Spring in Budapest
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from a trip to Hungary. My friend and I chose our destination based on two criteria: cheap flight and cheap country. Hungary fit the bill on both, and neither of us had been, so it was the winner!

I'd always read and heard good things about Budapest, but really knew nothing about what it had to offer. To tell you the truth, I still don't! My friend and I aren't into museums, and we weren't really sure what the cool buildings we were looking at were called, but we do know that we had a great time!

We arrived by plane into Vienna and trained it from there to Budapest. As we neared the city, we were approached by a young guy offering services finding a hostel bed and a free bus to whichever we chose. As we hadn't booked anything yet, we took one of his maps and decided on ???---??? hostel. We piled into our minivan with a bunch of others he'd recruited and were off. It was quite dark, so we weren't really able to appreciate the beauty of the city just yet.

We arrived to find that the hostel we'd 'booked' actually only had one bed. We called around to a few more on the map he gave us to discover that they were all full as well. Apparently they're all part of the same marketing group and it seemed like it must have been working! We abandoned our map and called the Yellow Submarine Hostel to find that they had some beds available. After a bit of a trek and a hard time finding them, we were settled for the night.

We had booked into the Backpacker's Guesthouse for the remainder of our time in the city and had to learn how to use the trams and subways in order to get there as it was a fair way from the city centre. The subways are easy to use and cheap. Tickets can be purchased from machines or kiosks, and it's quite straight forward. Beware of the world's fastest moving escalators though! The same tickets are used for the trams, but as in many cities, tickets are rarely checked so daring and cheap people can ride for 'free'.

Hungary surprised me with it's food. I had already discovered Boco chocolate bars which had quickley become a staple in my Hungarian diet. Trapista cheese is another local delicacy, as is goulash. I'd always imagined goulash to be a sort of wartime necessity only eaten when forced, but it is actually extremely yummy! It's sort of a spicy, soupy stew with carrots, beef and potatoes served with bread. I had to say that vegitables don't seem to be a major part of the Hungarian diet, but if you're a meat and potatoes kind of person, you'll love it!

As my friend and I wandered around the pretty streets of the city we had noticed posters advertising an Eastern European ice hockey tournament. Since both of us were hockey fans, we were quite keen to see how the Hungarian national team would perform against that evening's rival, Khazaktan. We recruited a few people from our hostel, including a curious Australian, and headed out for dinner then off to the area. Our seats weren't the best, but they were cheap and it was prety cool to be at a hockey game in another country. The Aussie wasn't too impressed, but the rest of us enjoyed watching Hungary trounce Khazakstan who, by the way, had the worst goalie ever.

After travelling into the Hungarian countryside for a few days, we returned to the Backpacker's Guesthouse in Budapest for a couple nights. The staff at the hostel had put up a loster advertising a rave in one of baths. There is one in the city centre that, with the exception of this night, is a men's only bathhouse. But for one Saturday a month it's transformed into a wet, slippery dance party.

This was one of the strangest and funnest experiences of my life! Everyone dons their swimsuits and heads into an area with a large swimming pool, dimmed lights and DJs pumping music out from the side of the pool. Later on the baths are opened and people go between the hot pools and the big swimming pool as they please. The bath room is quite small and gets packed very quickly but people keep filing in, dancing both on the sides and in the steaming hot water. I'm pretty sure the whole thing is a health hazard given that there's a bar serving beer and girlie drinks in between the two pool areas.

It really is quite indescribable, so all I can say is that if you plan on heading to Budapest at some point during your travels and are keen for a truly strange and unique experience, call ahead to the Backpacker's Guesthouse to try and determine which Saturday of the month the event is being held and show up to see the mayhem for yourself!

Budapest is a great city and has lots to offer beyond it's beautiful buildings, supposedly fantastic museums, and interesting history. There's lots to see and do and it's defiantely worth a stop!

By: Kirsty Henderson
April 2003