Hungarian riding. From annoyance to fascination

After the border crossing with Hungary, I found myself on a huge road in the middle of an ugly plain. I make it to the first squalid village and experience some of he incomprehensible local language. No one speaks English here. To make things worse, Hungarian cycling paths were made by Satan itself, every design feature goes against both safety and comfort, forcing the rider to useless starts and stops.I move onto to the next destination, but then nasty signs appear on the road forbidding transit to bicycles, tractors and horse-carriages. I consult my GPS and confirm that there's no sensible alternative routes. Obviously, I am furious and rush it to the road anyway for 5 km or so, notwithstanding the heavy traffic and the fact that Hungarians drive cars as if they were rockets.  After some properly ugly riding into non-places such as industrial zones and anonymous cities, I get to somewhere with an un-pronounciable name where I was hoping to catch a train...however, the only one with a decent departure time leaves right in front of my eyes and I am therefore forced to rely on my own legs to get to the Balaton lake. First impression of the country: where the fuck am I?

But then, when I had almost resigned any hope, beauty took over...The landscape gradually became stunning as I was approaching the wetlands which then lead to lake Balaton. Soft hills covered in whaeatfields, populated by the widest variety of birds (eagles, geese, water birds), woods, small gipsy villages at sunset, long straight roads with open views on the marshes...From then on only beauty. And then the masterpiece: sunset on the lake, drinking dark Staropramen and reflecting about my next great deeds, this is what life is all about! Balaton lake is remarkable. A huge snake of water set in the middle of sweet hills and with magnificent open views and surrounded by cities with marvelous names (consider, for instance: Balatonmariafurdo'...). During the day the lake is crowded with bathing hungarians of all ages..(if you are a country with no sea, I guess you need to make do with a 1000 km2 natural basin!) After a day riding along the north coast of the lake, I head uphill away from the water into the heart of the hungarian countryside in my quest for finding the wild camp of European Rainbow Gathering with a big question in my head on if and what I am going to find....