Day 173: Bükki National Park

Bükki National Park is Hungary’s largest national park and contains caves, sink holes, ravines, and springs due to limestone rock forming the region. You can access the National Park by car, bus, and scenic train ride. We opted for the scenic route of course. The train cars were wooden and had no windows; it was possible to enjoy the old forest and climb into the mountains.

The train stops initially at Lillafüred where there is the Hunguest Hotel Palota resort hotel inside a 1930s castle. This beautiful building is across the Hámori Lake, where it’s possible to rent row boats for a float. We opted to hike and see the various caves/spring entrances in the mountains. While we packed sunscreen, we really needed bug spray for all the gnats and mosquitos 😡 most exciting section of the hike was finding some bear sized footprints, yelling “Hey Bear, Hey Bear Tom Landis,” and reassuring ourselves there were no bears in this park. After reaching train station safety, we read online that brown bears from Slovakia have been venturing into the Bükki National Park 😖

On the train ride back, it was sobering to take in the hundreds of Soviet style apartment complexes that littered Miskolc. So many stores, restaurants, and bars still had Soviet fonts and brutal statues. After researching the town and region, it ends up the CIA was tracking Soviet troops and antiaircraft equipment at the Hámori lake and Lillafüred!

Check out this really old unclassified archival memo: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP82-…

Restaurant:
Park Vendéglő - Lillafüred

Food:
Fried Lillafüred Trout
Liver Dumpling Soup

Spots:
Lillafüred
Bükki National Park
Hámori Lake
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