Day 11: A Hidden Bakery, and …

Day 11: Hungary, a Hidden Bakery, and the Wrong House

Győr → Middle of Nowhere, Hungary | 184 km

Back on the bikes, and Hungary had big plans for us. Over 170 km of open countryside, no major cities, no Budapest. We are skipping the capital entirely, which is fine, and also gives PJ a perfectly valid excuse to go back with Penny for a weekend at some point. Crisis turned into opportunity.

We left Győr after 10:00, with calls scheduled at times that can only be described as optimistic given what lay ahead. Today also delivered a small mathematical reality check: 47% of the route done in 44% of the days. Not even halfway. The road to Istanbul is long and it is starting to feel every single kilometre of it. We looked at each other. We will push on. 💪

Finding charging spots in the Hungarian countryside is something between a sport and a prayer, but the town of Mór came through in spectacular fashion. A bakery, run by a wonderful woman called Andy, with proper barista coffee, fresh pastry, actual plug sockets, and a little side room to work in. In a small village in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Adem located a chair, opened his laptop, and achieved a state of complete contentment. The picture says everything. Places like this are why you do a trip like this. ☕🥐

Bosch update, because we know this storyline has kept you on the edge of your seat. Riese and Müller responded: the update is coming, please be patient. Adem accepted this, largely because PJ cannot use it either, which is the next best thing to actually having it. Then the Dutch bike dealer delivered the final verdict: Dutch regulations have decided it will not come to the Netherlands. No update. For anyone. The hills of Serbia and Turkey will be conquered on standard software, powered entirely by legs, stubbornness, and the occasional pastry. Honestly, probably how it was always going to go. ⚙️🤷

At our second charging stop we also started hunting for a place to sleep, which led us to a spot a little further down the road, which led to 184 km for the day. We arrived just before dark, feeling pleased with ourselves, right up until the entrance situation.
The address: a normal house on a normal street. No sign. No reception. No obvious door. We went into the garden and looked through the window. A man was doing push-ups on the floor. We agreed this was not our room and decided not to knock. A woman then appeared from the house and calmly explained that the accommodation was next door, which shares the same address because Hungary. Inside, locating the key and then the apartment involved a sequence of steps that would not have looked out of place in a detective film. We solved it. We are in. The door is locked. Nobody is doing push-ups. 🔐

And now the part that makes 184 km feel completely worth it. Donations have passed €10,603. That number is extraordinary and every single person behind it deserves to know it matters deeply. Thank you. 🙏

Tomorrow: Serbia. Our next country, and on Thursday we hope to meet some some colleagues joining us for lunch. Something to genuinely look forward to.
Sleep well. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Read more