Tripoint Borders II: Slovakia, Hungaria and Austria

After the first tripoint border post where Germany meets Poland and the Czech republic I will now go a bit further south. Summer 2011 I visited colleagues in Bratislava, and took a look on a primary standard dosimetry laboratory. I stayed in a little village south of Bratislava called Čunovo [Tschoo-no-vo]. I knew the Austrian border was just a few kilometers upstream the Danube river, but what I did not realize was, how close I was to the Hungarian border as well. It was just a few 100 meters away, which I found out when I got back to Aarhus, and checked my maps. The border tripoint was just 2 km east.
I missed it, unknowingly. Bummer.

Bad luck, but fortunately I got a second chance. In November I was in Čunovo again, and I convinced my friends to take me to the border tripoint (they've been living 20 years in Čunovo, but have never vistied the tripoint themselves. How can anyone be not as geeky as me?).


View Tripoint: AT, SK, HU in a larger map

So we took their dog for a walk (a black and rather friendly minded Labrador, who occasionally reacts on the name "Arwi" and to various goodies).

Eva, Tibor and Linda (who doesn't live in Čunovo, but Melbourne, Australia - the country WITH kangaroos), clearly thinking "why do we have to go here, where is he taking us". Arwi, the friendly black Labrador, is obviously fine with it.

The Hungarian-Slovakian border was interesting, a true prototype checkpoint, almost taken out of a Tintin Hergé comic.

Just crossed the border, this is on the Hungarian side, facing north, to Slovakia. The checkpoint building seemed to be unoccupied for years. In the electric lines over the rail tracks to the left there is a small square sign which indicates an upcoming interruption in the power supply. Yeah, I pay attention to such weird details.

I've only been once to Hungary during the solar eclipse in 1999, (Kiskunhalas, a real tourist trap!). Language is totally incomprehensible, here I am obviously approaching the "Magyar Köztársagág".

Yeah, Köztársaság, bring it on!

.

Half of me in Slovakia, other part in Hungary. (Clothes borrowed from Tibor, thanks. Linda spilled carbonated drinks all over me in the plane to Vienna and I smelled like a brewery.)

Sun setting in the west (no kidding), along the Slovak/Hungarian border. Austria (that country WITHOUT kangaroos) at the horizon.

The countryside is flat, almost "Nordfriesland" like (close to where I grew up), which is also pan-cake flat like. Just without the sheeps and cattle. And the sea. And the miserable gray weather.

After a 20 min walk we reached the tripoint.

That's it! The white pillar marks the tripoint. Standing in Austria "Ö" (NO kangaroos), facing east, Hungary "M" to the right, Slovakia in the background.

Triplex point.

Very little was left from the original border from the pre-Schengen era.

A piece of the original barbered wire fence between Slovakia and Hungary.

Around the tripoint a few art installations could be found. Various rocks were scattered around, shaped and piled in different ways. In the left side of the picture above you may recognize a flat rock. I have no picture of its surface, but it was triangular with many alien-like hieroglyphs across it.

Update: got it (thanks again, Tibor)...

 

Hmm..?

There seems to be some kind of link between Bratislava and aliens. Think also of the top restaurant of the "Novy Most" (= "new bridge") over the Danube: it is UFO shaped, and I'm sure it can detach from the bridge if necessary. (:)|-<

Navigation aid for aliens. Get the idea? I feel a conspiracy uncovering.

The (still friendly minded) Labrador Arwi was more into chasing rabbits in the fields. Both the rabbits and Arwi crossed borders multiple times during the chase, underlining that borders are a creation of human minds, not of those of dogs and rabbits (or aliens).

There are "Pozor"s in the field. Beware.

Certainly worth going there, so thanks to Eva, Tibor and Linda for being patient with me, and Arwi for being the friendly black Labrador she is.

(Arvi missing, found another rabbit.)

All photos made with crappy mobile phone camera, more weird photos may be discovered here.