On day 39 I had the chance to go spelunking so I made sure to take advantage of it. Since the caving tour did not leave until 4 p.m. I had another opportunity to explore the city. The decision was made to walk up to the top of the Citadel, which is that tiny looking statue in the photo below.
The walk was about an hour and was mainly comprised of stairs. The view from the top was well worth the walk, although if you had asked me on the way up I would have said otherwise.
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| Proof that I made it |
After the descent I explored a few bridges over the Danube and then set off for the meeting point of the spelunking expedition. Getting to the caves required two busses across difficult terrain and I do not know why I expected anything different as caves usually are not in city centers.
Spelunking required a full body suit, the first time I had worn such a thing since footy pajamas.
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| Looking stylish |
The group of eight finished changing and it was finally time to descend. I will take this opportunity to mention that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. There was no formal training for the expedition so I figured the terrain could not be too hard. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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| The entrance |
Looking at this door I still figured that this would be a leisurely stroll through the cave. When we got inside I was greeted with slimy mud and slippery rock faces. The worst of it were the areas called The Sandwich and The Birthing Canal. Cavers are not the most creative people in the world so you can easily figure out the shape of each of these gaps. They were literally no bigger than me and I thought there was no way I was going to be able to get through them. For the Birthing Canal I had to lay down with my arm extended. From here I had to push out my right leg and kick to move myself centimeter by centïmeter as the guide yanked my arm from the other side. You might think I am exaggerating. In that case I will tell you that it is really easy and you should go spelunking as soon as possible.
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| The largest room in the cave |
This was seriously the most challenging and frightening thing I think I have ever done. There were multiple times where I thought I was completely stuck and it took a few minutes to wriggle free. I was also in the back of the line so each time I got stuck I had the irrational fear that I would lose the group. Anyways, I hated every minute down there but now that I have survived I am happy I went for it.
With a sore body the next morning it was time to finally experience the Budapest baths. The water in the various pools is naturally heated through geothermic activity and some pools are as hot as a spa. Avoid the 100 Celcius sauna, its a bit hot.
Sadly it was time to leave Budapest. I arrived at the train station with the intention of going to Munich but Germany was just too expensive for the first weekend of Oktoberfest. I changed plans completely and am now posting from back in Prague. I plan to spend my birthday here before venturing into Poland.
Scott
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