2/3 - 2/8
We arrived in Budapest without a plan, but since we'd heard we could book hostel rooms at the tourist information office we weren't too worried. We found the tourist information office just before they closed, only to be told they 'don't do hotel bookings', contrary to the business card I had in hand. After a quick bit of internet searching they did give us a list of potential hostels to try out, but after an hour or so traipsing around in the snow and dark we realised that the first two places they'd recommended didn't even exist!
While standing outside the address of one such non-existent hostel a Brazilian guy on his way into the building asked if he could help us with anything and proceeded to take us to three hostels he knew nearby. All the hostels in Budapest are in listed buildings, and have only teeny-tiny plaques or door-bell name tags to denote their presence. The first two we tried were full, but the third - Suite hostel - had a room available that really did feel like a suite! Four beds, en-suite bathroom and kitchen. Excellent start to a new country.
Everything was still covered in snow, so we visited the Rudas baths over in Buda. Real ancient baths with real thermal spring water. 42C under a stone dome with atmospheric lighting. It was like the perfect realisation of what I had thought a hammam would be like, and to date the only good hot spring bath we've seen outside of Japan.
Had a fight with Hozumi the next day over some trivial stuff, so I ended up going on a free walking tour of the city alone. Fairly interesting, but bloody freezing. The tour guides were wrapped up in layers of snowboarding gear while I just had the old fleece Simon gave me. The only things I really remember were the church of Saint Stephen featuring 'his mummified hand', the 400kg paper(?) communist-era car and ice floes floating down the Danube. Fortunately we had time to see the sights again together the next day.
Caving! Suited up and helmeted. She looks crazy and I look drunk!
Real squeezing and crawling, tight gaps and climbs. They always provided an easier route for people who needed it, but being the masochist I am I even squeezed through one passage that everyone else except the guides gave up on. It was terrifying, and the only way to get through was to breath out completely, wriggle a few centimetres, breath in, out, wriggle a bit more and repeat. Breathing normally you literally couldn't move.
It was so cold we didn't see nearly as much of Hungary as we should have, but we were left with three main impressions - thermal bath, caving and some really good food. Glad we went!
We arrived in Budapest without a plan, but since we'd heard we could book hostel rooms at the tourist information office we weren't too worried. We found the tourist information office just before they closed, only to be told they 'don't do hotel bookings', contrary to the business card I had in hand. After a quick bit of internet searching they did give us a list of potential hostels to try out, but after an hour or so traipsing around in the snow and dark we realised that the first two places they'd recommended didn't even exist!
While standing outside the address of one such non-existent hostel a Brazilian guy on his way into the building asked if he could help us with anything and proceeded to take us to three hostels he knew nearby. All the hostels in Budapest are in listed buildings, and have only teeny-tiny plaques or door-bell name tags to denote their presence. The first two we tried were full, but the third - Suite hostel - had a room available that really did feel like a suite! Four beds, en-suite bathroom and kitchen. Excellent start to a new country.
Everything was still covered in snow, so we visited the Rudas baths over in Buda. Real ancient baths with real thermal spring water. 42C under a stone dome with atmospheric lighting. It was like the perfect realisation of what I had thought a hammam would be like, and to date the only good hot spring bath we've seen outside of Japan.
Had a fight with Hozumi the next day over some trivial stuff, so I ended up going on a free walking tour of the city alone. Fairly interesting, but bloody freezing. The tour guides were wrapped up in layers of snowboarding gear while I just had the old fleece Simon gave me. The only things I really remember were the church of Saint Stephen featuring 'his mummified hand', the 400kg paper(?) communist-era car and ice floes floating down the Danube. Fortunately we had time to see the sights again together the next day.
The 400kg car.
Caving! Suited up and helmeted. She looks crazy and I look drunk!
Real squeezing and crawling, tight gaps and climbs. They always provided an easier route for people who needed it, but being the masochist I am I even squeezed through one passage that everyone else except the guides gave up on. It was terrifying, and the only way to get through was to breath out completely, wriggle a few centimetres, breath in, out, wriggle a bit more and repeat. Breathing normally you literally couldn't move.
Gollum gollum.
Going down.
Coming out.
Lots of this.
It was so cold we didn't see nearly as much of Hungary as we should have, but we were left with three main impressions - thermal bath, caving and some really good food. Glad we went!
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