Under the hills on the border of Hungary and Slovakia lies one of the largest cave systems in Europe. The Baradla cave, entered from Aggtelek on the Hungarian side and from Domica on the Slovak side, runs for some twenty-five kilometres through limestone, a gallery of stalactites, stalagmites and underground rivers, and parts of it are open to visitors. It is the heart of the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst, a cross-border UNESCO site of more than seven hundred caves, listed in 1995 and extended in 2000. Concerts are held in the largest chamber, where the acoustics are excellent, and the temperature underground stays at a constant cool level, a relief in summer.
The label points to the hills around Rudabánya, to the south-west of the main caves, where the same limestone country meets older volcanic and iron ore ground. Rudabánya is a former mining town, and its quarries and pits have yielded something unexpected: the fossils of a Miocene ape, Rudapithecus, which lived here ten million years ago, when the land was a subtropical forest, and which is considered one of the possible ancestors of the great apes. A small museum in the town tells the story.
Above ground the landscape is a rolling, wooded karst of oak, hornbeam and beech, with small valleys, sinkholes and clearings of dry meadow. Wildlife includes deer, wild boar and the occasional lynx, and in spring the meadows are full of orchids and pasqueflowers. The smell is of leaf mould and wet stone, and the villages, with low whitewashed houses and church towers, feel far from the cities.
Riding here is quiet and pleasant. The roads wind through the hills with gentle curves, a few steep climbs and long views, and traffic is almost absent outside the main routes. The surface is mixed, and care is needed on rough patches. Putnok and Szendrő are the nearest towns with fuel and supermarkets, and the villages have small shops and inns. The local food is hearty, with stews, sausage and dumplings. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, and the cave is open all year.