A Year on the Kéktúra

Camille Maes – ,,A Year on the Kéktúra”

For Hungarian translation click here.

Beginning

In August 2020, Hungary was so mysterious to me, which is probably the main reason that made me choose to go live in this country I knew nothing about… I packed the car, put Ginny, my five years old dog, on the passenger seat and simply drove to this new land. Whilst I took the time to settle in, – climbing everywhere and walking around to get acquainted with Budapest – I took the first opportunity to leave on a road-hiking trip and discover the rest of the country.

The first couple of days, a Hungarian friend came with me, and mentioned for the first time the Kéktúra… Since I was already so far East, I thought I might as well give it a try and start at the end of the trail: Hollóháza.

And this is when it all began… On October 25th 2020, I collected my first stamp on my freshly bought Blue Book, which now has been through so much that I actually had to fix it with tape, and got emotionally attached to it. Amazed by the landscape, I was resolute to hike the entire trail… And to spice it up, I would do it in one year, to the day!

After a second day of hiking, I left for Debrecen, then went to Szeged, the Balaton – finding trails to hike in those areas – and since I wanted to go to Sopron, the Kéktúra was basically on my way… Therefore, I decided to stop in Köszeg to hike the further West part, and had a look over the border to Austria. Now, the only thing left was to link the extremities of the trail… Just about 1100km…

One track = one year

When I came back to Budapest, I started to think about the organization, and concluded that I should definitely go hiking on the Kéktúra one day every weekend… And so I did. Because of that, I got the chance to admire Hungary’s nature through all seasons: to contemplate the autumnal foliage on fire, the glittering snow in the hills, the newly born flowers, and even walk under the blazing sun – lucky me…

At first, I used my car to drive to the starting point and then find my way back to it, either by bus or hitchhiking, but I soon realized that it was even easier to take public transports because the system is quite good, and when the wait was too long, I just hitchhiked to the next big city. In my opinion, that was as much part of the experience as hiking the Kéktúra because I had the opportunity to meet so many kind people and, as a bonus, to practice my Hungarian skills as it was our only common language!

Adventures through Kéktúra

During this adventure, I also got familiar with the fauna of the country: deer, foxes, birds of prey, boars (which I never thought were so big!), fish, dogs, some kind of goats, and to my relief, I only saw two snakes, which were lazy and did not pay any attention to me (I am certainly not complaining!). Overall, those were all beautiful and amazing encounters.

I loved hiking the Kéktúra, although the part between Köszeg and Sümeg is my least favourite one because we were too many times on the road with cars – I say “we” because Ginny hiked the Kéktúra with me. Besides, as we hiked it in March, the fountains were not yet running, and it happened that the sun was relentlessly shining… Luckily, as I mentioned I was impressed by the kindness of the people, and when I asked them for water (in my best Hungarian accent, with the most important words I had learnt so far: “víz”, “üveg”, “köszönöm”), they were always happy to help! You might wonder: “Well, why didn’t she just go into a shop in one of the villages and bought some?” Did I forget to mention that it was during the lockdown, and that therefore it was not easy to find an open shop? Far from being a burden, I believe that the lockdown added to this unique experience, having to pack everything and not relying on civilization. Just Ginny and I, enjoying the peace of nature.

“What is your favourite part of the Kéktúra?”

People often ask me: “What is your favourite part of the Kéktúra?” It is a hard question… Mainly because I enjoyed all the parts that were in nature, but also because I did not hike all of it during the same season. I enjoyed Budapest and its bordering regions in the autumn and the winter, the Balaton in the autumn and the spring, Mátra in the autumn and the summer, and Zemplén in the summer and the autumn… Each one of these areas were stunning and beautiful in their own ways. They had a peculiar atmosphere and I appreciated each one of them for their uniqueness.

I discovered the beauty of Hungary through the Kéktúra, always coming back to Budapest – like we would say in French – avec des paillettes dans les yeux (with glitter in the eyes), and pumped with a renewed energy, happy to be alive and the witness of the simply magnificent beauty of nature. I might have finished the Kéktúra a few weeks ago, but this is definitely not goodbye, barely a “See you later”… Hamarosan találkozunk, kedves barátom!