On 26th August we decided to start the trail with a 18.3km walk in Börzsöny mountain. The previous day we packed our backpacks, made sandwiches, picked out our shoes and went to bed. At 5:20 the next day we woke to a heavy rain, but still decided to stick by our plan and go hiking. By the way, this was the first rainy day after 3 months of 35-40 degree (Celsius) weather.

Needless to say we are not morning people, but still we left the house (I made a raincover for my pack out of a trashbag), went to the train station and travelled to our chosen town, Nagymaros.

We started with the first stamp (which we are going to collect at every checkpoint) and started walking. The pain of exercise after 2 years of sitting at a desk was immediately clear. Nevertheless, we were determined.

Against all my pleading, Kishore (my partner) insisted on taking photos with me in it, so there will be many of those.

The rain was persistent, it didn't stop for a minute. So, we walked almost 7 hours in mud and dirt and puddles. (In total, we walked 710m up and 497m down.)

Considering that this was our first try, we were proud to state that we finished it. As the last couple of kms approached, we started worrying about catching the last train, but with a little extra effort we crawled into the bus stop.

I have to say, our first hike was wet, rainy and slippery, but the accomplishment gave us a sense of joy.

The pain we felt the next day, however,...