Sunday 28th Szentbekkalla to Nagyvazsony

It happens so often that it has now become a general principle. The weather improves the day after you really need good weather. So today the weather was perfect, not too hot and a strong overnight wind had blown all the humidity away. Really needed today's clear weather yesterday when I was climbing up vantage points and had the big views. Today's walk to Nagyvazsony was nice but much shorter than yesterday and not as dramatic.

Leaving Szentbekkalla at about 9.30 the wind was still blowing and it was actually cool. Immediately to the north of the village the signs said go left and my GPS trail said go right. Going right involved passing a man in a tower shooting at things so I turned off the GPS and went left.

Climbing up the hill went past a remote house with a naked couple in the garden and washing themselves with a water pipe. Crept quietly past as anything else felt like an intrusion.

On top of the hill was a wooden watchtower, three or four flights of stairs high and with views above the trees. Great views of Lake Balaton in between the hills to the south and in the picture below the central hill (can't work out what it's called from the map) is the hill I climbed just after midday yesterday.

Views back to Balaton

By now the sun had come out again but it's not hot nearly as it has been. Stopped in a bar in Balatonhenye for a drink of lemonade and walked on through a mix of open countryside and forest towards Nagyvazsony. The agriculture seems less intensive in this part of Hungary than it was last week, not so many huge fields designed for huge machines. The forest walks were very similar - really pleasant.

Dense canopy

So got to Nagyvazsony at about 2.30 after 21 very easy kilometres. Given the perfect weather conditions was tempted to carry on but I'm running out of map and couldn't find a petrol station to buy the next one. The most likely reason I put a short day in the schedule is that I couldn't find anywhere to stay at in a reasonable distance further along the trail. As it is I have a 44 kilometre walk tomorrow.

Nagyvazsony is actually a very pleasant village. It has a 15th century castle and a museum charting the development of the post office. Good opportunity to rest up before the start of last full week of walking.

Kinizci Castle

There is particularly distinct sign for the E4 which has started to crop up, have only seen it in Hungary. It's a sort of cross between the television series "Madmen" and the film "Sound of Music" - is that at "A line" dress?.

Saturday 27th August Tapolca to Szentbekkalla

Today was definitely the best walk I have had so far in Hungary. The landscape has opened up, walked through a series of interesting places and it was just a bit cooler than it has been for the last few days. Best of all I had some company.

Met a group of four Hungarian guys, who had also been staying in Topolca, a couple of kilometres south of the town. Really nice guys who were doing the Blue Route a few days at a time. A bit younger but very similar (a lot fitter actually) to a group of men I go walking with every year back in the UK. Great to exchange notes and talk about walking, Hungary and other things. They kindly took me wine tasting and up the castle at Szigliget and we walked together until early afternoon.



(one missing in the picture as he was taking it)

Actually today was a tougher walk than I had expected. 37 kilometres, leaving Topolca at 7.30, meant that I should have arrived at Szentbekkal at about 4.30 - it was nearer 6. There was a lot more climbing than I have had in Hungary so far. Essentially the route takes you south towards Lake Balaton up and down two volcanic "plugs" and then, north again, up and down another three (although to be honest you didn't go to the top of the last two). The first one heading north was particularly tough, climbing at a hot time of the day, and up steps.

The volcanic plugs give the landscape its distinctive shape. Taken as a whole it looks Italian, like Tuscany or Umbria and, as I understand it, this comparison is often made. It's not just the shape of the mountains, but the colour and light, and way the villages stand out against a green background.

The volcanic plugs also have there own individual characters. The first one, near Kisapati, has spectacular basalt columns like giant organ tubes; the second one the castle sitting at the top; the third and tough one to climb, brilliant views down to Lake Balaton; the fourth one the best shape, the perfect conical volcano; and the fifth one, another hill top castle. Was told that the two castles, along with the third at Sumeg, all form part of a middle age defensive line along the then border.

Given the quality of the scenery, the slight disappointment was the humidity in the air which meant that visibility was poor. (The landscape pictures I took I'm afraid were terrible and I haven't included them). It was changing a little towards early evening and for the last few kilometres the day had gone from stifling summer to mellow autumn. It's now changed again and there is a wind storm - feels wonderful after the last few days.

Of course I always wish that Christine (my wife) was here but this is definitely her kind of walking. A couple of weeks time I guess would be perfect but already your confronted with an array of amazing local produce, at the moment apples and pears, a real garden of Eden. And then of course, on top of that, is the local wine. Christine would be grabbing everything as she went along. Even had some local spring water to refill my bottle with.







To ice the cake I'm staying in a wonderful gasthof in Szentbetkalla. I had found one on the Internet and had asked Zoltan, a helpful Hungarian who responded to my plea for assistance, to book it for me. It was full. He found another one but I think found their telephone manner a bit strange and was not sure how good it would be. Well it turned out to be excellent - the little restaurant was packed, always a good sign, and I had the best meal I've had in ages. It's called the Ester Panzio. Really getting a taste for all the different lake fish you get in central Europe, fish we don't see in the UK.

So a top, top day.

Friday 26th of August Keszthely to Tapolca

Got a phone call from a charming Hungarian woman this morning with words of encouragement and advice. Lovely surprise and she also spoke excellent English (better than me although as others have pointed out I've lacked practice recently). Amongst other things she told me that the weather at the moment is exceptional and breaking records.

Hang on! So I spend two months walking through the Alps enduring one of the wettest summers anyone can remember and now I'm in Hungary enduring one of the hottest summers anyone can remember. What I'd like to remember please is some average, some normal!

Anyway today's walk definitely had three parts to it (all hot). A short but roadside escape from Keszthely; a long middle section mainly through forest but some open countryside at its end; then a really long roadside walk into Tapolca.

I suspect that the amount of roadside walking you do tends to be a product of how densely populated the countryside is and this, to an extent, is a product of how high you are. I remember when I was walking through Andalucia complaining about the road side walking (one infamous day involved 36 kilometres) and being warned that this common "in Europe" and to expect lots. As it turned out I hardly got any as most the E4 is through mountains. I'm getting a bit more now because it's lower and I think this is a busy part of Hungary. It's more of a pain than it would normally be because of the heat but the bus service looks excellent so I could always chop bits off if I was suffering.

The first 3 kilometres involved a walk out to the out to town shops - huge Tesco. Got my lunch there - slice of pizza and fruit, no chocolate, too hot - and bought a map, as advised by a Hungarian commentator, at the petrol station. Felt odd going into a petrol station as a walker. Then had to walk down a few hundred metres of seriously busy road where the gust of a lorry whipped my hat off - managed to retrieve it but not very dignified.

Busy road on the way out of Keszthely

At least I had nearly escaped Keszthely and after a walk through a suburb I was in forest. Final non forest bit actually was a trip alongside a rifle range where live firing was taking place. The side of the route was marked with red flags and if I had had a white flag I would have been waving it.

This stretch of walk is through what is described on the map as the Keszthelyi Mountains and which are about 300 metres high, just high enough to create a welcome breeze at the top. No real long views at this stage - all forest, initially oak, some old pine and then beech.

Huge pine trees

Breaking out from the trees was confronted with an enormous field of sunflowers all with heads bowed in the sun.

Sun flowers bowing their heads in the sun

The first village was Vallus. There seems to be pump near every village church, not sure if you can drink the water but it's a great way to cool off. In Vallus I was tempted to take my shoes of and soak my feet but in the middle of a village I thought it might be seen as a bit rude. Was disappointed in the dogs who were very half hearted in their barking, wanted to add to my "barking dogs of Europe" series of pictures, but as soon as I lifted my camera they turned shy.

Just past Vallus I got my first view of yesterday's Buddist Pagoda at Zalaszanto, must have walked 25 kilometres since then but such is the meandering nature of the route that it was now only about six kilometres to the north-west. The village of Rezi, past yesterday afternoon was probably 3 kilometres to the west. Got three kilometres closer to Budapest in 24 hours!

The route did start to head east after that and above Varvolgy I was able to get some of the longest views I've had so far in Hungary. In particular I saw Lake Balaton for the first time to the south and little mountains to the east which I think are ancient extinct volcanoes (the castle at Sumeg, yesterday's start point sits on one of these). With all the humidity in the air however the views were very misty.

Lake Balaton hazy in the distance

After ice-cream and cold drink at Lesenceistvand the final test was a walk along a hot and fairly busy road to Topolca. Not pleasant, the only good thing about it was that the ground was covered quickly.

Trusty Friend

Staying at a central hotel, the Hotel Gabriella, which has air conditioning. Brilliant. Got there at about 4.

It is great to be getting interest from readers in Hungary. The hits on the site have not been as high since I first started. Can I thank everyone who responded to my plea for advice on accommodation. Incredibly comprehensive. Have also had some direct help on arranging bookings. The most important thing is that I now know where I need to worry and where I don't.

Thursday 25th August Sumeg to Keszthely

Getting so close to the end of the walk is making things harder. When it was months or weeks away it didn't seem worth thinking about the end but now it's so close it's all I can think about. Everyday feels like an obstacle to be overcome and set backs are like slipping back down a mountain.

Given my navigational track record loosing the trail just south of Sumeg this morning should have been a minor issue but I got pretty close to chucking my rucksack on the floor and just giving up. Had left Sumeg really early (plenty of food but no coffee), and followed the signs out of town. After about 2 kilometres the track left the road and went into some scrubby countryside. The trail on my GPS split from the markings on the ground and then the markings on the ground disappeared. Followed various trails, but no signs, just heaps of dumped televisions and other rubbish, and yes a fox. Stared at each other for a few seconds but he wasn't going to tell me the way.

Went back to the main road and its thundering lorries and followed the road hoping that I would come across the trail later. The gap between the route on my GPS and my current position just got wider and after a couple of kilometres I gave up on the road and went cross country through the forest. It wasn't too bad, the huge beech trees have such a dense canopy that there is nothing growing underneath and it's easy to cut a straight line. Pine forests are impenetrable by comparison.



After about a kilometre, and right in the forest, I had to cross a railway line. If it hadn't been so sunny it would have been the perfect location for Strelnikov's train from Dr Zhivago.

After another kilometre I was back on the trail but still resentful that I had got up so early and then lost time. I was in trees, in the shade, but it still felt very hot. For company little flies were buzzing around my head and if you ignored them they attempted to find a spot for themselves in your eye.

Very similar trail to the last few days but instead of level it was now undulating, even hilly.



Got directed to a Buddist's temple, an option I declined, and eventually left the trees and came out of the forest at about 12 at the village of Zalaszanto. It was stunningly hot and I worked out that I had been walking for nearly six hours and was still barely half way.

Went to the village shop and bought two magnums (they are smaller here than in the UK - mini magnums!) and a bottle of Sprite. Sat in the shade near a bus stop and fought with the "why don't you get on the bus" devil and won (only just) and was rewarded by a three kilometre walk along the side of the road with more thundering lorries.

After that it actually got easier and by 3.45 I was going through the resort town of Neviz and only 4 kilometres from Keszthely. Had done a lot of walking on roads already and although the final run into Keszthely was on a cycle track, it was a hard surface and by the time I finished at about 4.45 my feet felt like they had melted.



Tomorrow at least is shorter again, 27 kilometres rather than today's 43. It is however the start of some really serious meanders as I head inland away from Lake Balaton (haven't seen it yet) before coming back to the Lake the next day. I may go nuts before I get to Budapest.

Wednesday August 24th Hosszuperreszteg to Sumeg

Another absolutely scorching day. I think it's hot even by Hungarian standards, there is some talk that it might get cooler but not until next week! It's right up there in the high 90s - never walked such long days in such heat.

Despite the sun today's walk went OK. The hotel I was staying in was about 2 kilometres of the trail so I think the whole walk was about 37 kilometres. Started walking about 7.45 and finished at about 4.30 which seems about right for the distance and better than yesterday. Heat rash has gone so nothing trip threatening at the moment.

Getting some great comments from Hungarian readers of the blog. One of them had worked out where I was last night and was able to tell me follow the blue box signs back to the trail. Hadn't noticed these before but they worked a treat. Also pointed me to the Hungarian Tourist Website where, if I had known, I could have downloaded a map base with the route for free. Trouble was, when I was doing my research last year, I got such excellent information on the route, compared to what you get in other countries, that didn't think to look a bit harder. You Hungarians don't know how lucky you are getting access to such maps - in the UK the equivalent costs a small fortune.

Once I was back on the trail the first milestone were the Lake of Szejk, 5 kilometres from Hosszuperreszteg. Not sure how the lakes have come about but there a long narrow feature right in the middle of the forest. There a big campsite at one end with a Gasthof so I guess I could have stayed there.

Lake at Szajk

There was a sign at the campsite, near the footpath, which said Sumeg 30 kilometres, and from that point I was in the forest for about 4 and a half hours. I have already mentioned how weird it is just following a trail, no map, like being in a maze with signs but with no real idea when the maze is going to end. For all those hours the only non forest features was an occasional bit of road walking and the crossing, via a road bridge, of a railway line. Given the sun, walking in the shade was actually good news and at least the trees are oak, ash and beech rather than endless pine or "German trees" as the French call them.



One tree had on it a stamping point for those walkers wanting to authenticate their Blue Walk trip.

Blue Route Stamping Point

At about 2.30 the forest spat me out onto a road and in the distance I got my first encouraging sight of the castle which sits above Sumeg. I was now in the sun and within minutes was missing the trees. The route seemed to meander its way towards Sumeg but on the final approach it went with the road straight into town. Hungarian drivers don't take prisoners, they drive fast, and that bit of walk was not pleasant.

Approaching Sumeg

The only accommodation I had been able to find on the Internet was a big and fairly expensive spa hotel. Decided to take pot luck and see what else I could find and this time it worked. A nice family hotel right in the middle of town. They speak English and have agreed to make me a packed breakfast - going to make a six o'clock start in the morning to try and beat as much of the heat as possible.

The only downside of the hotel is that it doesn't seem to have wifi so I can't publish my blog. One the Hungarian commentators suggested that I list the places I intend to stay at and tap into some local knowledge. Starting on Friday my schedule is as follows:

Friday 26th. Tapolca
Saturday 27th. Szentbakkalla
Sunday 28th Nagvvazsony
Monday 29th Bakonbel
Tuesday 30th Zirc
Wednesday 31st Fehervarcsurgo
Thursday 1st Kohanyaspuzta
Friday 2nd. Koldusszalles
Saturday 3rd Mogyorosbanya
Sunday 4th Piliscev
Monday 5th. Budapest
Tuesday 6th. London

Would be really grateful for help on all of the above, although you don't need to worry about Budapest and London!

I particularly struggled with Koldusszalles and expect to have to stay in Tatabanya, and Mogyorosbanya. Must admit not knowing Hungary I was a bit surprised that accommodation seemed to get harder as you get nearer Budapest.

Would be incredibly grateful for any help. If you have a suggestion, than please either leave a comment or send me an email - the email address is amithefirst@gmail.com. For comments I'm dependent on wifi access, which I suspect will get more difficult next week, so email might be better. Alternatively you can send me a text on 0771 757 2645, that's a UK number.

Tuesday 23rd August Sarvar to Hosszupereszteg

Have now sampled all six of the western E4 countries footpath marking systems and can now declare the preliminary results. These might change if I get lost between here and Budapest but the positions, after today's town centre test, are now well defined.

Hungary is running a strong second.

Austria is third - let down by poor marking in the less popular eastern part of the country.

France is running fourth - the world famous white and red signs on the ground change too much to beat the Hungarian white and blue markings although the judges recommend that the Hungarians consider the same cross symbol to indicate a "don't go that way" instruction.

Spain is running fifth with some excellent practice let down by regional variation.

Germany is the surprise back marker with Maxmillianweg marking described as "at best poor and at worse misleading" .

The benchmark for waymarking has been set by the Swiss who have implemented an awesome system which combines the on the ground marking of the Hungarian system with information on timing and destination. It tells you where you are going and how long it might take.

Only the Swiss and the Hungarian systems past the ultimate test of taking you from a town centre, where there are lots of choices, out into the country where there are less.

Applied the test on the journey out of Sarvar today. The signs took me round the castle, through some back streets and across a park full of lovely lakes. Almost got thrown where the route had been changed for a watersports park but soon found the signs again and then it out of town, past Tescos, across a bridge over the River Rada, and onto a patch of sustained road marking. Entirely led by the signs, no maps no GPS.

Lakes in Sarvar

Another amazingly hot day and too be honest the 35 kilometres seemed to go on forever. Today fortunately was less open with more of the trail again in the trees. Definitely struggling a bit in the sun - getting some quite unpleasant heat rashes in some very delicate places.

Welcome shelter from the heat

Some more unusual road filling systems in the forest. After yesterday's dodgy building refuse, today there was a lorry load of barley spread neatly along the trail and, of course sprouting. Not sure what was going on here, but if it was an experiment in alternative uses for barley it failed.

Sprouting barley on the footpath

Actually the most exposed part of the day came shortly after the barley incident and just after Sitke on the way to Gerce. Here the path was so overgrown that it was impassable, instead you had to walk across a ploughed field and through a field of maize. All I needed was a crop duster and it would have been "North by Northwest".

Overgrown path

Meet a couple of Hungarian walkers just after Gerce and looked enviously at there guide for the Blue Route, contained wonderful large scale maps.

And then a long walk through trees all the way to Kald, including a very walk through trees. Got to Kald about 3.30 and later discovered from a comment on the blog that I could have met up with someone in a bar there. Very sensible Hungarian who was in the shade and out of the sun.

Pressed on to Hosszupereszteg. Really nice walk through arable land with huge fields and crops higher than maize but not maize - beyond me and I was bought up on a farm.

Unknown crop

The gasthof I was looking for in Hosszupereszteg didn't exist. After being told that there was somewhere to stay near the church, a Hungarian woman seemed to suggest that the nearest place was five kilometres further along the road. Given my heat rash I didn't fancy another five kilometres.

Found a bus stop which seemed to suggest a bus at 6.18, but had no real idea where it was going and whether it would result in a hotel. Managed to attract the attention of the man who lived near the bus stop.

Now I have to say that non-verbal communications are a bit different here. Hungarians famously don't look you in the eye and don't smile - sounds very English but the English are extroverts compared to Hungarians. I'm starting to get used to this and as long as you don't take the initial "get lost" signals personally things start to happen.

Anyway after the initial "get lost" signal the man became very helpful, which was fortunate because the bus was turning up. Using hand signals I explained I want a bed in a hotel. He has a long conversation with the bus driver and I think persuaded the bus driver to take me to next village, which was off the bus route, and drop me of not far from a hotel. Really helpful. Shook the man's hand, got on the bus with no idea where I was going. Obviously I'm now in a hotel which is actually at the other side of Hosszupereszteg safe and sound. The bus driver refused to take a fare (no one else on the bus) so this goes on my growing list of "international rescues".

A Good Day!

Monday 22nd Szeleste to Sarvar

Still walking across a feature called the little Hungarian Plain, so continues to be very flat. Not so many trees today, bit more open, and incredibly hot. Shorter walk, just 22 kilometres, got away from the "castle" hotel in Szelestei by 8, so was in Sarvar in time for a late lunch and an afternoon in the shade.

Castle Hotel

I'm following the blue and white markers, which are brilliant, but also have a GPS trail on my IPhone which I downloaded from from of the Hungarian web sites that specialise on the walk. I don't have any maps and because the route meanders you get a slightly weird feeling just following the signs because it's a very meandering route. You often seem to be going backwards and your sense of direction, which gets mislead especially when your in trees, is constantly telling you something must be wrong. Slight panic just out of Szelestei when the GPS trail conflicted with the signs but of course, in the end, the signs where right.

Massive fields

Ploughed footpath

More examples of the huge scale of agriculture here with the fields which seemed to go on to the horizon. The same "farmer" also helpfully ploughed up the footpath (if my farmer brother reads this I know that technically it's "dragged" not ploughed). This sort of landscape definitely has it's attractions and on a cold day in the winter is probably amazing.

Slightly more unnerving is the tendency to use white asbestos debris to line the forest trail. Conscious that I have a number of Hungarian readers at the moment and don't want to cause offence but most English walkers would be seriously put off by even the mention of asbestos.

White Abestos

Saw three Trabant's parked in a line as I walked through the streets of Sarvar: a standard saloon, an estate car and a coupe. The coupe looked the best.

Trabant

Sarvar itself is a spa town, an important tourist destination and has lots of hotels. Like Kozeg it has multi-coloured stucco buildings which are being carefully restored. The central feature however is a castle and my gasthof is right next to it.

Nádasdy Castle

PS. Really Great to hear from you again Nancy and thanks so much for your kind sponsorship. Can't promise to be enjoying every minute but definitely most of them!

Sunday 21st August Koszeg to Szeleste

First full day on the Blue Trail and I've enjoyed it. Only complaint is that the kilometres seem longer here and despite a good and flat trail, it took me 9 hours of fast walking to do what my schedule says is 35 kilometres. I was starting to think I had somehow overshot Szeleste and was going to have to walk to Sarvar.

Left Koszeg via Jurisics Square at about 9.15 and found my first blue and white sign (the Square may not be at its best at the moment as it's being completely repaved). It's blue and white signs only, nothing to tell you where your going and how long it might take, but the blue and white signs are excellent and generally come up about every fifty metres.

St Imre Church

I'm not expecting any of the track to Budapest to be exactly mountainous but today's stretch is described as a plain so it's particularly flat. Most of it was through trees and along forest roads or trails but it was not as bad as it sounds. Although there a lot of conifers there are also plantations of oak and ash and to be honest, given the sun, it was perhaps better to be walking through trees than out in the open. Some of the trails were exceptionally long and straight, a whole walk stretching out in front of you.

Should be careful not to draw any conclusions after just a day but the countryside does seem completely different to anything I have walked through before. Everything I saw today, from the plantations to the fields, was on a massive scale. The wheat has all been harvested and the only thing left are huge fields of maze. At Szelestei there were five huge combine harvesters all lined up, machines which can eat up thousands of acres without so much as a blink. Farming over the border in Austria was on a cottage garden scale in comparison.

Huge fields of corn

Maybe this is a legacy of collectivisation and then privatisation or maybe it's just a feature of this part of Hungary. Only went through one village other than Szeleste (which may qualify as a small town) and again there is little of the rural gentrification you get in other parts of Europe, or indeed the sense of prosperity you get from family farms. If this is right than some of facilities you take for granted in other countries, the bars, the Auberges and farm providing accommodation may turn out to be short supply here.

Anyway have found somewhere nice to stay tonight. It's a hotel converted from what claims to be a castle although it has very few castle features and seems more like Victorian gothic to me.

Based on just two meals the food has perhaps improved since Austria. Maybe it's just coming down from the mountains but there seems to be a bigger choice and it's definitely better value.
PS

Many thanks for the two recent sponsors - Steve (Dale) that was very generous, will buy you a beer when I get back, particularly looking forward to some decent beer.

Saturday 20th August Markt St Martin to Koszeg

Markt St Martin turned out to be a very small place and definitely no where to buy local maps. Decided to press onto Koszeg which meant walking for about 30 kilometres alongside the road or on cycle tracks that often ran parallel to the road. The walking was not memorable and it's a shame that I didn't get on the trail from Landsee the border (I assume this exists) and to the point at which the E4 hits the Blue Trail, somewhere to the west of Koszeg, and which I now hope to follow all the way to Budapest. The Blue Trail goes across the country from border to border and is claimed as the oldest long distance walk in the world.

You can't help thinking about the Iron Curtain when the you cross the border, particularly as you traverse that space between the two border posts. The old border buildings on the eastern side look particularly soviet and have been left to rot. Not sure if this is deliberate. There is a really interesting project to create a cycle trail that runs along the route of iron curtain - a brilliant idea, would be a real journey through the modern history of Europe.

Crossing the Austrian Hungarian Border

Redundant Border Post

Koszeg is a very pretty place once to get into it's centre and I'm staying in a hotel in one of the central squares. A lot of new pedestrianisation going on and the lovely, variously coloured stucco buildings surrounding the squares make it a great place to sit out and consume the amazing ice-cream you get here.

So although I've arrived at Koszeg I intend to regard tomorrow rather than today as the start of the last chapter of my walk. By road it's only 250 kilometres to Budapest, but along the Blue Trail, which meanders along through western Hungary is over twice as far. Intend to cover the distance in sixteen days so all being well will be getting ready to come home two weeks on Monday.

Friday 19th August Bromberg to Markt St Martin

Frustrating day if I'm honest, now close to the Hungarian border but not quite in the place I wanted to be.

I had already decided that because I was going on the E4 to Budapest there was no real point in going to Neusiedler See. The E4 used to finish at Neusedler See and rather than changing all the signs the route still takes you there via Marzerkogel and then brings you back to same place before heading down to Landsee. I had thought about cutting the corner off altogether and heading for Landsee from Semmering but decided to stick to the route but turn south to Landsee from Marzerkogel. I had hoped to get to Landsee today but didn't make it.

Several things got in my way.

Firstly I was knackered after yesterday's walk. In addition I didn't get much sleep last night. The wonderful people at the Gasthof Oberger, who put me up and fed me at the last minute, were also hosting an enormous public meeting (farmers I think, all wearing checked shirts, very mid-west) and the last of them didn't leave until about 2.30. Not complaining though, had lost my hat and my hosts kindly found me another one this morning.

Secondly I got lost again. The signs have got a lot worse and it is impossible to find your way without a map. No where to get a map, this is not a walking area and newsagents and hotels don't carry them in the way they do in the walking areas. I  found my way to Hochwolkersdorf but missed the signs after that and ended up to the south of the route at Schwarzenbach.

Went to the Rathaus (town hall) consulted the map with the secretary and decided that the best thing to do was cut my losses on the northeast corner of the route and rejoin it as it heads south to Landsee 6 kilometres down the road at Kobersdorf. This shortened the route and gave me time to have a proper sit down lunch - under domestic pressure to eat more.

Thirdly the weather changed. An enormous thunder storm which had me sheltering in a garage for over an hour. All of a sudden I didn't have as much time as I thought.

Fourthly gasthofs in the lessor tourist areas seem to close in August. Arrived at Kobersdorf at 4 worried about weather and whether I should commit to another 90 minute walk to Landsee give the time and the rain. Checked out the in Kobersdorf and it was shut. Now Landsee is much smaller than Kobersdorf and I hadn't booked anything. Instead of pressing on I felt I had no choice but to head to Markt St Martin, very unpleasant walk along roads.

Will try and find a local walking map in the morning but the simplest option would be to go direct to Kozeg and join the E4 there. It's on the well marked (I think) Blue Route and I have the trail on my GPS. This, to be honest, feels like a bit of a cheat, but roaming around looking for non-existent signs is getting beyond a joke.

Not much else to report. Saw a man walking a two goats today, one was on a lead. Cows were in a nearby field and they became very aggressive. I think there might be a lesson here for friends who struggle with cattle. The first must be to avoid taking a goat with you when approaching cattle and the second is to avoid any perfume or other smells that remind cattle of goats.





And also I have lightened my load by leaving my sticks on the side of a road ready to be recycled by a new user. They had seized up and there was no way of getting them home. Just hope the dogs aren't savage in Hungary or I might regret my decision.

Thursday 18th August Semmering to Bromberg

Walking on your own is just different. It's not either or, and personally I like walking on my own, with Christine, with a friend or with friends. So today was the first day in a month I've been walking on my own and have enjoyed some of it's upsides. Going as fast as I like and for as long as I like. I have also experienced some of it's downsides, getting lost more often and carrying on too long.

I definitely miss more turns and get lost more often walking on my own. Amazing how many times over the last few days Christine has spotted the turn and now, how many times I'm now having to go back because I missed it.

As well as walking on my own I'm also in completely different country. It's not completely flat but it's not the Alps. It's now rolling countryside, a mixture of meadow and woodlands and frequent and often prosperous villages.

Said goodbye to Christine, tried and failed to buy a map, and was walking by about 9.45. Didn't really finished until after 8 but will come back to the interesting end later.

First part of the walk to Maria Shultz was along the same lovely forest trail we finished yesterday's walk on. Dappled light from the bright sunshine above, a level trail soft underfoot, it made you want to walk fast. Into the sun at Maria Shultz and heat of the day hit me for the first time.

Rolling Meadows

The second part of walk joined up a series of pretty villages - Reach, Egg, Ramssattel - all on a ridge at about 900 metres and overlooking a valley to the north.

Rich Villages

After a long woodland walk, a visit to Hassbach - where Wittgenstein lived for a while - the next part of the walk involved missing the turn near Than and getting lost in the woods for an hour. This should have been the signal to stop, it was five o'clock and there was a choice of gasthofs at Scheilbingkirchen. Instead I decided to press on.

Wittgenstein was here

The sign said 7 kilometres but that was along the road; the footpath was a lot longer and involved a steep climb at the beginning. It was actually a nice walk, great views back to the Heukuppe which I had climbed with Christine a couple of days ago and which were now hosting a dramatic thunderstorm, remnants of which caught me just before I got to Bromberg.

I was then hit by a worrying new phenomena the gasthof was closed for the holiday. After wandering the streets of Bromberg confirming that there was no alternative I asked a man coming out the Church if he could point to the nearest one, he did and even wrote down the address. It was seven kilometres away.

Took of my waterproofs and set off (later discovered I had left my gortex hat). Was sticking my thumb out with no success but after walking for about 20 minutes the man from the church turns up. He had checked the address he had given, found out that they did not do accommodation, but had booked me somewhere else. Dropped me off at my new accommodation and within minutes I was showered, drinking beer and consuming huge quantities of food. Counts as another in the series of E4 walker rescues.

Wednesday August 17th Karl Ludwig Haus to Semmering

Final guest blog by Christine

Today, my last taste of the E4 and my last day with John till he gets back, was a day of four parts. Two were good; two were pretty bad.

The good parts were determined by the perfect weather - a cloudless sky and fresh breeze - and by a variety of quality walking ranging from high alpine mountain tops to well-graded woodland trails.

The bad parts were entirely due to the lack of proper geographic information (and dare I say it, prior research) and the most fundamental requirement, a map. Perhaps I should also mention that we had no food with us other than a few hariboo jelly beans and a handful of raisins.

We were woken early by the few inhabitants of Karl Ludwig Haus crashing about, and were outside in the sunshine at 7.50am. The billowing cloud from the night before had gone and the sky was completely clear, giving us exhilarating views in all directions. There was quick route down to Preiner Gschaid but John decided that would be cheating so we did it the long way, going first up over Predigtshul and then round and steeply down the usual zig zag rocky root ridden path. It was a great start to the day though and we got down to the big car park feeling good.

Karl Ludwig Haus

Dropping down to Wax Riegel Haus

Then it got bad. First no cafe or place to buy food. Second no signs. We wandered about up and down the road but there were absolutely no 801 signs anywhere. We were getting desperate. We knew the trail went due south from the car park so I got the compass out and we started up an unmarked track through the trees going vaguely in the right direction. Still no signs. Lots of bad temper and stress. After numerous twists and turns we finally saw a rusty 801 sign nailed to a tree about 90 minutes after leaving the car park. Spirits lifted and John shot off so fast I couldn't keep up.

Confusing signs

Treated ourselves to few raisins on the next summit and then things started to improve. We were on a perfect path going very gradually down but hugging the contours so it was dead easy. Even better, it was paved with pine needles so wonderfully kind to the feet, like a top quality carpet with underlay. We strode out and must have clocked at least 5 km an hour. This went on for quite a while and we really enjoyed it.

At last an open bit

The path eventually normalised into rocks and roots. We were getting tired and hungry, but the path then decided to go up quite unnecessarily I thought, to a small summit called Pinkenkogel Haus. The sun became blastingly hot. We had been promised a hutte and possible food at this point but predictably the hutte was closed, so we had slaved up the hill for nothing.

We then had to find Semmering. John had promised a reasonable sized town with hotels and other semblances of civilisation. He said it was at 900 metres so we shouldn't have to drop too far, I should be able to get my train to Vienna tomorrow, and he should be able to proceed on his E4 walk with minimal disruption. The signs however were highly confusing and we ended up dropping down to a series of S bends on a long winding road lined with 19th century villas that had seen better days. No hotels, no gasthofs. I was getting decidedly bad tempered, being tired and hungry and thirsty - the water run out some time back. After another hour of messing about on wild goose chases we finally found a pension that both had a room and served food. Thank goodness. We must have done 35 km today at least, and over 1500m descent all in all.

So mixed feelings about today. No doubt after a good night's sleep and breakfast all will be fine.
Doing the E4 is tough though. I am still in one piece after 16 days walking and we are still talking to each other. But I wouldn't have the mental or physical strength to do what John does. Don't know how he does it.

Tuesday 16 August: Neuberg to Karl Ludwig Haus

What a day! We were planning Christine's early return to London last night based on our understanding of my itinerary and the bad weather forecast. Instead we decided over breakfast - with hugely helpful advice from our fabulous hostess at Zum Hollander at Jausenstation in Neuberg - to rearrange the schedule so we could both enjoy 2 more good days walking (the weather forecast has apparently improved and it's now going to be fine all week).

To be honest I was a bit nervous about the next two days walking on my own. I'm still high in the Alps and walking without a map. After yesterday's experience where two pairs of eyes were essential for keeping on route I was worried about getting lost. It would also have felt like a bit of a failure for Christine to go home early. What she didn't want to do was go back to Krampen and as it happened the Gasthof we were staying at was next to the route 445 which would take us directly back to the E4 and save a few hours walking.

So with a plan, clean after our first shower for 4 days and well breakfasted, we set off at 9.15am up the 800 metres to Schneealpen Haus where we planned to have an early lunch. It was a beautiful walk up through mixed forest on a good path, nice steady climb with great views back to Neuberg and Krampen.

Once we'd done the steep pull up to the top, the landscape opened out and we walked over alpine grazing land to reach Schneealpen Haus at 11.45am. It looked a very good hutte, amazing location and views, and good food and loos. We decided to have a blow out and ordered beef with noodles and vegetables, enjoying our first fresh vegetables (fried courgettes) for over 2 weeks. Delicious.

Schneealpen Haus

At this point we weren't sure how much farther we should go. It looked like the clouds were building up so we decided to walk to the next hutte, have strudel and then decide. We got to Lurgbauer Hutte in an hour (incidentally we were beating the signs in terms of walking time all day : very satisfying). After further gastronomic (right word?) reinforcement we felt suitably energised to go for it and aim for the Karl Ludwig Haus, some 30k and 1800 m of ascent from where we started at breakfast. It was either this or stay put. Our plan to stay at the Zimmerman Hutte half way along was thwarted because it was closed.

The clouds blew over and the weather turned out to be perfect for tough walking. Not too hot and a nice fresh breeze. We set off on what the signs said was a 5 hour walk, unhelpfully graded as black. The first hour or so was steep downhill on limestone; had to concentrate and save the knees. The route then flattened out and we went over a col and the point of no return. The mountain opposite was vertical and further signs warned that the route was not for the faint hearted.

We started up. At first it was easy, a steady climb up a nice forest path and then a bit steeper following the course of a stream. Then the fun started. Round a corner was a steep scree slope with little visible sign of any path. We were nervous but reasoned that we had done worse before. Up and across we went. More steep up and then we came to the fixed ropes, not just a few fixed ropes but all the way up the mountain.

Crossing scree on the way up to Heukuppe

I was too busy taking pictures to look down but there were sheer drops everywhere. There was so much fixed rope that our confidence started to grow and we started to enjoy it and made rapid progress up the cliff. Every now and then the semblance of a path returned for a few yards, only to be followed by more climbing or by another scree traverse. In total I think we climbed around 250 metres with the aid of ropes and ladders and have never done such a sustained steep climb like this before.

Ropes on the Heukuppe 

Over the edge and then an easy walk then to the top of Heukuppe and views back to where we have walked over the last few days: the dreaded Lugauer; Hochschwab where we wandered lost in the mist; and Veitsch where we had a memorable night in the Graf Meran Haus.

Then down to the Karl Ludwig Hutte which turns out to be utterly modern and refurbished with proper showers, loos that flush and our own room. Slightly freaky local weather conditions have produced a dramatic effect with cloud butting the high cliff where the hutte sits, with clear sky beyond. Very happy to sit in the bar with large beers and study the microclimate.

On the way to Predigstuhl

So an amazing day. The last big climb of the walk, the most exciting climb of the walk and definitely one the best days. Best of all I was able to share it with Christine.