HUNGARY

Our maiden voyage with our custom-built expedition vehicle was to take us into difficult terrain, but still into an environment where a breakdown of man or machine would not lead to a major disaster. It is summer 2022, most countries in Europe have started to lift their COVID restrictions, so we believe that a cautious warm-up trip to Hungary and Romania is the best choice for us at this time and for our purpose.

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We set off at the end of June, more than five weeks behind our original schedule due to a disappointingly slow Swiss truck registration process. The prologue across Austria (1.1) includes several visits to relatives and friends as well as a two-day off-road training in Burgenland. Vienna is to be our first big city with our heavyweight FRAME, and lo and behold, our baby and we have no problems driving through the hustle and bustle of a big city. Let's not forget that we learned truck driving in Bucharest, not exactly the smallest and easiest of all capitals.

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Two weeks have passed and we are finally entering new adventure territory. If it hasn't started yet, the overlander experience can begin right here: Hungary, we're coming! (1.2). First we take a rather touristy route via Sopron, the city of loyalty and freedom, Fertöd, the porcelain mecca Herend to Lake Balaton. Hungary presents itself from its best side. We enjoy the country and the courtesy of the Hungarians to the full, except for the enormous heat, which forces us much earlier than expected to literally Escape to the Carpathians (1.3), but not without exploring Pecs and Szeged on the way to the mountains first.

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Over the next two months we explore beautiful Romania, picking up right where we left off on our return journey. Near the Ukrainian border, we re-enter Hungary where we soon reach Tokaj. Three of the typical must-sees/must-do's in Hungary are tasting the wonderful wines, visiting the castles steeped in history and soaking in one of the healthy thermal baths. Our blog on Hungarian fairies, cave baths and sweet wines (1.11) covers just that. One highlight follows the other and without delay we reach our beloved Budapest. What a great city, which we now explore on our fatbikes. But as always, after a few days in the big city, our thirst for nature is quickly awakened again. So we ride from urban jungle to nature paradise (1.12) in Tata.

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The crowning finale (1.13) of our Hungary discovery adventure is the floating village of Bokod, the Archabbey of Pannonhalma and the county seat of Györ. We truly believe we have experienced a small but very typical Hungary on our first FRAME trip. There is so much more to see, so yes, we will be back!