Day 22 – Maribor (Slovenia) to Oriszentpeter (Hungary)

KM – 94.6

Saddle Time – 5.25 hrs

Avg – 18 (pretty happy with that considering it was up and down all day)

Maribor (Slovenia) to Oriszentpeter (Hungary woohoo)

Well I didn’t get much sleep in the hostel – don’t know why – the bed was comfy – perhaps too much coffee. By the way I was by myself in a 4 dorm room but at about 11pm some weary travellers came in and went straight to bed. It was a weird feeling to not see who was sleeping next to me and then hear them snore haha – I was thinking of the worst – Like Slovenian nits crawling all over me whilst I scratch myself thinking that they are – but really – it was my own linen and a clean hostel. Plus they couldve been some rustaman dreadlocked hippies that roam around in a painted minibus and want me to travel and smoke stuff with them. Ahh the things you think of at night time compared to day.  I got to sleep at about 1am and then awoke at 7 to 3 new strangers hahaha – it’s been 15 years since I slept in a hostel – that was weird but doable – the hostel was friendly and cheap and clean and had everything you need. The people were nice and we had a coffee and quick chat and I was off at about 9am. I haven’t really planned a route from here but I do know that there isn’t much to see of Slovenia from here on in so I decided that I am going to wing it until I get to Vienna Austria where I will take a couple days off and see where to go from there. Today’s  ride was looooooong. So many ups and downs. Not massive ups but about 15 or so good 10 minute hard climbs that take the breath out of you – they take it out of you because you climb thinking that the top is almost there and it is so you do it a bit faster than the bigger ones. I have a ritual where every time I get to the top of a biggen – I tell the hill where to go in a colourful language and then follow it up by saying ‘Is that all you got **insert country and more language**’  – it helps the moral of the Redman a lot.

At the bottom of a climb I thought I smelt a farm – bat alas it wasn’t – it was my god damn socks – I can’t believe i could smell them in my shoes and on the bike – time to wash them I think ha ha. Disgraceful Redman….disgraceful

I had a few stops along the way but was feeling quite good so took the least amount of stops on a ride so far. Probably about 5 or 6 – I tried to stop every hour and had a few coffees along the way – none worth mentioning though – SHAPE UP SLOVVY. Lets hope Hungary can go one up on Slovvy. Speaking of Hungary – when I reached the border (sign in photo is in Slovenian language btw) I was hungary and did eat at the deserted borderline under the shelter – ironic huh! Well i chuckled at it. I am so wrapped to have crossed Slovenia from one side to the other – that was a milestone for me because of the hills and how good my back held up. To be honest though everyday of this trip is a milestone and a gift that I don’t take for granted that’s for sure. From seeing stupid little things, or having small convos, or a good meal, or beautiful scenery I feel like I am not wasting anything.

I took a few side roads today which were nice but some larger ones that weren’t but all in all it was a nice day. There was one road on the map that wasn’t there which led to a 5km detour through a very deep and loose gravel road – that was more than annoying (pic attached)

I ended up me finding a campsite here in this lil town – nothing to see here that’s for sure – well it said camping on the front of the house but it was a small sign but though i’d ring the bell and checky checky  – out came a teenager who didn’t speak one word of Hungarian and no one else was home – and I did change some money at the bank during lunch to Florints sp?) but forgot to check the conversion rate and didn’t have internet – IDIOT!!

So try asking how much is camping for one night to someone who can’t even say hello in English and I haven’t had any chance to add some phrases to my iphone to get around and then even if I did know I wouldn’t know how much it is anyway hahaha. LOST MUCH!!

She said something that sounded like ‘mishi mishi wanna wanna herbgardichenz’  so I said ‘YES’ and then she showed me around to her backyard **getting weirder** – I was like ummmmm is this camping or you just taking me in for the night but no point asking that was there. Anyway a little around the corner I saw a camper and was like fewph – I saw showers, kitchen, benches – WICKED – I still haven’t paid but she showed me florints on her calculator and I think it’s $5eur  but im not sure yet – stay tuned. Funny ending to the day – cooked dinner (ate a serves four family pack of tagliatelle, Bolognese, cheese, bread, spices, olive oil, pack of Pringles, 4 biscuits and a banana – man I was starved – and now is now – bed time and it’s only 9pm – i’ll try to do another 90 tomorrow but we’ll see what happens – I am flexible (in every sense of the word).

Today’s Route

Hostel last night again

10% off for motorcyclists – anything for cyclists?

a few minutes at 14% down = HAPPY TIMES

10% incline DOH!! – there were about 15 of these suckers through the day

Ambulance station in Hungary

First road sign at border crossing

Deserted borderline where I ate lunch – it was a cool feeling

HUNGARY HERE WE COME…

Went off track a little – tough going in this deep crap of a road

In front of someones house – it’s almost as big as my room hahaha

Small downhill fAN BLOODY TASTIC

Small climb out of Maribor – up and down up and down

My hostel last night