Balaton Part II: Return of the Balaton

A mere two weeks after a rough weekend at Balaton, the largest lake in Hungary, I experienced a profound sense of deja-vu as I embarked on yet another train to the lake. This time, it would be different. I didn't have a bike, and I was heading down (with friend Eric) to meet some (other) friends at a lakeside town called Révfülöp.

Nothing was going to go wrong!

Well, when the conductor came down the aisle and checked our ticket, his face scrunched up in the way I was so familiar. We were supposed to have transferred at Székesfehérvár, and now we were stuck on a train bound for the south of the lake instead of the north.

Well, no matter. Eric and I reasoned it would be easy enough to take the ferry across the lake to Tihany, and from there find another train heading to Révfülöp.

I won't bore you with the details, but we ended up taking a ferry, hitchhiking on a hillside trolley, taking a bus to Balatonfüred, then finally the train to Révfülöp. But but BUT the weather was absolutely beautiful, and, honestly, I was happy to get to see Tihany and ferry across the lake (I really really like ferries).

Me before the ferry.

Honestly it's fine to get lost when your surroundings look like this.

Anyway, the weekend only got better after that slight mishap. On Saturday (after a brief icy dip in Balaton), we took a trip to an underwater cave river where we got to paddle a metal boat through the narrow rocky tunnels. It was sufficiently sunny and warm that I assume not a lot of people were interested in cave paddling, so we had the teal-clear waters and echoey rock faces all to ourselves.

Teal-clear water and echoey rocks

When we felt that we were nearing the end of the tunnel-loop, too exhilarated by our nautical independence, we tried to navigate backwards by pushing off on the rock walls. It was going well until the loudspeaker crackled to life-- "no going backwards please."

One friend, in utter disbelief, said "they can hear us?" only to receive a tinny reply: "yes, we can."

So we paddled forward.

Rocky caves

 That evening was a lovely one back at the country house. The seven of us answered the age-old question, 'how many mathematicians does it take to keep a fire burning?' Answer: seven and a lot of hard work. We roasted mushrooms, potatoes, and bacon-wrapped sausages well into the night and feasted while passing around a bottle of pálinka.

Embers of the seven mathematicians' triumph

The next morning, while everything was soft and green, we walked to the bus stop to travel to Héviz, a town by Balaton (but not on Balaton) famous for its thermal lake.

A beautiful morning, passing fields and vineyards

The town profits on the masses of old people who flock to the thermal lake for its supposed healing powers and year-round tepidly warm water. The lake was murky and green and smelled of sulphur, and had a temperature like cooling bathwater. We swam around among lilypads and flitting black birds and rested on old, slimy wooden "benches" built just under the water. I wasn't able to take any photos (my iPhone is sadly as non-waterproof as you can get), but here's one aerial view of the lake courtesy of Wikipedia.

Héviz from the sky. You have free range to swim anywhere in the lake if you pay the 2000 Forint fee. (Source)  

It's kind of incredible the kind of freedom you can buy in Hungary for just a few dollars. Some overprotective mother would have sued an American landmark years ago for allowing people to canoe in a cramped underground tunnel, or swim in a huge sulfurous lake. It's one of the many things that I will miss about living here.

Speaking of which, my time in Budapest draws to a close, and my last day is this Friday. I have a few more posts lined up about my time here, but they will probably be published after I leave the country. I'm sad, and I'll have to think more about exactly what I'll want to say.

Anyway, to sum all this up: I have officially redeemed myself of the bad luck of Balaton. It was a lovely weekend.