Day 39 Nova Sad in a Slurry

Awoke we woke with waking spirits, and spirits still in our spirit.  Although the body felt slooshy and off taken, the mind and spirit was as mindful and spirited as a mind full spirit or the visa versa.

In other words, we drank a 2 liter bottle of beer, and a small bottle of wine, after paddling 10km in the dark to escape the previous town and wonder into the wilderness.

This we found, a deep muddy beach.  Steep on a hill side, and forest full of free fire wood, as well as well placed trees for hammocks.  We made do.  Not without a little disagreement, of course.

The morning brought hope and water.

Toby left early to avert the attacking mosquitos and flies, as John and I slumbered solemnly in our respectful bug net hammock arrangements.

11am rolled around, with no thunder, rain, or pain.   Just silent shadows draping from the trees with their roots exposed with little toads running around trying to find shelter from the snakes.

As John and I paddled the day, we made a plan to stop in Banka Palanka, get our passports stamped, and leave to Nova Sad through the night.  This was a worthy goal, but also farfetched and what some might call.. crazy.

We stopped in this little ole town.  And the only way in from river, was through a gorgeous inland beach with nice familys and a small drinking shack for the Serbian men to watch over their kin

We stopped at the bar.  Had a beer.  And walked into town.  Into the bliss that they all call home.

It was exactly how one might imagine Serbia.  Danky, sweet, rude, grey, colorful, and odd.

We stopped for pizza and bread... the lady who took our order hated her job.  Then I ordered oreo icecream.  Then we walked to the police station to get our passports stamped.

The cops asked,  where do you stay   I quickly responded, Nova Sad.  They said , where... I said...i don't know.  We left with no stamps and the agreement that we will just go through the country illegally.

On the way back to the boats we stopped for chips and a bottle of vodka.

2 more beers and we were off into the night  50km with no clear direction other than a clear bottle of fermented nothingness.

This turned out well.  Other than  the fact Mr John almost got run over by a barge.

We sang country numbers, and told each other of our glorys of yesteryears.

Pulled our boats in,locked em up, killed the bottle of vodka, bought a taxi to a place called " City Hostel," and then we talked to Serbian natives to 2 hours.

Now we have a stomach full of pepperoni, cream cheese, and bread... and now we sleep, and wait to what tomorrow brings.

Amen

km 1250

Day 38 Vukovar, and no Hukah Bar, it was Vundabar

As I woke up to a slurry of thoughts a out my odd dreams, there was a small swarm of large horse flies ready to invade my personal space.  I killed off 3 of them by noon, and the onslaught continued throughout the afternoon.

John left around 1030 am.  I was ready to go by 11am but stopped to see if Toby wanted to paddle too.  He expressed his need to catch a fish and relax by the beach, and also collect his thoughts   In this time we talked, a nice boat pulled up to our beach with a family of people.  Maybe 7 children and 5 6 adults, 3 dogs.  We said, okay now is time to go.

But before we left, one of the fathers from Croatia came over and indulged in some conversation about our journey.  He offered us 2 warm beers, of which we took.

We paddled the next 30km in the beating hot sun, it was bad.  Lots of sweat, but no tears.

We stopped to take a swim in the river and at one point found we could walk across the river!

We pulled into Vukavar, Croatia around 430 to meet John... he was passed out on a bench.  Apparently he had a nice nap.

We stopped for ice cream, which was amazing.

We went to the only store open to buy water, chips, and granola bars.

Our next stop was for burgers, which was amazing too.

Last stop was for beer. Which turned in to 2 beers and a shot... with a beautiful waitress.

We left around 730 with a 2 liter bottle of beer and some food. Twas nice.

We paddled through the night till we found camp, drank the beer, and wine, and talked politics, and passed out in good spirits.

I love this journey.

km1320

Ps there was no hukkah bar in vukavar.

Day 37 Wild bore and large horse fly

Last night I was awoken, a few times, by some wild bore.  Not the best way to come out of a coma.  When I began to yell "get, go on, get!"  they, the wild bore, decided to run away, not after some pouty snarls, of course.  I slept on a small beach island across the river from a small town.  apparently my yelling woke up some neighborhood guard dogs, which woke up some other neighborhood guard dogs, which woke up more guard dogs.  The dogs of all shapes and sizes barked for 20 minutes, which kept me up, then things went back to silent.

An hour later this entire episode repeated itself.

An hour after this, the same thing.

It was 3am, I assume, by the time the wild beasts and I decided we weren't going to be friends, and that the neighborhood across the river also needed some rest.

When sunrise came around 3 hours later, so did the mosquitos, and so did the gigantic horse flies. 

This provoked me to pack up my ground sleeping arrangements, and move to hammock sleeping arrangements.  This episode took 10 minutes, but felt like 30 with the buzzing of 2 flying demons around my scull and body.

My rest from 630 am to 11am was somewhat peaceful, other than the fact that it was 90 degrees in the sun that peaked around the trees I was under intermittently every dozens minutes or so. 

So, it was a rough night.  Great location.  Bad sleep.  A sad story after 80km of paddling in the hot sun.

I spent the morning enlisting my phone to do certain tasks with the wireless internet provided by the gods.  And waiting for  John and Toby to catch up, as they were just upstream.  They also got a late jump, of which I was not aware till this evening, so I spent the day paddling slow and alone, which was nice.

I took a break in the sun to bath, and a break in the shade to eat, and really just lolly gagged for 4 hours.  This gave me 20km of forward progress.

I saw a beautiful brown eagle which made my day.   it flew just over my head twice where I got an amazing view of the detail and majesty of this creature.  The day before we saw a black stork, which in Europe is extremely extremely rare.  I also saw another cool castle on top of a hill side.

 

I contacted John and Toby, who were having a slow day, while eating watermelon and icecream, and asked them to meet me at km marker 1360 in the right bank, where I found an awesome beach to camp.

There wasn't much fire wood there. So, for about an hour or 2, I wondered around getting, annihilated by mosquitos and large horse flies, salvaging what little firewood I could.  I got enough wood just as they both were pulling up with their boats.  The mosquitos soon died off as I, somewhat frustrated by the last hour, started a fire for us to enjoy.  John gifted me 3 apples, which I love as a breakfast, and also bought tomatoes, bread, and sausage, with mustard, for us all to enjoy.  We sat around and just bullshitted about our days and moved to good conversation about each other lives, and how to get better.

My one thing, still, is learning to slow down and enjoy the moment   I always think of myself as a patient, easy going person, but when surrounded by calmer individuals, I seem like a road runner.  Its easier said than done, even in Europe in the summer time on a relaxing river( Now with no locks or dams).  But I will continue to make this my goal.  To relax, appreciate the small things, and falling asleep feeling like I took my time at a time when I SHOULD take my time.

We decided, based on what the locals tell us, to not go to Belgrade, as it is a very dangerous city, but instead, take those days in a place called Nova Sad, which is a small college town with a more cultured and calmer population.

Tomorrow we will stop in Vukovar for food and water.  I have, this entire time, been drinking all of my water through a Lifestraw from the Danube River.  The flow on the water bottle is too slow and I just want to chug water when I'm thirsty.  So I've given in, I will spend my money on bottled water finally.  I've regretted this day for over a month, but will probably thank myself afterwords.

Still not tired of eating ramen and tuna for most of my meals ... but I could use some variety.   It's very very difficult to carry the amount of fresh food that I want to on this trip.  Mostly processed meat, bread, ramen, and canned goods. 

Oh how I yearn for a fresh salad with radish and beat and celery and tomatoes and cucumber and onion and pepper and feta cheese and spinach and broccoli and cashews and sunflower seeds and almonds and walnuts and pecans and raisins with grilled chicken and fresh cut apples with creamy ranch dressing... oh, how I yearn. 

I  miss american burgers, and potatoes salad, and Hanks fried chicken with special sauce.

Soon, very soon.  Vama Veche is so close, but the days are getting hotter, the mosquitos are getting worse, and now we are in snake country, say the locals.

And a new enemy is on the list... giant horse flies.  I killed 4 or 5 today all in different ways.  One with my paddle, one with my hand, one with my hat and the other with my shirt.  I gave them all proper burials, as, a creature of this intensity surely has a soul... but no heart.  For if it did, it would not berate the human spirit to lunacy.

The buzzing will go away soon.. the buzzing, will go away soon.  The buzzing will go away soon.....

And the bores are trampling in the woods behind me.  Oh, this is getting interesting.

Km 1360

Day 36 Croatia, Serbia Forever

Hungary, Croatia, Serbia.  One day, one man, one kayak.

I woke up in Hungary, I'm looking at Croatia, but I'm sleeping in Serbia.

Left camp at 1030 and decided to go ahead of John because I was fasting and would be cranky all day.

I stopped in a town for water and granola and gave the lady at checkout a flower, she was happy.  First time I seen a stranger from Hungary smile.

I paddled alone, thinking Toby and John were ahead of me on the river by now.  Stopped once for lunch but never caught up with them.....that's because they were behind me.

By the time we talked on the phone i was already 20km ahead and the sun was going down.

I found camp across from a pretty town on a beach island invested with mosquitos and wild bore.  The bore came pretty close, but I hollered and screamed to scare em off.  Bot gonna lie, it was pretty scary having a huge beast snarl a few meters away.  I actually packed everything up to get ready to leave just incase it comes back and charges I can make a quick get away.

Croatia and Sebia share the Danube for about 100km, so we go back and forth for a few days.  Hopefully things dont get hairy with boarder patrol.

I'll catch up with John and Toby in the afternoon I suppose.  And just sleep in and wait for them.

Lots of fishermen on this part of the river, it must be good.  Wish I had a fishing rod.

Cant wait to be back home in my RV with AC and no mosquitos.  These things are absolutely ridiculous.  Relentless, rude, tormenting.  Also the horse flies are huuuuuge.  And they dont stop flying around, and they bite, and they're gross.

 

I'll get used to it.

Cant wait to get to Vama Veche and relax on a beach for 2 or 3 weeks before going home.

250km to Belgrade, Serbia.  This is a weird place I hear.  Serbian men apparently like to fight.  So I would like to keep my mouth shut the whole time I'm in Serbia.

After that it's all Romania and small towns!

Paddled 77km today, whatever that is in miles.
km 1380ish

Day 35 Baja and Rain

Day 35, here's to 30 more!

Maybe less if we can keep our act together.

Honestly it doesn't matter too much, now, when we get to vama veche, so long as we get there in one piece.

Last night was a little rough.  I was restless for some reason.   So we didn't start until noon again.  It was sprinkling and raining off and on throughout the morning/afternoon, which is actually kind of nice sometime.  I'll put my rain jacket on, and the skirt to my boat, and be completely dry.  It feel cozy to be so dry and warm even when the conditions are difficult.  And not only that  we were making progress... and there was no lightening.

We stopped in a town called Baja.  Which  as soon as we started pulling into the 1km long canal into the city, the sun came out!  It was quite beautiful the rest of the day after that.

I bought a headlamp, which someone in Budapest stole from my boat, and a knife, which I left at a hostle in Vienna.  For both knife and headlamp would be equivalent of 12 US dollars.  And both are good quality. 

Toby bought some live fishing bait to hopefully pull us in a free dinner later. 

We all then went to a small restaurant for a beer and meal.  For 3 people, 3 spicy meals, and 3 beers was equivalent to 20 dollars.

We left a nice tip and headed on down stream in the nice weather.

We got about 50km in and found camp, got attacked by the murderous mosquitos, made fire, drank what was left of the gin, and are now relaxing. 

Some storm might come but we are all well prepared.  God willing and the crick dont rise.

Km marker 1457
1250 ish to vama veche

Day 34 Relaxed and productive

I love sleeping till whenever I want to.  Some people wake up at 5am and are awesome, others wake up at the same time and are miserable.  I wake up whenever and feel great, usually.  There are advantages to waking up early, but after 60km of paddling every day, it's nice to sleep in.

John and I headed off around 1230 and had to catch up to Toby, as he left early to go to super market and try to catch a fish, that's not figurative.

It was a little hot and a little windy, but overall great weather.

We stopped in a little Hungarian village, although it looked modern, to eat lunch and relax in the shade by the boat loading ramp.

I had a sausage wrap with tomatoes, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and hot sauce... and it was actually pretty food!

John came back to the boat with extra goodies, one of them being an icecream cone!!!

We found Toby and paddled the rest of the day in calm waters singing songs from the 90s and watching an airplane spray chemical all over us, I gues they confused us with mosquitos.

We found an extra amazing camp spot.  White sandy beach with tons of drift wood for fire, and tons of perfect trees for hammocks.  Also, no weird plants.  There were a lot of mosquitos.  I spray bug spray everywhere but my face, so they attacked my face.

As were settled down some strange happenings occurred across river where there were a few houses on the hillside.

An odd 'motor' sound started, and then a dense cloud of smoke.  This went on for 1 or 2 minutes... and then 3 or 4... and then 2 hours later the whole time was covered in smoke as the sound got louder and softer.  We yelled for them to shut up, but realized the only thing we could do was laugh about how crazy and stupid people can be... especially Hungarians.

We had some wine and camp fire and now hopefully some good sleep.

The rain might come in the morning through afternoon.  We will be prepared.

Km 1505
1305 to vama veche

Day 33 Important transition mindset day

We started off to a good start, and 2 hours in John and Toby wanted to stop in a crappy town to spend money at a restaurant. I didn't want to because I have food and didn't want to spend money.  This created drama.

I hadn't eaten so his irritated me.  I decided to paddle ahead, make some food at a beach and relax.

They showed up a few hours later, i said I'm going to 50km to make camp and fire.  And relax.  They showed up later drunk, but we are all good. 

During this time I reflected on my frame of mind, looked at the maps, and ate some good food. 

The good news, I found a shortcut that will cut off 200km.  About 5 days of paddling.  The Black-Danube Canal, at km maker 300 is 60km and will get us to Vama Veche 2 weeks earlier than expected.  This means more time to relax at the beach with Margaritas.

Till then, our goal is 50km per day, 60 is better but 50 will do just fine.

I'm trying to realize that I've been in a big fucking hurry, and I need to relax.  It's hard sometimes because I'm so oriented towards making big numbers, or long distances every day.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment   But what's more important is to slow down.  Really slow down, to enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.  I'm going to make this the goal now, to slow down and learn to relax.  This might be my last "vacation" for a long time, and I dont want to look back thinking I should have enjoyed myself more.  Tomorrow is just another day, it will get here, theres no question.  But what more important is today and the small bits of beauty we take with us, whether it be to share with others  or just to look back and smile.  It sounds cheesy and cliche, but theres a reason why people always say to cherish every moment.  Stress is easy to do only because that's the habit of thought.  So all I have to do is catch myself when I'm feeling of and remember to just appreciate the moment.  I think that's a good start.

km marker 1557.
technically 1360 to vama veche!

Day 32 Firework mishap and goodbye to Budapest

Ending strangely, oddly, today was quite lively and lovely.  We headed out in kayaks around 130pm from Budapest.  We finished what was left of the vodka  which wasn't much, but more of a cheers to a beautiful city that I will surely visit more in the future.  From the fascinating architecture, to the lavish bathhouses, to the music scene that we barely touched, to the great people l, and cheap drinks, Budapest will have a place in my heart and mind for a long time.

It was sad to go, but we are just a little behind schedule.  Not by much, but enough not to stay any longer.  After resupplying on apple's, we headed out to the opposite side of the river where the tourist boat sank and killed a dozen Koreans just a few months ago.

The river was crazy with traffic, but we hugged the left shore and only almost got run over once   For some reason boats dont have turn signals.... why??

The exit was stunning, there are palaces built into the hillside which have underground labyrinths, statues, columns, gold and copper roofs, and other things I couldn't understand engineering wise, and surely this society we live in today doesn't either.

After a quiet 40km we found a nice place to camp with plenty of fire wood.

I sit here under the moon and star with only one or two car sounds every few minutes.

We also decided to launch a firework off but I stuck the stake in the ground too far.  The rocket wouldn't take off and we immediately knew to run for cover.  It was a real firework, 40ft explosion with 2 types of pyros, a bang then a fizzle.  It was as loud as a shotgun.  We all laughed and thanked God we had all our limbs.

As we went to bed, after some sausage and cheese and bread, the tree holding Toby in his hammock broke and he fell to the ground.  Great job.

Tomorrow we will try for 60km and hopefully make it to Belgrade in 8 or 9 days.

km marker 1610?

Day 31 Sunday funday Budapest

Today was scrabble at first.  I got on the bus to get my rental bike that I had left downtown.  And on the bus, which i thought was free, was a gentleman with a badge.  He said a bunch of stuff in a foreign language, and I just looked at him and didn't respond. He spoke more Hungarian, I ignored him.  Once more and I said, with no energy in my voice, because of the hangover, "speak english"

He spoke poor English and asked for 8000 fortnines  which is like 25 dollars.   I said, is this a joke?  This guy isn't for real.  This is a joke.   I laughed at him and and said, "No"

This irritated him.  He said do you have passport, I said yeah, and I showed him the front of it, not the inside.  He had an official badge and official paperwork, and really wanted money for the bus.  I held out, I had much money, cards and cash, but I told him I had no money.  He was very irritated.  Pulled me off the bus, and yelled, you owe 16000 fortunes, or whatever their monopoly money is called, equivalent of 50 dollars.  I said no dude, you're full of shit, and walked away.  I'm used to new Orleans hustlers and this guy seemed like a joke.  I found out later this guy was legit, and it was all real.  How silly of me.

I got my bike.  Went to the store, bought 2 bottles of wine.  Dropped off the bike  gave the older but really cute bike rental shop lady a bottle of wine.  I then went to get my kayak where it was stored, gave them some wine, packed up and left.  Not before my homie Jordy hooked me up with some killer hackfish, frenchfries, pickles, pizza, and beer.  Where I was had a very small commu ity vibe.  I really liked it there.

I paddled down stream, met with John and Toby, and then spent the rest of the day at a SWANNNKKKKYYY bathhouse.

There was multiple steam rooms, saunas, cold pools, hot pools, massages available, 3 huge heated pools, and beautiful women everywhere.  That was all I needed.  And by far the best I ever felt physically this trip.  Cold water, sauna, cold water, sauna, cold water, sauna, and so on.

At a hostle now, we paddle early tomorrow

Day 30 Saturday in Budapest

Woke up in a pretty nice hostel.  I sensed my shoes smelled horrible and then decided to buy a new pair, as nothing could repair the stench of my old pair.  And as much as I loved those red Nikes, I had to leave em.

Some dude on a scooter offered to give me a ride to the bus stop where I could ride for free.  It was a pleasant bus ride.

 And as soon as I got off the  us there was a shoe store.  Very nice shoes for 40 bucks.  People think that's a lot of money here.  People also think 3 bucks for a beer is too much.  In that case, I'm a rich man.

The next step was to go to a Turkish bath house and sweat out the night before.  It was 30 bucks and for 3 hours I sat in steam room, sauna, 4 different temperatures of mineral spring water pool, and took cold showers.  It was absolutely the most glorious thing I could have done for myself.  I had oxygen rich blood and felt amazing.

Next was put on deodorant and meet John for drinks.  So that's what we did.  We didn't really party, as much as wonder around and try to find good people to chat with.

Slept in a hostel again.  It was nice

Day 29 Friday in Budapest

Woke up tired as hell at 2pm. After having to sleep on the beach by where my boat was stored.  Went and bought groceries for the next few weeks and It started raining.  It rained all day.  It was kind of a bummer as I was excited to check out all the loveliness that people keep talking about.  The castles, the underground labyrinths, yada yada.

I met some bike rental shop people and they rented me a bike, in the rain. The girls name was Elrie? I don't know, she spoke no English but trusted me with a top notch bike for 2 days.  She was cute, a little older, but cute.  She gave me a nice smile that only confident people know how to do.

I drank a beers, in the rain.  I drank one more beer, in the rain.  I got some food, in the rain.  I drank another beer.

It stopped raining.  I pedaled to the city.  It was marvelous.  I wondered around .

I met with couchsurfer hosts for dinner   It was great.  The beer was roughly 4 US dollars, so I had one.  The couple said the beers were too much.  I said this is normal price in USA, and we talked about our differences and similarities.  They are going to a Red Bull airplane trick show tomorrow but I won't go.  They said it's a once in a lifetime thing, and might be the last one ever.  Planes used to fly UNDER the bridge in Budapest to start their clock time for the competion the last time the airshow was here.  But now its further  away from the city.

I didn't stay with them and I feel bad because they went out of their way.  I'd rather stay in the woods.

I met up with John.  Had a beer at a stupid hipster bar because we couldn't find anything else then took taxi to a hostel...  Its 11 EUROS per night.

Goodnight

Day 28 Arrival to Budapest

Today was a  nice wake up. I learned how to deal with the brisk cold wild in my hammock.  I stopped and started all day, but finally was able to turn off my mind and just paddle.  Days like today were the reason i do what I do.  Not many thoughts, little wind, plenty of sun,  and a calm beautiful river as it split in 2.

The right side of the 30km island is hectic and big boats, whereas the right side, the right side, was very calm and beautiful and people doing water sports with great scenery.

I pulled in to a row club with, to my surprise, a bunch of people chilling in a pebble beach.  I talked to some people and found a place to store my boat in Budapest safely for the weekend.

The riverwalk is full of people and drinks and food and canopies and chairs and bikes and pretty people just enjoying outside.

A girl named Jessica help me exchange my Euros to Fornines which is Hungarian money. 

I then bought a bottle of wine and walked around, took the metroz and headed downtown.

The first bar had cheap drinks and good people and I met a guy who used to be on the Hungarian Olympic high jump team.

I went to wondering and found myself in a huge club party thing, twice.

I took a taxi home, slept on the beach, was cold, and woke up to rain.

km marker 1650

Day 27 Windy Day and Castles

Fuck the wind. But first.

Last night I had the sweetest camp spot.     After a long day of paddling, this was most desirable.  It was shaded trees, a huge pile of driftwood, and falled trees shaped like a camp site for 10 people.  Only problem was, I was all alone.  It's what I wanted.  One good night to enjoy a fire and food and the trees and the breeze.

The breeze was strong, and it got cold, so it was a good thing I built the fire I'm a way where two big flat pieces of wood reflected the warmth back.


Cold night sleep, but good.

I spent all day today paddling with my left arm and body.  Not sure why, but my boat kept pulling to the left, and would just stay straight.  No matter what I did.  I adjusted my paddled feather, my paddle length, my hand width, my paddle strokes, the way I sat, the way I used my body, the way I leaned, everything.  But nothing worked.

I assume it had to do with the extremely annoyingly strong wind.  Which tossed my boat up and down all day as well .

I stopped several times just time relax from the stress this was causing me.

I stopped in Esztergom, a city with a really amazingly beautiful castle and church in top of a mountain.  I climbed to the top through a back pathway that said, no trespassing.  It didn't say nothing on the other side so we're good.



I stopped to check my phone, getting internet for the first time in a day.  Went to grab a water, and an old man named Axel, bought me a beer.  He's riding his Harley across Europe.  He does trips like this all the time, and adventures all over the world.  We had a good talk, but I had to head out before sundown.

I'm here at another great camp spot looking at a mountain range that bigfoot surely sleeps.  Good thing we have a river separating us!

Km marker 1715
75km to Budapest!

Day 26 : Continuation of Bullturds

The bull turds continued.  I regretfully woke up.  Still trapped away from the river in a marshland thanks to some dumb Slovaks who wouldn't just let me go through the lock at midnight last night.

I started paddling on a very shallow small swamp.  Only 50 yards later had to get out, pull my boat around a bridge, get back in, 50 yards later again, pull the boat out, then drag the boat 300 yards through high grass, with a 150lb boat, fully stocked with tuna, ramen, granola, and apples, I love apples, then down a 30yard, steep, concrete, slick hill into the river.  Fudge.

This excursion took 1 hour.  It was 10am.

I paddle slow all day, toom several breaks, ate tons of food, drinks tons of water, did not feel like super man, and went through a weird town I cant pronounce.  All the way there were perfect camp sites begging for my slumber.  I needed the sleep, but pursued knowing how important a sleep cycle is on trips like this.

It is 10pm.  I'm frickin done.  I'm sleeping till noon tomorrow.  I have an awesome camp spot and my fingers a cramping.

My fingers cramp all day.  My whole body aches the whole time but I love it.  I actually somehow ignore it.  I need more water.

I've been drinking from a Lifestraw this whole time and just want to chug water, but I cant.

Paddled about 163km in 2 days.  Not sure how but that's what the signs read.
That's over 100 miles, in 2 days......

Km marker 1757

Day 25- A Creepy 105km

Sometimes you can smell when its going to be a good day, a bad day, or an ugly day.  This one smelled ugly.   Like a catfish jumped on my dinner plate 7 hours before I got home and sat there decomposing for too long, without hot sauce.

It actually started great.  Good hammock spot, great nights rest, plenty of sunshine with 75 degree weather, no wind.

I started alone, and found the other kayaker kids chilling 1 km downstream.  We drank some coffee and I decided to head off.  To Bratislava, but just for groceries.

So that was all the excitement, and although Bratislava is supposed to be a cool place,  I couldn't handle spending more money at the wrong time.

So I headed off alone, feeling pretty good health wise and mind wise.  I hit a HUUUGE lake in the middle of the river, it was probably 2 or 3 miles across and went like that for maybe 10 miles.  Maybe more, but it felt like an absolute eternity.

The river narrowed to a mile across.  However, the left bank had a huge metal levee, and the right had a steep concrete levee, with stairs to get out only every 1-2km.   This was scary, indeed.  Enough to put anybody normal in a state of panic.  On top of this, one could not actually see the end of the river, it was cloudy and getting dark, so the sky and river, as it was one straight long shot for several miles, combined to form an image that resembled the edge of the earth.

I later found stairs, climbed up to peak around.  And what did I find but a town down below, under the rivers levee.  Other than this one town was nothing in sight.

I decided to be brave and carry on through to the small dim light at the end of the river, which was a lock and dam.  It was TINY.  But I grew bigger as I grew more tired.

It was dark.  One blinking light flickered.  I went to it.  Nothing.  Not a telephone to call the lock and dam, which I usually do.  Not a sign, nothing.

I paddled across the river to the non lock side, typical to have a ramp and cart to portage my boat.  And... nothing.  Luckily, I found later  I got out at the very last set of stairs, and walked a mile or so to the lock and dam area.

At this point I was frustrated  but collected.  I looked around for ab answer on how to get my boat around  and couldn't find a dam thing.

I found one security guard who spoke 0% English.  I used gestures, he understood.  He called the captain.  Same thing.  Gestures, understood, but no solution.  We "talked" long enough to get 3 Slovak lock and dam workers to help me move my boat up the steep levee wall, into a small side canal, and on my way.

I went through a marshy swamp canal invested by snakes and frogs and gross algae shit.

I stopped where there was light.  Made a tuna sandwich, laid down my tarp and sleeping bag, and passed the f out.  At this point I had paddled 105 km be myself.  And spent the last 3 hours trying to get my boat back on the river.  All I could think, was F@$% Slovakia. 

I love Slovakia.. truly one of the gems of Europe.. but... I had nobody to blame.. or no where to look for my frustration, so I blamed someone else... when in reality, I had put myself there in that place and time, and therefore should take responsibility.... but lack of sleep can takes its toll.  And I love you Slovakia!

I read later in my Guide Book, written in 1990, that a dam was being planned, and that conservation groups strongly opposed based on the beauty of the land and how it would endanger if not extinct several extremely extremely rare species of birds and other wildlife.  They did it anyway, for hydroelectric power.  I'll leave at sunrise, which gives me 5 hours of sleep.

Day 24 short and sweet

Today was spent relax and sleeping and charging phones.  Sunday is a day of rest, and I will always treat it as such.

The Germans left yesterday, so we will see then downstream at some point.  We left at 7pm and it started raining immediately.  It rained the whole time, till we got 10km down river to the dam, where after we got through, we passed out.

Short simple day.

Day 23: Saturday in Vienna

This morning was a slow one waking up.   Lots of bike riding and about 7 drinks and my body is aching.

John and I found an awesome outdoor market that went on for what seemed like a mile.  I ate a quarter of a watermelon, drank a beer, and walked around not buying anything that I wanted to. Lots of amazing antique trinkets and clothing, and exotic foods and cheese.  Very excited stuff.

We left, found a hole in the wall costume store, and found out they sell fireworks, kind of illegally.  We bought the biggest ones they had, it was 30 bucks but worth it.  He said just dont shoot them off around people, so we will wait till we get to more nature areas.

We went out later and drank at a whiskey bar where we met some really funny people.  Lots of hollering and Irish banter.

We got a hotel, snuck on the roof.... the door was open... and watched the sun rise over Vienna.  That, was special.

The hotel guy Michael gave us a complimentary bottle of wine as well, he said we were good guests to have, whatever that means.

Day 22: Friday in Vienna

This morning we got an extra hour to sleep from the hotel, which was extra needed.

We got some quick food and water, and decided to go back to the Row club to charge our phones and relax.

After that, I decide I wanted to explore the city alone with me cheap rental bike.  I started at a random pub where 3 Male patrons and a female bartender sat and yelled in Dutch lingo.

I kept my mouth shut till they started asking questions.  Long story short we all ended up taking turns buying Jameson and trying to understand who each other were, at a loud volume.  When I left there were 5 people in the bar.

I then decided to try and reach the top of a very swanky hotel, where say a rooftop pool.   By this point I had a little more confidence, and the swag to maybe pull off a miracle.  I walked directly in, asking no questions, went straight to the elevator and hit the top button.  It didn't work.  So I hit 7, instead.  The elevator went down, the doors opened in the basement, and 2 foreigners looked at me foreignly.  They spoke something, and I pointed to 8, which was the roof.  They smiled, used their secret key card on the elevator and hit 8 for me.  They left at the 4th floor and I was heading up.

The doors opened, and again, a foreigner looked at me foreignly.  This time a pretty lady.  I smiled, kept a decent posture, walked collected, and said hello.  She seemed frightened slightly, or maybe just off put by my swag and obvious lack of money.

She said that the rooftop pool was reserved for VIPs and hotel guests.  I said I was neither.  She said, how did you get up here.  I said I just wondered if and I wasn't sure, but this place looks cool, can I check it out?

At that time 2 gentlemen wearing suits walked over, looking concerned.  They all spoke their languages that I dont understand yet and agreed to let me check the place out.  I was escorted by the pretty lady, so I asked her to marry me, she said yes.  I ordered a whiskey, tipped the young man a 5-er, and swagger walked around the pool.  I'm pretty sure I saw Eva Mendez, but I was 4 drinks in. 

Vienna, rooftop pool, whiskey, pretty girl, all access, life, lived.

There was a buffet, but I dared not get involved in gluttony in times of lust.

Twas a nice rooftop, a little small for my taste, and I've seen better in New Orleans.  So I made my way to the door, tipped my cap, and finished my drink.

The rest of the night kind of went the same.  With having nice conversations in the park with pretty ladies under statues of Mozart at sunset, to just having a coffee talk with very nice lesbian girls, to having a great conversation about life with Uncle John.

Twas a great day.  Tomorrow will be beautiful.

Day 21: Arrival to Vienna

Today was perfect.  We rolled into Vienna early evening with the whole crew plus more.  It was a little tricky getting through the dam, though the side lake with a bunch of old people tanning/enjoying life in the nude,  and then paddling through a gorgeous lake with hundreds of Austrians enjoys the water and sun, but we made it.

We stopped conveniently by a beach place for John to buy a new paddle, a good one.  This ended up being a critical stop, as the kayak paddle seller guy told us of a great spot to store our boats for the weekend.

On the way down we met up with our friends from Germany paddling the river too, and everyone seemed to have a drink in their hand.  We were only a few KM away  so no harm no foul.

We took a train into the center of Vienna, and decided to sing country songs the whole way.  Most of the train people clapped, and an Asian man named Son even put us on YouTube. 

We all tried to stick together after we got off the bus, but after a bottle of champagne and a long taxi ride to a hotel with no luck, we all kind of split up.  John and I grabber a cheap hotel, but it had 3 beds for 60 bucks. Not so cheap to me.

We took bikes to the center but everything was dead.  We saw the big cathedral thing and it was glorious.

Time for bed, tomorrow's gonna be a fun one!

Day 20: Crusade of Cruise Ships

I didn't think the river could get much wilder.  And that's why I need to turn my thoughts off.

We had, well, right off the bat, a crusade of cruise ships leaving and coming from somewhere up and down stream.  Melk is a beautiful city that we didn't visit, but I'm sure all the people on the cruise ships, which run about 4000 bucks a week, had an excellent time.

The boats followed in line up and down the river  separated by only a few kilometers.  And not only that, but there were barges, tug boats, ferries, and recreation vehicles... and then us.  We were slooshin and sloshin and splashing and rockin, all up and down that river.  In the middle of it all I managed to blow a kiss to a rich blonde woman hangin off the side of the top deck of the cruise ship.  She blew one back, which gave me the strength to paddle the next 65km through the most beautiful country we have seen yet.

I can't recall the mountain range but its spectacular.  Its between Melk and Vienna... maybe Spitz or Krems.  Yeah that's it.  Its wine country with beautiful castles.  And if it wasn't for our lofty goal of paddling 175km in 3 days, we would have stopped for sure and bought some wine.

But the show must go on.  It was breath taking beauty and I'll definitely be back here.

We stopped later on for some pizza and 'almdudler'  which is an herbal lemonade from this region... refreshing, cool, smooth, yet tingly and mild.

This gave us the strength to finish the day with an hour long double portage.  I don't even want to explain what that means, but it sucks.

After the dam, John and I talked about if we want to paddle 2 more hours, find camp, paddle tomorrow, till what time, blah blah blah, then we heard someone yell, 'you speak English?!'  We said "yeah!"   this was all coming from the dark, as it was 10pm by now.  They yelled "come grab some fish and wine!"....  "okay!"

The voices came from 2 other kayakers doing the same trip.  The were catching fish and drinking wine.  We talked about our journeys and how were going to continue and smoke some cbd weed.

They will meet us in Vienna as they have some friends, and who knows, we might be paddling with 4 people now down the Danube.

I didn't mention but on the way over from Linz the other day, John gifted me with one of the most generous gifts I've ever been gifted.   A 200 dollar kayak paddle.  This thing is not only nice, it's perfect.  Its adjustable in every way, has a flawless grin, and a sturdy as hell paddle.  This is no amateur paddle.  This is top notch gear.

I actually shed a tear out of joy and gratitude.  John is a really, really good friend, and beyond that and even more so, he is my brother.  I wouldn't be having the time I'm having without him.  And I'm grateful to have him as a friend.  Thanks John, you're the man!

The plot thickens, and I'm tired as shit.

Km markee 1979, 50km from Vienna!

Pieces of trash on the river that I've seen: 6

Day 19 Theres Ghosts in the Woods

I'm not a big believer in ghosts.  Not in Canada, not in the United States, and not in Germany.  But Austria, well, they might have some ghosts walking around the woods.

The girl we met last night, Sybina, had an old creepy house.  During our interaction I joked her house might have ghosts, which looking back is kind of rude, but I had to say it.  She said' no, we don't have ghosts, but there are some where you are sleeping tonight..'

We joked it off, had another beer, and then John and I went to camp.

I fell asleep.

The dream I had was a scary one.  It involved me communicating with ghosts for a documentary.  The message the ghosts had was not clear, but it was clear they were trying to communicate with me through my dream, and I was the only person who could do it.  I refused to sit down with them in the building to interview them, the ghosts that is.  It was a very powerful dream, and very scary.  I had to force myself awake, and when I did, they were still there.  They were talking, it was 3 of them, two women and one man.  They were asking me questions and trying to get me to hear their voices, but it was too much that it wasn't clear.  I laid there panicked.  I was so afraid I couldn't move.  The voices went away but they were still there.  It was pitch black and I was in the middle of the woods in Austria paralyzed.  When the voices left it was the most quiet sound I had ever heard in my life.  Not a cricket, not a trickle of water, not a fish, frog, bird, car, plane, train. Nothing  but the ghost feeling was louder than thunder.

I slowly reached for my phone for some sort of comfort to run away from the entities.  I scrolled through emails, played a Tom Petty song, and checked Snapchat.  I think it was the Tom Petty that scared them away.

I could have just fabricated some weird feeling and scared myself, ir maybe the dream scared me and trickled over to reality.  Maybe there was no ghost.  Or maybe there was.

This morning was okay.  I slept half decent, and John didn't sleep much. 

My wrist and biceps are in deep pain from wakeboarding Sunday.

I had a great, superfood and vitamins breakfast with an apple.  And I shot out of the gate.  Not before John and I ran into some other guys paddling to the Black Sea.  So with a little competion fueling me, I was ready.

I passed by everyone and paddled about 30km in 3 hours.  I think I stopped for 1 minute 2 or 3 times.   I accidentally left John behind  but waited for him at the next lock and dam.  It was a beautiful but very hot day.  Lots of trees and small little towns, lovely.

We had some herbal lemonade at a little shack, made one long portage around the dam, and headed off again.  

The chance of rain hindered our momentum so we stopped for one beer and John ate some fresh caught fish.

We are at a lock and dam outside of Melk Austria.

I got a little frustrated today.  These locks and dams are really annoying in Austria.  They slow us down by at least 30-60mins sometimes.  Sometimes more.  I know we can have days where we paddle normal and get really far, but it just feels difficult right now to pick up good solid momentum.  I need to get back to appreciating what's going on, and stop trying to force everything to go at my pace.  It's absolutely beautiful here and I really love what im doing, I just need to breath a little more and smell the gosh darn roses.

After Vienna, apparently the river opens up and there are less dams, but we shall see.  Vaienna is about 110km away, I think.  We are trying to be in Vienna by the 4th of July.  Vienna is the nation's capital, and we thought it would be fun to shoot some fireworks off for the old US of A in another countries capital.

The day ended us pulling upnto portage a dam and there were small rocks and flowers together, like someone put them there as a gift.  How wonderful.

Also wonderful, we seen a snake!  Might be a viper but I don't know.

One last thing, the weather men and women of Europe are awful.  THEY said 0% chance of rain all day ALL DAY.  then.... 30% chance, then 40%, then 50% then 80%.  Then it didn't rain!!!!  This all happened in 1 hour.

Goodnight pleasant people.

Day 18 Hungover but moving again

Today we woke up very hungover and tired.

Paddles in the heat all day with little water.  Had to carry our boats around 2 dams.  And then it started to rain and lightening.

We got off the river in a cool little place.  We went up to a house that looks like a BnB, but it wasn't.  A pretty girl on the second story smiled and asked what we were doing.  We said we needed a place to stay and she told us of a camp spot.

We sat by the river in the rain for a while and then the pretty girl came back and said we could come to her house to get out of the rain and drink beer.  We complied.

She was very nice, has a wealthy family and a farm, a great attitude, and was very kind.  After an hour we excused ourselves and exchanged contact info.  She invited us back in the morning for coffee... if which I will not say no to.

We are camped under tarps with rain but it's very nice and quiet out.

Day 17 Wakeboarding at an Austrian Oasis

Most mornings I wake up use the "#2" and continue with morning procedures such as: Taking down camp.  Making tea
Possible making food.  Checking the weather.  And making sure the boat is in tip top shape and to follow all safety guidelines, as per OSHA.

This morning didn't not go as was planned and mentioned above.

I walked to the woods with a small roll of toilet paper.  Hoping this would be a duty that I would be able to conserve what little was left, and contemplating how to get through the next lock and dam.

As I found my way down a fairly civilised path, I heard some commotion several meters away.  I did my duty.  Peaked my head around the corner, and saw civilization.  My curiosity took over, as, short as 3 minutes ago I though I was deep in the wilderness.

I followed a path outside of a gated campground, around some trees, over a soon to be river, and through some more woods.

I was haunted by surprise when around the next building opened into an absolute oasis.  There before me stood a beautiful lake with wakeboarding ramps and water skiers, smiling Austrians eating hamburgers and drinking cold beers, children playing games, families laughing and boasting, beautiful women tanning on cotton blankets!

I had to see no more.  I ran back through the woods and found John preparing his boat.  I said "John, I have good news and bad new.  Bad news is the same as the good news.  We are staying here one more day, and it's going to be an amazing day."   John wouldn't believe what I told him next about the paradise in the middle of no where.  I couldn't believe it myself.

We prepared nothing, grabbed wallets and phone and blankets.  Walked into the wonderland for free, grabbed a couple cold ones, and wondered around for hours around the lake.  Around every corner was another attraction.  Slip and slides, tall diving boards to jump off where all the kids where doing flips,  small islands, people floating on floaty things.  The view was incredible, and there was no shortage of food, drinks, and shear beauty.

For me, the best part was getting a chance to try wakeboarding.  The first attempt was bad.  If the video was sent in to Bob Saget's Americas Funniest Home Videos, it might get in the top 3 for the episode. 

The second attempt was the same.  On the 3rd try I made it 100 meters.  I continued to try, but gee golly it's a tough sport.  I got a lot of respect from the veteran wakers for picking it up mind quick.  They were all teaching me techniques along the way.  It was really cool to see people helping so much.

After that John and I decided to grab some drinks and enjoy the evening.  We hitchhiked in to town to get a few dollars from the ATM first.  And ended up drinking with the owners and employees of the place we found is called 'AUS-SEA'.

Really great people there.  They bought us a bottle of wine to end the night and welcomed us back anytime. 

I'll probably never forget this day.

Day 16 Last day in Linz

Woke up and rental scootered around for 5 hours.  its 15cents per minute.  And we can do ollies.

We tried sneaking onto some cruise ships.  The managers didn't like that. We then bought some gift for people and then the store manager lady gave us 2 cold beers from her personal fridge. We tried to get a cup of coffee and then the owner of that bar and the owner of the legal weed store, which we stopped in at, bought us drinks and coffee.  We couldn't figure how to leave.
So, we grabbed our boats paddled to the night......a little tipsy... and then found.....

A camp.

THEN!

A miracle in the woods.

Day 15 Linz and festivals

Linz is great. We woke up, spent the day getting supplies, making friends, and staying well fed.

We stopped at a CBD weed store and were greeted by really nice people. 

We then rented scooters again and climbed then to the top of a big hill, and then raced then down through the woods.

We stopped and had a good lunch halfway up the mountain!

We then hung out by our boats and had some water and ramen noodle.

The night turned to a festival in Ottenheim.  People were nice but the music was garbage.  People don't know funk, blues, or jazz... neither do I.  but if you're going to get on a stage, you better bring the heat.

I threw my shoes away, but then later got them back.  I was feeling like a hippie.  I got a taxi ride home and got some pizza.

We slept on a river bank after asking the police for permission.  It wasn't a great  night sleep, but a great day

Day 14 Punk show and hanging in Linz

Thursday night.  Went to a punk show.  In a basement.  it was a sweaty Austrian roadhouse with a donation based bar, basic punk basslines, and typical open minded yet slightly angry pot smoking service industry folks.. who are the back bone of The World, and are the heart of the balance that makes us all different and weird.

We ate some awesome ham sandwiches, compliments of a nice girl named Hannah.  Even the cheap food is good in this city!

After a long day I decided to take a scooter home and pass out.

Day 13 River beer and generosity

Big waters, strong winds, and very hot sun.  Mid 90s or 35 celcius.  Two long days of paddling got is to Linz.  Km marker 2129.

 we stopped a lot for quick beers on the river and still ended up paddling 70 km!  

We paddled through the night, with might, and stayed close to shore.  The bar tender at the last town before sunset gave us 7 beers instead of 4.   We drank a few and bullshitted for hours and we ended up at an elite Olympic training facility for Olympic rowing where Team Austria trains.  I'll hold my judgements.  But this place has has MONEY.

We slept in hammocks in their courtyard and drank beers in the morning.  John got a new paddle, which is professional as hell.  It took us 2 hours to get to Linz where we stay on a couch surfers couch.

Day 13 was amusing and odd.  If we would have paddled the whole time and not stopped we could have easily covered 100km!

So thats good to know.

Tonight we relax and hope to meet nice people and maybe head out tomorrow for Vienna!

Word on the street is Bratslava is the place to be, and Vienna is for yuppies

Day 12 Ate at a cafeteria!

day 12 tuesday
We left Passau in smooth fashion.  With a quick meal at the university paid for by some cool university students we headed out onto turbulent waters.  But not before taking care of a cold bottle of beer and some chilli cheese fries. 

We also met a girl who said we could stay at her parents' house in wine country down river.  So we will keep that option open.



The Danube has really picked up its steam and current.  We ended up not paddling long before camping