may 14 - tristan!

on the 13th i caught a train to vienna, then an overnight to strasbourg, then to marseilles, then to nice, where i met tristan at the airport. i was thrilled to see him, having looked forward to this chapter of the travels for a long time.

we didn't mess around in nice, in my mind just another patong (trendy, packed with tourists, utterly unaffordable) - yech. we hurried on to hendaye, a port town in the southwest corner of france, right on the border with spain. basque country. hendaye is the beginning of the GR-10, an 866km trail that stretches from one end of the pyranees to the other, winding back and forth across the french-spanish border. we arrived in town late, and ended up sleeping in some woods that were probably part of someone's yard (we had to climb a barbed wire fence to get in).

after that first night camping was a lot easier. we headed up into the hills, hiking east for four days before turning back toward hendaye. each day we tried to pass through one village, to fill up our water bottles and buy bread and other groceries. this was tricky sometimes because we were definitely in siesta country, and just about everything closed at about 12:30, opening again a couple hours later, if at all. so some nights we had awkward meals.

we passed through the villages of biriatou, ibardin, and sare, making it almost to ainhoa on our last day, and making a detour on the way back to go to la rhun. being on the border, some of these towns had both french and spanish names (hendaye = hendaya, sare = sara, la rhun = larrun). and some street names had basque translations included. hearing basque was wild, it sounds like nothing else i've ever heard.

we really didn't walk all that far. the steepness of the terrain, the weight of our packs, and various aches and pains kept us down to an average of maybe 5 hours of hiking per day. we stretched a lot, did yoga and chi gong, took naps, took breaks to read in condusive spots, and short side-trips without our packs. each night i made a campfire, even when all the wood was soaked, so that we could roast our fresh vegetables and saugages. and we talked. especially in those first couple days, i was extremely stimulated by tristan's presence- not surprising given my last couple weeks of lone austerity. i felt like a whole new person, just bubbling with social energy.

but yes, although we could see the real dramatic snowcapped pyranees in the distance, we barely scratched the surface of their rhelm. distance covered was not the goal, although if i ever return i believe that it will be.

the basque countryside is a strange society. there is very little industry besides tourism, and the lack of jobs leaves the region almost devoid of young people, who must just all be living in cities. almost all the tourists we saw were middle-aged and older french people. almost everyone on the mountain trails were older couples, locals on day-hikes. we saw a few people with big packs like us, but i think that they were all french too. the droves of internationals supposedly come in august, which probably both increases services for backpackers - food and lodging - and also increases local vigilance - chasing campers off of private land.

the people that do live in the area we hiked through seemed to be pretty well-off. people on pensions or government money or something. all the houses were picture-perfect whitewashed with tile roofs and big yards and gardens. certainly weren't any slums, or the rural trailerpark strip-towns characteristic of the states' rural regions.

the return hike was nice because we knew all the best camping spots and necessary timing between towns. we could take our time and relax, as on the way out we'd wasted so much time wandering around lost. the GR-10 is well marked in most places, but not everywhere.

we got back to hendaye on friday. tristan caught a train back to nice on saturday. he'll be at his tama do training in the hills near there for the next two weeks, and i will spend this chunk of timing wwoofing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms - the french website is http://www.wwoof.fr/). i spent the weekend walking around hendaye, reading and worrying about connecting with my wwoof hosts. i camped in the hills just outside of town, in a lovely thick patch of trees covered in ivy. it's been raining pretty much constantly, but i managed to catch a couple hours of sun on sunday afternoon, spreading out all my gear and finally getting dry.

sunday night i caught a train to dax, then a bus to mont de marsan, where i was picked up by steve. steve and karina are a british couple, around 40 years old, who have been living here for the last 10 years with their three kids - jack, 12; finley, 10; and ella, 4. they live in a massive old house, called chateau lassalle, which is just outside of a little village called aignan. they don't know how old the house is exactly, but its been here since the 1400s at least. there are also two barns, a guesthouse, yards and fields, gardens, and a pond on the property.

i think it was all in disrepair when they bought it, and they've been fixing it up slowly ever since. steve is a handyman extraordinaire. i know that he's done lots of landscaping, put new tile floors into the entire house, built a traditional slate roof, and built a very nice garden. who knows what else, a place this massive and old and complicated must absorb thousands of hours of labor.

steve has a law degree, used to teach literature, and has always run an antique trade. karina is a journalist who runs and writes for a magazine. she researches wealthy philanthropists and their organizations and publishes their financial dealings, and the resulting transparency helps keep them honest and helps charities and other groups seeking funds. they both appear to be tireless champions of parenting, carefully and creatively chosen careers, and domestic projects.

most importantly they are extremey generous. they feel that 30 hours of work a week is a fair exchange for room and board, which is perfectly acceptable to me. with my first shower and laundry in several weeks, and a comfy bed in an old (dry!) camper, i am very happy. it still feels like vacation, even though i just spent the last two days shovelling muddy clay in the rain, which is just as fun as it sounds. the food and wine and company and environment are excellent, and i feel right at home.

a returned bike

after i wrote last i headed back into bukk nemzeti park for two more nights of camping, spending my days riding up and down those hills. i ended up coming across, besides those wild boar (i am told that there are lots), big black and yellow poisonous geckos, one deer critter with big curved horns, and millions of birds. there are almost one thousand species of birds in bukk alone, and day and night i was immersed in unfamiliar songs and chatter. most were little but there were a few hawks and today i saw a stork.

on thursday i met up with a couchsurfer in miskolc, hungary's third largest city. viktor is writing his dissertation on the environmental and political history of the sajo river, which flows through the region and was affected by the heavy industry of the state-socialist era. he also writes articles of political analysis for european newspapers. i aspire to take on similar roles in the near future, and found our meeting to be inspirational. it was great getting to know him.

viktor is a bicyclist and knows the roads in his region, so on friday he led me most of the way up to aggteleki park, through a labyrinth of tiny villages that i could not have found by myself. it was an exhausting day, but just as it was getting too dark i made it to my destination, the town of segliget.

i stayed in segliget (pop. approx 1,000) for two nights with another couchsurfer, a british guy named simon. he runs a guest house in addition to his job editing for a cycling magazine, which he can do from his home. foreigners are rare in rural hungary, but he's made it his home for the last few years, and speaks magyar well by now. with him translating i was better able to experience the local culture, hanging out at the fast food place and bar, playing pool and drinking beer and a crazy slovakian liquor called bekarofka, which tastes like cinnamon and herbs.

saturday i had a lovely lazy day, laying around napping and reading, preparing myself for this last bit. sunday and monday were a long slog, 150 and 105 km respectively, just a sprint back to budapest. it got pretty tedious, the endless hills and windy roads i took to avoid the big highways. i was tired, and losing motivation, sick of being dirty and sore and wet and homeless and worried about flat tires (i got four total - with the weight of my pack strapped to the back it didn't take much of a bump). despite all that, my camp last night made me feel sad to end my trip. i slept in a meadow between two little villages, surrounded by rolling forested hills and the endless birds. once the moon set the stars were brilliant. i am going to miss this.

so, now i am back in budapest at philip's apartment. that old white peugot got me through 650 km of magyar countryside. i was so sad to return it today- i'll be lucky if i can find its equal back in the states. now i am headed to nice, france, to meet my dear friend tristan who arrives in two days. i have a train ticket to vienna austria for tomorrow. from there, my fate is in the hands of the european train network.

topheavy in bukk

first- before i flew back to the states i played in the hungarian ultimate frisbee national championships. it was one of the most thrilling days of my life, i still get the giggles thinking about it. i played for a team called halodigaze, who i had practiced with the week before.

the tournament was in a town called markaz, about an hour and a half drive from budapest. it is wine country, and some of the people organizing the event ran a winery (the prizes at the end were therefore all wine-based). it was a cold and rainy day, but at least no wind, which really screws things up. there were seven teams and two fields, and each team played 4 or 5 games to determine the standings.

we lost our first two games, to the two best teams there - the two that ended up playing for first. it was a tough way to start, but after that our team clicked. everything started working perfectly, and i finally relaxed and was able to play my best. we won our other three games, taking third place. again, one of the most thrilling days of my life.

i am trying to find pictures online, and will inform if i do.

so. now that i am back from the states, i am doing just what i planned. i bought a bike in budapest, along with a lock, helmet, pump and tire repair kit, all for about 220 dollars (if i return it all in good shape, i'll get about 170 back- this is far cheaper than renting). i didn't get paniers, but there is a rack on the back that is good for strapping down my bag. unfortunately this makes me quite topheavy, which took a while to get used to. also, it takes at least 10 minutes to get it all strapped on correctly. i have to take it off and wear it when i lock up my bike and leave it behind, so i am loath to stop in civilization, it's all just a pain in the ass.

on friday i rode about 85 km, from budapest to just past the town of gyöngyös. that night i nested in a patch of bushes between a dirt road and a vineyard. wrapped in a cacoon of garbage bags and nearly all my clothes, i was almost warm enough to sleep. almost. not a great night.

(but man, plastic bags. greatest invention ever. i am utterly dependent on them, and keep a big stash on me at all times. so here's to plastic bags, my best friend out here).

on saturday i rode the rest of the way to eger, about 45 km. i stayed in a little hostel that was run by a family. the son, bolasz, spoke some english, but not his parents. bolasz took me down the family's cellar where he had me taste his father's wine. the earth under eger is just full of cellars, running right into each other (our was separated from the neighbor's by an iron gate). the heart of wine country, most of the town's business is wine. there is a little valley outside town called szépasszony-völgy (valley of the nice lady) that is just ringed with cellars buried into the hillsides. from the openings of each people sell their wine, give out tastes for free and glasses for less than a dollar. this was may-day weekend, a big four day holiday for the country. all the tourists there appeared to be magyar.

i slept for 14 hours that night. for good reasons. sunday i took off for bukk national park, riding up and up until i ran out of daylight and had to find a spot to sleep. i was nice and warm with my sleeping bag i bought from bolasz' mother, which is purple and white and covered in flowers ("just like a man!" announces bolasz).

monday i spent hiking, exploring the confusing network of paths winding through the park. i climbed to some hilltops for the views, found a sweet little spring, and generally just soaked up these beautiful forested hills. things were peachy until a massive thunderstorm broke over my head. i took shelter in a little wooden observation tower, across a meadow from some type of corn-dispensing container, for luring critters of some kind. i thought it would be deer, but last night a pack of wild pigs or boar romped around it. grunts and oinks and squeels and bubbling splashing as they churned the whole area up into a muddy sloppy pond. i slept up in the tower.

today i came back down to eger, about 20 km, to resupply. i am subsisting on bread, cheese, jam, peanut butter (trying to make this precious little jar from santa barbara last as long as possible), carrots, bananas and yogurt. the limiting factor is water, as its so heavy to carry. i wish i knew where all the springs were in this region.

interlude

my granpa ron passed away on the 19th of april. i flew to santa barbara california for a week to be with my family.

i wouldn't write about it here - this is such a light-hearted project. in fact, it's hard to start writing about anything again. it doesn't feel right to embark on frivolous travels and write silly stories after something like this.

i just wanted to explain my silence of the last two weeks. more will come soon.