Total distance cycled (Salzburg to Budapest): 644km
Total hours in the saddle:64
Distance cycled today: 67km
Hours in the saddle today: a massive 11 hours 20 minutes!

Set off from Visegrad bright and early to catch the 9 am ferry across to the north bank – arrived at the ferry station 15 minutes early just in time to watch it depart 16 minutes early! So had to wait the hour for the next ferry.

Once we finally got over the river we travelled through what was probably the most beautiful part of the river so far.

At about the halfway point (Vac) we caught our second ferry for the day – great opportunity to catch up with all those riders that we have been travelling in parallel with along the way & exchange stories (albeit with limited English).

Had a lovely lunch of Pizza Hungarian style sitting in the sun – had just removed our wet weather gear then – whammo – thunder, lightening and hail (just like a Melbourne spring day really).

As we drew closer to Budapest we were much more on main roads – rode in mostly on paths along motorways. Paths were poorly marked and there was a lot of guess work, so we were really relieved once we got close to the city and could use the river as a guide again. None the less – as has been the trend…the last 10 k took longer than the 50 before it. Our new mantra is “If you get there in the end then you were never lost”

Couldn’t contain our excitement when we saw this…

So here we are – utterly exhausted (its amazing how your body gives up the minute you stop) with very mixed feelings – sad that its over but elated that we made it.

Have booked the old girl in for an extreme makeover in the morning – the hotel has a car wash – before we pack her up for one last time. Looking forward to a few days on our feet instead of our bottoms exploring Budapest – will try and keep up the blogging momentum.