The hundred and seventieth week of the pandemic

Eventful week yet again. Last Wednesday Heino and Manet have left for the Netherlands and we left to come into BP, where we still are. Also, the weather turned quite nasty, strong winds, lots of rain, which had some destructive force. We found out later that the Dutch had lost their walnut tree in the storm. We didn't know much about the destruction in Nógrád, as we were in BP. Apparently there were flash floods in Bér, as Anna's video of the millstream on FB had shown. Gyöngyöstarján, a village between Gyöngyös and the Mátra Mountains, had a worse deal: the Mátra sent them a flash flood which killed two people and ruined dozens of houses, gardens and businesses.

Flash flood at the Mill

We came into BP, as I had a dental appointment, which unfortunately caused me a fair fright. The actual drilling and filling went OK, but as I got home afterwards I noticed that the left side of my face was drooping, as if I had a stroke. That was really frightening, I couldn't get the surgery on the phone, so we jumped on a tram and went back. Thankfully, I was assured by the chief of the surgery that these things happen, if not too often, but they are nothing to worry about. My pain relief injection obviously was too close to the facial nerves on the left and this was the result. I got some pain killers and antibiotics, was told to drink lots of water and move the facial muscles and it will be gone in a day or two. It did, but as I started the antibiotics I have to finish them which will not be until Thursday evening this week.

New electric strimmer

Last Thursday we also went to OBI and bought an electric strimmer for the courtyard and front. We decided against a battery driven one, as we didn't think they were robust enough. So close to the house we should have enough cable, and we will not have to fuss about charging it.

The puszta under a big sky

 

The main events this week were my two days of geocaching. On Saturday I caught a train at 6:30 am to Szolnok, where Viktor picked me up and we travelled to Mezőtúr. Nice, traditional flatlands type town,  surrounded by the puszta, with its rivers, canals and flat sandy lands. We started with two moving caches, then moved onto two multiparters in Mezőtúr, we also caught a cute little train one stop to practically nowhere in the puszta, where there was an inn for fishermen and kayak/canoe people. We only had 20 minutes to find the cache, but it all went well.

Train tracks across the river in the puszta

Later we visited a floodgate complex, some other water controlling place, and an abandoned old chateau. Viktor was such good company, the weather was perfect and we ended up walking about 7.5 km in three hits. The flatlands are always a bit difficult for geocaching, because you cannot drive on the flood barriers. Theoretically there are some places which you could drive on, provided you have bought a permit beforehand, but the system is chaotic, and we were caught out some time in the past, when we had the permit, the gate over the flood barrier was padlocked and nobody in the waterboard offices was nearby to open it. So, this time we drove as close to the cache we dared and walked on the flood barrier to the cache.

Viktor and me in a selfie

 

Unfortunately, for some reason the Hungarian Railways were having a bad hair day on Saturday and I didn't get home until 9:30 pm. It was a bit hectic to pack for Sunday, but fortunately, the suitcase with the spare clothes was untouched, on account of the good weather. As it happens, it was badly needed on Sunday, but all about that later.

A sodden meadow on Kab-hegy

Sunday I caught a train at 7 am to Veszprém, where Edit waited for me and we were straight  away leaving for Ajka, where we did a hike on Kab-hegy to get to the two caches I didn't get on the day of the Festival a few weeks back. That was due to the forestry gate being closed on the road we needed to get to them. We parked by the Forest School, which was the event centre for the Festival, and got going on the yellow cross markings.

The giant sinkhole on Kab-hegy

 

After a lot of rain recently, the tracks were waterlogged in many places. The other handicap we suffered was from neglected waymarking, changes in the forest and barbed wire, surrounding some special areas in the forest. Eventually, we got to the first cache which was by a geological wonder, that was well worth the long climb, overgrown vegetation and marshes. It was called Cat-hole. Basically, it was a sinkhole at the bottom of an enormous big depression, with a cave underneath it. I found out from the information board that Kab-hegy is volcanic, but not all the way through. Its base is karst and the lava that formed the basalt, is only the covering. Therefore, in places where this covering was missing or very thin, sinkholes and caves could form. It was impressive and I was really glad that we made the trek to it.

Edit, bringing the cache after she found it

The weather this far held, so we moved on quickly, after munching on our sandwiches, to approach the other cache. This one was placed beside another sinkhole, but that one was not nearly as impressive as the first one. Its name was Old Stony Sinkhole. The forest was very thick around it and we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we were pretty quick in and out. Unfortunately, as soon as we were back on the road, the skies opened. We tried to hide under trees, waiting for it to stop, but it didn't. By the time we got soaked right through, there was no more point in waiting, at least walking you keep yourself warm, rather than getting cold hanging around.

Interior of the Paper Dog

An hour later we arrived back at the car, looking like two drowned rats, even though the rain stopped by then and the sun came out. I had a complete change of clothes, which was most welcome, and Edit suggested that we go to eat lunch in the Paper Dog. This restaurant was a modern one with an interesting menu, including vegetarian and vegan food, as well as meat and fish dishes. I chose a vegan tapas, which was delicious. Needless to say, the trains were late again in Veszprém too, although not as much as on Saturday. It arrived about 20 minutes late, and it stopped at so few places and went with such a speed, that it nearly made up the whole delay. 

The profile of our hike on Kab-hegy

The GPS measured our trip on Kab-hegy as 1.1 km long with about 180 metres of climb. The  weekend's tally of caches came out at 9, which now takes me up to 2785 finds in total. A most successful weekend, with two lovely friends in mostly good weather. I am hoping to get to 3000 total finds by the end of the year, but that looks a bit of a tall order. 215 further finds in 6 and half months is possible, but not likely for this year. However, if not this year, I am sure I will get there next year, and that'll be fine too.

Fáklya (Torch) logo

 

We were supposed to go home on Monday, but I was invited to Fáklya, a Marxist reading group, that meets on Wednesday, so we are now going home on Thursday morning. This reading group is part of that young group of students and young workers, who organised that meeting I mentioned in my last post. I think I am going to officially join them and attend their meetings as often as I am in town. The topic for this Wednesday is Lenin's Imperialism, the highest stage of Capitalism, chapters 6 and 7. I am looking forward to it already.

Recent demo by teachers and students in Budapest