Hydrofoil between Bratislava and Budapest

After arriving in Bratislava, I checked back into Downtown Backpacker's Hostel for the night and picked up my gear from the left luggage room. I was thrilled to find that my 3rd battery had retained its charge, and to be able to take photos again - though with restraint due to the loss of my 2nd battery. I splurged on a good dinner at an Italian restaurant in Old Town. Expensive but worth it. Then back to the hostel to combine my two bags and get some sleep.

In the morning, I was at the hydrofoil office by 9am for the 10:30 boat. I really did not want to miss it. Unfortunately, they were unable to sell me a ticket until 15 minutes before the boat came in, because they were unable to contact the captain to make sure that there was an available space on the boat. Yeah right. It was a non-holiday, non-high season Wednesday and a very expensive trip when the bus is both faster and about a fourth of the price. Somehow I managed to suppress my surprise to learn that yes, there was an unsold seat available. In fact, there were about 75 unsold seats available. :)

The ride down the Danube was gorgeous. The entire trip took 4.5 hours, with the first couple of hours in Slovakia being a fairly monotonous rural scene with the occasional town and/or light industry to break up the riverbank trees and fields. There were also some nice houses right up on the river with tiny beachfront areas that were just lovely. About an hour or two down the river, we went through a fairly intense lock. We descended about 18 meters before passing under a bridge that we were level with before going through the lock. Very cool.

After another hour or so, we started coming up on the more scenic sections. First, we passed the town of Esztergom, the center of the Roman-Catholic church in Hungary, and its amaying Basilica. I spotted it down the river earlier than my fellow passengers, and was able to snag the coveted near-side open door area from which to take photographs. Yes!

After Esztergom, we passed Visegrad and its 13th century castle. The castle was gorgeous enough, but what really made it special was the handful of paragliders circling over the castle. Unbelievable! Believe me, I tried to find out if this was an activity available to tourists, and reluctantly concluded that these were private individuals with their own gear. Bummer. That must have been such a rush, and such a great way to see the castle!

Those were the major highlights of the boat trip. I would definitely recommend it. Also, do not sit in the front part of the boat. Sure, you have a nice view through the glass, but if you sit on the right-hand side of the back section of the boat, in a row with a window, you'll have your own spot from which to photograph both the Basilica and the castle and won't have to fight the senior citizens for a place at the door. The ticket from Blava to Budapest cost 79 euros one-way or 99 for a return ticket, though why anyone would want to return to Bratislava after escaping...

The refreshments available onboard are extremely limited, so I would suggest stocking up on supplies. For example, the advertised cheese sandwich was unavailable, so I lunched on a (very sweet) blueberry muffin. It's also quite expensive, but they do accept Euros, Slovakian Crowns and Hungarian Forints and will provide change in the currency of your choice. So what I overpaid for my muffin, juice and coffee, I probably made up for in not paying a currency exchange fee.

My favorite thought on the river was that this was the Duna, the Great Mother River. I was flashing back to reading The Plains of Passage (by Jean Auel) and remembering Ayla and Jondalar's prehistoric journey along this river. It was very cool.