Getting Lost

Well, the first night at the farm we saw wolves. Brian heard the farm dog barking and looked out the window to see what was up and lo and behold, there were wolves. He woke me up and we watched the farm dog (Rex) trying to chase the wolves away. We went out on our balcony to get a better look and I guess they smelled us and decided to get out of there.

The next day, we went hiking in the mountians. We were on the blue trail but then the trail suddenly split. We couldn't see any markers so we decided to go on the path that was the most used. After a while, we decided we were lost. Brian went up to higher ground to see if he could see a path. He got tired and used the radio to let me know. I decided to come up to where he was and he then decided to come down to where I was... we did this marco polo thing to pinpoint each other. Suddenly he radios me and asks me which way I was headed. I told him and asked why. Turns out he found fresh bear prints going the opposite way I was going. He also found some wolf prints. We found each other and decided to press on. We seperated again to see if we couldn't find a path from up on this platoe. He went up and I went down and around. Brian found a path and I just wanted to get back to him. So I climbed up a rock face about 120ft to get to him. We got on the trail and fallowed it to this valley. We got lost again trying to find the yellow trail (what we were going to use to go down because its a shorter trail). After 40 minutes of climbing up and down, we found some other hikers who pointed the way. Off we went down the other trail, both of us tired but knowing we need to get out of the forest before nightfall. On the way down, we saw some horses grazing and took a few pictures before continuing on. The sun went down just as we got out of the forest.... unfortunatly, we knew we weren't out of wolf and bear country yet.

We started up the mountian road that we got dropped off on and resigned ourselves to a long walk. We were on the look out for bears and wolves (don't get us wong, we know they won't attack us out of spite or anything like that but they would attack if they think we're a threat or trying to steal their food or a bear might find us courious enough to 'play' with). As it happened, I ask to stop for a rest break. We found a rock near the country road and sat down. All the sudden, we hear this low, aggressive growl. We get up and calmly but quickly walk away. We managed to get to the farm ok, with help from some of the locals but managed to lose the camera.

That night, Johnny, the guy that runs the farm, called and told us his cousin found the camera and he would return it to us in the morning.

We spent the next day recovering from the long hike. Both my legs ached from my hips down to my blistered feet. Brian wasn't much better.

Today, we're waiting for a train to Budapest. It leaves at 7:30 so we have time on out hands.

See you in Budapest.

-K

To Family: We only got to see up to the 3rd floor of the castle, the rest was off limits. They had some amazing furnature and such.

The hostels don't seem to have an age limit. Some do but not any of the ones we've come across.

Sorry we can't make it to the wedding. Take pictures!

To everyone: Sorry about the spelling but we're working on a crap computer that keeps locking up =P