64 km (40 miles) – Total so far: 292 km (182 miles)

Breakfast was nothing to write home about (even though that is exactly what I am doing – in the words of our American cousins “Go figure!”) so we scoffed what was available and departed. We wandered out of Komárno and quickly found the route along a dyke on the edge of the Danube. It was hot, very hot and we suffered for our sport.

We had a cold Cola after about 8km and then toiled under the merciless sun until we stopped for lunch. The trip was good though, varied scenery and a lovely path next to the river with secluded beaches for playing, swimming, canoodling…we stopped to have a biscuit and a drink of tepid water … very idyllic.

Lunch was in the interestingly named “Fish Boat Paradise” – a sort of house boat that sold fish dishes, so the name has logic if nothing else. The food was carbohydrate rich and vitamin poor, but we didn’t care we were hungry and hot. After lunch we made very good time, mainly because, to avoid a poor surfaced bike path, we stayed on the road.

The threat of being squished by an un-observant lorry driver was enough to get us above a 20kph average for the first time. We stopped once, in a bus stop (they have Arriva buses here!) and just melted… if only there was a way to generate ice while you cycle, a sort of dynamo connected to a freezer… hmmm…

When Esztergom came in sight we beathed a sigh of relief since the heat was oppresive by now, and we were stopping continually for fluids. We zipped down the hill into Esztergom (did I forget to tell you there were hills today, not big admittedly but long .. oh so long ..), stopped at the first cafe we found and drank some very welcome cold lemonades. We then, after admiring the Basillica, wended our weary way to the hotel. (You may by now have noticed that today was a tad warm ?)

The hotel has two very important things … a swimming pool and a lift ! The room is nice, has a balcony, firm mattresses, firm to the point of being rather like a slab of marble and all the normal things a hotel room has. We went swimming almost immediately, then retired to the, sadly unmanned, bar. The barman turned up once I realised I had to press the button, and I savoured a tall, cold beer. Dinner was a buffet style thing which was OK, and afterwards we pre-packed for an early start tomorrow then closed our eyes…….