Home -> Europe -> Hungary -> Travelogue 2003 -> Monday 23 June

Roznava - Eger, national parks in norteast Hungary

Going straight from Roznava to Eger is only 105 kilometers, but as you are maybe already used from us we take many detours and it takes us more than 300 kilometers.
Within one hour we enter Hungary, but we go directly north again, into the beautiful Aggteleki national parc. Above the ground are dense woodlands, underground are many extensive caves, made by rainwater dripping through the soft limestone and eroding it. The Baradla-barlang is the largest with a total length of 22 kilometers (also reaching into Slovakia).

We stay above the ground today, and enjoy the beauty of nature. When we have a coffee break we are surrounded by dozens of butterflies. We keep seeing them througout the day.

Then we are headed for the south, then to the northeast, through the hills of Zemplen (with mountaintops over 800 meters). It is still mostly woodlands, but all arable land is in use for viticulture. Many well known Hungarian wines come from this region. The villages look poorer than in Slovakia, but we have seen only a small part of that country.

Once, we see a castle in the distance, at Boldogkovaralja. It was build in the 13th century, blown up by the Austrians, but has been renovated later and is now in use as a hotel.

We don't know any word in Hungarian when we order our first coffee, but we manage. We practise some Hungarian words, but we get no 'feeling' with them and cannot remember a single one. We had the same with Finnish, an associated language.
When we leave the hills, the landscape becomes more boring: small hamlets, villages with factories, all remnants of the Soviet time. We are heading for the next national parc, the Bukki Nemzeti, but first we have to go through Miskolc. There must be many monuments here, but it looks like a dirty and gloomy industrial town.

So we want to drive through quickly, but when we make a wrong turn, we suddenly see this beautiful wooden church, a real jewel in this city. West of Miskolc lies the recreation area Lillafüred, a very nice place with wells, caves and lots of woods. The road winds for another 50 kilometers through the woods towards Eger, our goal for today. We have seen lots of nature today and we can't tell you more about it, except that it was beautiful and we enjoyed it very much. You have to see it for yourself, walk through it or drive through it.

At 5 we arrive at the campsite and the first thing we do is empty the whole car. We have no idea where certain things are and have no overview at all. So it is time for a reorganisation. Life mainly consists of moving matter, a friend of ours once said.

And for people who are curious about the weather: it is sunny, sometimes a bit cloudy and at 5 in the afternoon it was still 27 degrees. Now, at 10 o'clock, we are still outside wearing a T-shirt. It gets dark at a quarter past 9, so we have a gaslight burning. Go away, midges......

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with Elisabeth and Teije