Couchsurfing and canoeing..

After 61 days on the road we have continued to add to the total number of states we have visited and also to the number of hands we now have on the side of the van. We are currently driving through southern Slovakia on our way to the capital, Bratislava which we plan to explore for a few hours today before heading to Vienna, Austria.
Leaving split we travelled due north into Hungary and back into the EU and upon our arrival, headed straight to Europe’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Balaton. Sadly the reality of the lake was not quiet as we had imagined, the deserted shores of our imagination were replaced by what can only be described as Hungary’s answer to the party coast of Spain. We ended up spending so much time trying to sort out some Couchsuring for the remainder of the trip that we never even made it into the water! We did however, stumble upon a CS canoeing tour leaving from Budapest in a few days time which, after some frantic emailing, we managed to get a place on.
We left the lake with renewed purpose having paid to sleep for the first time on the road and made our way to Budapest where we managed to fit in some sightseeing before we attended the pre-meeting for the canoe trip which was held in a bar called Szimpla just outside the centre of the city. Having met some of our friends for the coming week we headed to sleep in a residential street overlooking the beautiful city just underneath the citadel. We awoke late and again spend the day checking out as much of the city as possible before we headed to our host for the night, Zsolt, who also happened to be the leader of the week’s tour.
Two trains and a bus brought us to the start of our week’s canoeing, on a branch of the Danube which would, after a few solid days of paddling, lead us to the town of Gyor in western Hungary. The tour was a success all round, with around 50 couchsurfers from 15 nations taking to the water in good spirits even when the weather was not on our side. The 5 days on the water were spend covering distances of around 30 km which, even with one rest day, proved to be far more exercise than either of us has taken on during our time on the road. We arrived in Gyor pleased to be in civilisation once more but with very fond memories of days spent in canoes, afternoons playing silly games, evenings around campfires and nights in tents that were by no means waterproof.
Our return to Budapest brought a welcome shower and a chance to wash (or have washed!) our very soggy clothes and the much anticipated van signing by the team. We once more spent the evening at Szimpla enjoying a drink or two before we headed to bed right outside the Bar on what we thought was a park restriction free zone. We awoke late and headed to a café to get online and returned to find not only that we had received a parking ticket but that we had lost a set of car keys – not the ideal start to the day. We did however, manage to make it to Budapest’s hot baths for a day of chilling out with everyone before we headed for a fantastic home cooked lunch with some of our friends.

Stats of the moment:
Days on the road: 61
Miles covered: 4100
States visited: 8
Nights not spent in Van: 21
Run ins with the Police: 1
Money spent on accommodation: £10.00