Hungary 2019 – The “Seeing Red” Tour

Highlights From This Trip

• 5 Days
• 9 Locations Explored
• 100% success rate
• ~550 miles driven
• Revisits and new locations
• Powerplants, planes, theatres, Soviet bases

What better way to end the year, than a visit to Eastern Europe! I first visited Hungary (for exploring) in the Autumn of 2017. Since then, more exciting locations have been uncovered. This meant it was time for a revisit!

I will remember this trip as being the only one I can recall with a 100% success rate! Every location we attempted, we gained access to. Some required pre-dawn incursions, using the shadows to hide from security. Other locations, were relaxed midday walk-ins.

Revisiting Special K and Forgotten Migs

The Art-Deco majesty of Special K Powerplant is a wonder to behold. Since my 2017 visit, I feel my photographic skills have improved somewhat. I have also upgraded my equipment. This was a very enjoyable re-visit, where I was able to try out my newest lens; a Sony 50mm f1.8 lens. I also took my only fisheye photograph of the trip, using my Samyang 12mm f2.8.

My first visit to the Forgotten Migs, was regrettably short. We were only able to get a few shots off before being escorted off the airstrip. This time, the only thing curtailing our visit was the pouring rain and rapidly fading light.

“Seeing Red”

Red was truly the theme of this tour. We visited various crimson forgotten treasures;

• Red Star Train – having failed this location on my 2017 visit, I was happy to finally see this one.
• Red Morgue – while part of the group visited, I skipped this revisit for a much-needed sleep. I was happy with my photographs from my first visit.
• Red Ballroom Theatre – This was one of my favourite locations of the trip.

The Soviet Red Army theme was also a recurring one. A faded red star on the tail of a MiG-21, as well as a crumbling Soviet Nuclear Missile Base.

Bladerunner 2049 Powerplant (Shepards Powerplant)

Sadly, I wasn’t aware of this location during my first visit. As a big sci-fi geek, I was overjoyed to visit the Bladerunner 2049 Powerplant. The original Bladerunner is one of my favourite movies.

If only I had brought a paper unicorn with me….

Ending with a (pleasant) surprise…

The final location of the trip, was a relatively uninteresting Soviet Nuclear Missile Base. I knew we would see an interesting Soviet mural, depicting Cold War rockets mounted on trucks. Also on the itinerary was the nuclear missile storage bunkers, dug into the hillside and each adorned with red Soviet star.

With these two “must-see” items ticked off, we explored some of the buildings near the road on our way back to the car. We found long corridors and peeling paint, as expected. After checking a rather innocuous building, we also discovered a surprise. We found an unexpected Soviet Theatre. The wonderful natural decay and lack of graffiti made this room a nice end to a successful trip 🙂

More photographs from our adventures in Hungary