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Published: September 3rd 2008
Our Canoe Crew
Dan, Noa, Renee, Suz, Ego, Ela & DaveIt all started with a suggestion from a friend born back in the days of a cold wet Ireland ... a river trip, a sunny seven days paddling in the backwaters of Hungary far removed from the tourist trail, just a promise of adventure and a bunch of people not yet friends ... but soon to be. Sounded like our cup of tea, so we were in ...
There were over 50 of us who joined the adventure, from 16 countries united by our common mission to explore the lesser known regions of Hungary and make some new friends along the way.
From Budapest we boarded two slow local trains through fields full of blooming sunflowers to where our canoes met the River Tisza in
Gergelyiugornya in north eastern Hungary. The area was massively damaged by the floods that had proceeded us just a week or so before, evidence in the muddy fields in through which we waded, and the swollen surging river that beckoned us forth.
We started with a few lessons of paddling on the water, led by our competent and congenial leader Zsolt and his guides from
Evezzvelem (which means 'Paddle On" in Hungarian). We
edged the boats into the water testing both their agility and ours, determining how we’d be navigating the waters in the coming week.
We paddled over 150 kilometres, over 5 days paddling with a couple of 35km days thrown in for good measure! We paddled along the
Tisza River which borders Ukraine and Slovakia, and finished up in the famous wine region of
Tokaj (and sampled the local wines too!).
It was almost constant paddling, the river not flowing fast enough to allow much slacking. We were given some reprieve when we joined the canoes up to form a raft to float along with the current, which allowed for relaxing, sunbathing and swimming whilst still covering some ground.
We paddled through both extremes: scorching heat combated by loads of sunscreen, often applied in conga-line formation; and torrential rain that threatened to fill and sink our canoes. After camping on the beach through a thunderstorm, and wearing rubbish bags to keep dry, Zsolt ever the optimist declared
“We are lucky - we get to experience everything!”. That’s why you had to love him, and because he knew the Maori haka and taught the group on the banks of
the river, with sounds of “Kamate Kamate” echoing through the air.
The mud was EVERYWHERE. When I’d imagined the canoe trip, mud never even entered my mind, but now it’s hard to imagine the experience without the mud! We got used to squelching through knee-deep mud and having it caked all over our bodies - and tried to convince ourselves of it’s therapeutic properties.
Nutella featured heavily in our canoe diet (for energy of course!) - often making an appearance at both breakfast and lunch, along with the ever present paprikas! The evenings were spent in anticipation of the nights meal, sampling the local beers, swapping stories, and singing and dancing along to tunes produced by the musicians in the group. We were introduced to a few fun Hungarian camp games, a couple of which we’re bringing back to Aussie with us!
Though it was testing at times of our physical strength and stamina, it was an awesome experience made better by the company of a great group of people with whom we shared so many great moments both on and off the water, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat! Thanks for the all the
couchsurfers who came along for the ride, and to Zsolt, Ego, Gabor and the other guides who kept us happy and entertained!
Egészségetekre!
Our Route: Budapest > Nyíregyháza (by train) > Vasarosnameny (by train) > Gergelyiugornya (by bus) > Tokaj (by canoe!) > Budapest (by train) Group Panorama Photo Credit: Dariusz Nanys
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Sinéad
non-member comment
cool..
Hey guys, Id love to do something like this..seems hard though great fun too!! Im so jealous of your adventures...i wanna come!! next time :) Hugs, Sinéad M :)