not really. The condition of the roads was quite bad sometimes, and we had only one more day. South? Well, we did Croatia last year, and Slovenia was somehow uninteresting. North was no option, we came from there. West it was, the decision: Through the national park Örségi Nemzeti to Slovenia and back to Graz again.
Stopping for a coffee break somewhere in hungary:
Conclusion:
Hungary and Slovakia are worth a look. Nice (flat) landscapes, that fascinates more than one would think. The roads, most of the time straight ahead to the horizon, is cool to ride if you don’t mind mere endless straights, and surprise you sometimes with amazing curvy parts. And last but not least: board and lodging is really cheap in the hinterland. ;)
Text: Clemens; Pics: Redti