I got up early today, not purely because I'll be going on an excursion trip to the Danube Bend but also because I didn't quite sleep the whole night. There was a loud 'orchestra' on show last night by the new roomies. So I washed up and went to the kitchen for breakfast. The 4 youngsters occupying the 4 bed-dorm joined me. They were from US but had been staying in Manchester, UK for 1.5 years doing church work and they are flying back to UK this afternoon. After that I had a brief chat with the hostel guy and he suggested that I visit Visegrad first followed by Szentendre as the electric train running between Szentendre and Budapest runs til 10pm.
I board the train to Nagymaros at Nyugati Railway station (situated above the Nyugati metro station) just in time before the train pulled away from the station. The train cabin looks like the KTM second class train cabin but in 2 different sizes. The longer cabin could seat ~ 40 passengers while smaller ones only caters for 20. The side walls and the back panel of the seats are covered with graffiti making it looks a little dirty. There isn't any air-conditioning so I think I would be pretty stuffy in summer time. After 45minutes, I arrived at Nagymaros station and then took a ferry across the river to reach Visegrad. The ferry is actually a big wooded platform attached at the side to a boat to ferry human and vehicles to-fro Visegrad and Nagymaros.
Visegrád is a small castle town, situated north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. Visegrád is famous for the remains of the Early Renaissance summer palace of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and the medieval citadel. Visegrád is also the smallest town in the country with its 1700 residents. I do not have a lot of info about this place (meaning I know there is a castle and you can get great views of the Danube Bend on top of the hill, but exactly where and how do I get there, no idea). So while on the ferry, I could see the castle on the hill. I thought there would be some sort of tourist information booth at the town but unfortunately there isn't one. So I wandered around the town area and it felt like walking in those kampungs in Malaysia. I saw a big map displayed on the panel and a direction post beside it with a few names on it. So, comparing the names on the post and those on the map, I figured the one with the name 'Fellegvar' should be the castle. So I thought let's give it a go. I followed the signs which lead me to a walking path in the hill. The concept of the small signs is pretty similar to the signs I followed when I was hiking at the Cornwall costal path. Hiking up the hill, before long, my left leg starts aching again. It's a quite path and you can hear birds chirping. At times, I doubt if this path is leading me anywhere. After a tiring 45 minutes hike, I finally came out of the jungle and arrived at a big stone gate on the left. On the right, it's a car park with tour busses and private vehicles. Well there is an easier way to come up here after all by following a tour. Fellegvar is actually the upper castle. (I found out that I've missed the lower castle and the Royal Palace at the foot of the hill, but not at the town where I came from).
I paid 1400Ft for the entrance ticket. Upon entering the gate, there were a few guys in medieval clothings manning some stalls (archery and souvenirs) and there was also a guy with an eagle. Then you will come to an open space with great views of the curving Danube river. The castle fort stands at the centre and there are some exhibition rooms inside the fort displaying the lifestyle, the costumes, weapons etc during the medieval era. At some sections there are audio players where you can listen to the explanations. I spent some time playing with the players as there aren't any buttons on the player 2 round green LEDs. You control/maneuver the menu of the player by 'pressing' at the LEDs (but I don't have the mechanical pressing feel). So my guess is that they operate by sensing if the light is blocked? Anyway, while listening to one of the audio, a group of small children (I think probably kindergarden kids) came in. I think it's their school outing. Oh they are so cute, in rows, 2 by 2 and holding hands, boy boy, gal gal, boy gal. 'kawaii'. After finish touring the castle, I decided to give up the other sight (I saw another tower shape building higher up the hill) as my foot is hurting. Going down, I followed the main road. It's a long walk and when there's cars passing how I wished they would stop and give me a free ride. But nobody did =( and half way thru it drizzled a little and I felt hungry. Lucky I got a snicker bar in my pack. After what seemed forever, I finally reached the town and took a bus to Szentendre.
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