Poland into Lithuania
Reaching the Baltic States
24th July - 29th July | 2022
The two days in the hotel in Suwalki were for chilling, catching up on the blog and emails, paying the fine (see the last blog) and getting sorted a rough route through Lithuania.
Full of energy I made it then into Lituania (country no. 15 I think).
I had picked some back roads and about 80km to Vilnius I decided that it is time for a bit offroad as the forest roads looked pretty promising and safe. So I put OsmAnd on unpaved mode and hit some fantastic tracks through farmland and forest.
Once I was a bit in doubt whilst I waded through a big puddle. But luckily a teenage boy passed and confirmed that was the last and only big puddle - phew! Also, many gravel roads are connecting villages, so I had really fast track!
And then, of course, enjoying myself so much, OsmAnd sends me down a pretty bumpy forest track. After 500m I decided I better turn around as there is no use in risking a bike drop. Managed to turn around the bike on that rutted track and as I then wanted to drive off onto the higher level, the tire slipped and down the bike was! Great! It was really hard work this time to get the bike up myself, as had difficulties dragging it into a position that the ground could "help". Once the bike was up and packed, a lady on her bicycle passed by ;-) Could have done with her 20mins earlier!
I changed to car-street mode, as I had my share for today ;-) Before entering Vilnius I passed by the famous lake area of Trakai for a picture of the famous castle. A little, cute village, but full of tourists ;-)
The hotel in Vilnius was very simple, but safe parking and close to the old town. I was tired, but behind the building was an industrial building and they got their air conditions full blast running, so the dozen outside units made a hell of a noise! At least at midnight, they stopped; probably as the temperature had dropped ...
The next day was discovering the sights of Vilnius, such as the castle tower, the city-state of Uzopio and the famous Gate of Dawn. I had a lovely lunch outside in the old town, but annoying were the pigeons! I do not know why people tolerate or even feed them!?! I asked myself today if people would be so tolerant if rats would sit on the table and kids would chase rats around squares ...?!?!
Tomorrow I will go to meet Giedrius (see BiH / Croatia blog). I am looking forward to hearing his version of his tour south after we left him in Dubrovnik.
Before I drove off to Giedrius, I passed the geological centre of Europe just on the outskirts of Vilnius. After that, I visited Kédainia for lunch as it has a historical centre. Today it was pretty fresh for riding, which I, of course, had underestimated. At least I could easily reach my two windbreakers! During lunch and on the last 20 mins to Giedrius were really heavy rain showers and the temperature went down to 14C! Summer in the Baltic States!
Giedrius welcomed me with his wife and the playful dog Soja. We had a great evening catching up on our adventures in the Balkans. Also, it was interesting to hear about their family holiday in Italy and recently in Istanbul.
Oh, yes, and they found me a lady that could fix the new holes on my riding jeans! More patches ;-)
In the morning, we washed my chain so that I could lubricate it. Around late lunchtime, I was back on the road towards the Hill of Crosses. A very interesting place to visit; I have never seen so many crosses in one place!
Now it was time to drive back towards South, to the Grazutes Natural Park area, with all the lakes. Unfortunately, it was a long ride, and one hour prior to arriving in the area, I started to feel fresh temperatures.
I was not prepared for camping in that sort of temperature yet, so I booked a B&B in Anyksciai. Like that, I can go tomorrow offroad to the lake area and then towards the border of Latvia.
Come and join me in entering Latvia in the next blog.
Places | Cities:
POLAND:
Seiny
LITHUANIA:
Svenezeris, Merkine, Trakai, Vilnius, Girijus, Kédainia, Penevzys, Siauliai, Pakruojis, Pasvalys, Kupiskis, Svedasai, Anyksciai
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 19960 km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
./.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
Giedrius and his family for such a great hospitality and the great talks about travels.