Narva, riding in the rain

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Today I must have followed a rain cloud into Narva. However, not long after I’ve arrived the cloud moved on and it is sunny with few clouds. The day started out a little slow, since I wanted to check into these cracks developing in the front wheel. As you can see from the photo, it doesn’t look like much, but enough to make me nervous longer term. I left the hostel and wandered through town, stopping at 8am when supermarket opened to get breakfast.

Next to HAWAII EXPRESS bicycle shop. Their sign said they opened at 9am, but I tried the door and found someone at 8:30am. They had a nice deep wheel double wall rim. We replaced my current front rim with a new one. I also refreshed the brake pads in front. It all went fairly quickly and smoothly and didn’t take long before I was ready to roll again. The new rim rides well, though I notice it needs to be trued a little more for up/down bounce. Owners were helpful, even answering my questions of why “Hawaii” when that was exactly 12 time zones away.

Next, I found my way to the newspaper office and got a copy of todays Rakevere Newspaper, that had my article (see below). After all that, was finally ready to leave town. I missed the turn, but eventually found my way out of town.

Skies were overcast and on the verge of drizzle as I cycled out of town.  They became wetter after that.  Fortunately, the road was smooth and I had a tailwind.  At 30km, I changed my water-repellent windbreaker for my rain jacket.  Now it was raining more steadily, so it just became a “heads down keep riding steadily” exercise without much stopping.  What I did see of the area was mostly open fields with a few slight hills of glacial deposits.

At 68km, I passed Jarve, and stopped at gas station for lunch.  My top had been keeping warm under the rain jacket, but my legs now also got a chance to warm up.  I could put on thermal underwear but found in the ride from Kaliningrad that this would mean two layers to get wet.  After a warming lunch, it took some willpower to get back on the bike and into the rain.  However, I wanted to try getting to Narva since that would give me some more options in following days and I wasn’t certain what weather might do.  The roads were a little rougher near Jarve but then became better as I passed Johvi near 80km.  At 96km was Sillamae which seemed to have a major sea terminal and many businesses.  The truck traffic became lighter as I climbed over what much be one of few hills at 102km into Sinimae.

The rain let up some as I got close to Narva, though the roads were wet enough that passing traffic still gave a spray.  Saw the turn off that split between border crossing and center of town.  Found a hotel not far from here.  I’ve definitely passed into a town where Russian is the preferred second language and English isn’t as common.  I’ve now got four days to ride from here to St Petersburg.  I’ll try picking the best day weather wise to get to Gatchina and then ride from there into the city on the last day.

Google maps are back to showing high resolution photos, so I can pinpoint the building for the hotel.  You can also see the tendency to have large concrete apartment blocks in these cities.

121km today 2323km across Europe 3961 km total.

Rakvere, backroads and Estonian hospitality

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Add Estonia to the list of your next cycle vacations. I’ve always maintained that Newfoundland and Tasmania are two overlooked places for cycling vacations that really should be considered more often. I’ve only seen two and a half days of Estonia but what I’ve seen suggests this is a third place to add to that list. The roads are good and there are small cycle routes indicated that go along some of the back roads. I haven’t figured out Estonian but seem to get by ok with some English. There is long light in the summer.

I had breakfast at the hotel and then packed everything up. Today was planned as a short day, ~83km to Rakvere since after that places with hotels became less certain. Some smooth roads and tailwinds made for a good start. At 5km, I crossed the main road 2 from Tallinn to Tartu. From here traffic was light as I cycled through Roosna-Alliku and past Aravete without noticing too much.

Next big town was Tapa at 53km. I took small roads into Tapa. I may have passed another boundary as this was the first Orthodox church I saw. I parked outside the market and had lunch from the market. I’ve noticed that bananas in Estonia come from Panama. Outside a beggar approached, he asked me for something in Estonian. I wasn’t quite certain so just responded “Ne Eesti”. Surprisingly he responded in English with words “money” and “please”. I still didn’t give money but did think it was interesting that even the beggars here have a need to know some English as second language.

It took a little wandering out of town but soon back on the main road. As I was cycling along, another cyclist came alongside and we rode together. His name was something like “Indrek” (thank you below for help with the spelling). He was teacher, sometimes philosopher and also bicyclist. It was fun cycling along and learning a little more about things.

After multiple kilometers, Indrak asked if I wanted to see some other back areas. That seemed good. To the north is a large vacant polygon area where nobody lives that may have been used for Russian rocket practice. Seemed a bit too much to go, but as we came to the next road, Indrak mentioned that several beautiful little lakes could be found back there.

The sign said 2.8km, and seemed like an interesting adventure so off we went. The road was occasionally bumpy and surprisingly even steep in one or two places. It looked like an interesting glacial feature that indeed hid behind several different pretty lakes nestled into the forest. There were also these beautiful little purple flowers just starting to bloom.

We stopped once or twice to check the local information board about the area. Those boards and my map suggested we might be able to find back roads to Neeruti as well. With one wrong turn, we otherwise found our way to the town. Time to check the map and we found more back roads that would get us all the way to Rakvere. Fun! The adventure continued as we cycled along on quiet roads and had conversations about global warming and other issues. The kilometers went quickly. On the skyline overlooking Rakvere is a large castle. Was I interested in investigating? Sure, seemed like an extra bonus to the adventure. We found our way up to the castle but signs indicated it was open May to September and by appointment other times. However, another car pulled up and seemed that one of those appointments might be happening. So, after negotiating the price, we found ourselves on a guided tour of the castle.

This location dates back to the 6th century as a site for a castle with more recent history in 1200s and wars in early 1600s. I got the history somewhat mixed up (but more can be found here) but seemed to have been fought over by Russians, Swedes, Poles and others. After the 1600s had fallen into ruin until restoration in early 1900s and more recently in 1970s and 1980s. Several tourist oriented items could be found such as torture chamber, archery targets, shops and others.

After the tour we wandered around the castle. They then let me know that a local reporter was there and was curious to write a story about my travels. So, I gave the interview about my trip, where I was going and where I had been. It is supposed to be in tomorrow’s Rakvere paper so we’ll see (better response than I got by telling the Fort Collins Coloradoan).

The tour guide told us where to find an inexpensive hostel, and Indrak helped guide me here as well. Thanks, I certainly appreciated the extra hospitality and occasional Estonian translation help as two cyclists found their way around town. Made a short day a little nicer with some extra back roads explorations.

I did notice that my front rim has developed some cracks around the spoke holes. Not sure how long that has been going on, but I’ve also seen a good bicycle shop here in town so may investigate the two together tomorrow.

87km today. 2202km across Europe. 3840km total.

Paide, quiet ride through the forest

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A nice ride into the middle of Estonia. I followed highway 5 which cuts across diagonally and heads towards Narva. The road was a little quieter than the main Tallinn/Riga road and occasionally  bumpy but overall a good road.

Had breakfast with the tour group at the hotel.  This was a buffet and so chance for other foods including some pickled herring that seems to be more common here.  I also notice some more exposure to Finland and a little more prevalence of the Euro than in other Baltic States.  After breakfast, packed the bike and headed off down the road.  It took a bit to find my way back out of Parnu, but the road rapidly became quieter after that.  Passed some open pasture lands and also some areas of forest.  The road seemed to bypass the centers of the smallest settlements so overall was fairly quick.  I made a brief stop at Selja at 26km then a more complete stop into Vandra at 47km.  Vandra was off the main road and had a hostel.  It also had a market where I stopped for early lunch foods.  From photo above left, looks like the Estonian postal bike and my touring bike have some similarities.

After lunch, more quiet cycling through the forest areas.  At 65km, came to a region boundary and after that some rougher chip seal.  The road stayed flat though detected some slight rises and dips.  Close to 80km, a short bike path in Sarevera and then into busier town of Turi.  Turi seemed to have a bit of town pride with bright yellow banners and a well maintained town center.  It was nice to slow down and walk through a bit of it.  From here the road became both busier and worse condition as it was the main road connecting Turi with the next town of Paide.

Came into Paide and went from bypass into center of town.  The hotel was located right next to the information area.  Nice central location gave me a chance to walk around some and see some of the town.  It surprises me how many large apartment buildings there are even in smaller towns such as this.  Otherwise, nice easy ride today.  I’ve got some extra time coming into Narva, though the weather also looks like a front will be moving through.

94km today, 2115km across Europe, 3753km total.

Parnu, cycling into Estonia

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I passed a few boundaries today. There is the border of Estonia at 71km and also 2000km cycled in Europe. Sometime I also seem to have passed a religious boundary as the old churches I see are now Lutheran rather than Catholic. I followed the road along the coast. While I could occasionally see the Gulf of Riga, much of the time I was either cycling inland or hidden behind some trees.

Everyone at the guest house was still asleep as I awoke. So waited until 8am and then made some noises and they figured out how to let me out. Back to the dunes and back to the main road. First 10km, the road was occasionally rough but then I passed through a few construction zones and into an area with brand new road. The next 40km had very smooth new road. As shown below there were even newly built bus shelters. Traffic was very light as I cycled through the forest on the smooth quiet road.

At 51km, I came through Svetciems and here the road become older again. A few kilometers further and at 57km I was into Salacgriva where I had a lunch break at the big gas station. Another 13km was Ainazi. I had originally thought of this as my destination for the day. However, the motel at the turnoff looked uninviting and it was such a beautiful cycling day. So I decided to cross the border and see what I would find. It was an uneventful border crossing just a kilometer further. I asked the border guard where I might next find a cash machine to get money. Haademeeste or another 25km or so. The guard also suggested taking the old road.

The old road was marked as a cycling road and went along the coast. It was peaceful and quiet though a bit bumpy cycling along this road. Lots of trees and forests. In some of these areas I see evidence of logging, but also lots of untouched forests as well. I passed another hotel, but again wanted to see about getting money. Several of these settlements had old Lutheran churches. The houses also seem to occasionally be brightly painted. Finally at 96km came Haademeeste (the Estonian language seems to have a lot of doubled vowels some with double dots on top). I found my way to an ATM. I hadn’t quite looked up the exchange rate (~15 kroon per Euro, ~20 per dollar) so it was fun when the menu gives you choices…hmm how many to pick. I randomly picked some and was on my way. I somehow never quite found the guest house in Haademeeste, so decided to try the main road again and see where I next found a hotel.

There were a few promising candidates as I cycled along, including a nice looking hotel at 114km. However, the sign seemed to indicate it was closed for renovation, so continued on. Went through a nice nature area at 104km that had several hiking trails. Road traffic was slowly getting busier but road was smooth with a 50cm border. I also stopped in at a gas station to buy a coke but at least as much to see how many kroon for a cola and get a sense of the exchange rate.

I passed through Voiste at 114km, Uulu at 125km and then a major road coming from the south. The road now became busier but I was also close enough so decided to continue and see what I found at Parnu. Once I passed the city limits, I took the local roads. I found a nice hotel just as a large bus full of tourists arrived. However, they still had room so I settled in after a long but nice day of cycling. I made my 7th border crossing today. After the 8th, I don’t expect many for a while.

137km today, 2021km across Europe, 3659km total.

Saulkrasti, short easy rest day

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Today was somehow destined to be a short easy rest day. As I looked at the map, I figured I had two extra days, and considered spending one of them in Riga. However, the hotel was expensive and I had seen a bunch of old town so might be nice to get out of the city. Weather forecast called for headwinds from the north.

I then noticed I couldn’t find my warm hat. Not quite sure where it went, and it could still show up but with the weather being as it was, a warm hat was important. The hotel desk hadn’t seen the hat, but could let me know where I might find a replacement. So, I parked the bike in the room and went off to the store. Most shops don’t open until 10am, so had to wait a bit before finding a nice Latvian colored hat.

Now off to ride out of town. The main road was busy but straightforward. In one stretch with cobblestones I walked but otherwise was able to ride with traffic. By 10km, the road turned into a major expressway. I stopped briefly to check my map when a police officer came up. He didn’t scold me for cycling on the expressway and was helpful in confirming my next turn.

At 14km, came to major road intersection where A1 headed north. I would follow this road on to Estonia. After a brief stretch of forest, it was wide open with a strong headwind. My speed dropped as I slowly cycled against the wind. Fortunately after a few kilometers, the road turned a bit and more importantly went into the forest. The road had a nice shoulder until 35km. From here no shoulders and still a fair amount of traffic.

First signs for Saulkrasti at 41km including a nice looking hotel. Went on for a bit to find the next hotel. Followed signs off to the beach and found a small hotel right on the beach. Has a bit of a feel of a family home that they happen to have a cafe in the basement and rent a room upstairs. Otherwise a nice quiet easy day. Back towards town is something posted as internet cafe so may see if I can send this from there.

44km today. 1884km across Europe. 3522km total.

Riga, into the big city

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Riga is the largest city I cross between Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. It is also the capital of Latvia. Riga had over 900,000 inhabitants in 1991, but is now has a little over 700,000 as many of the ethnic Russians in the city moved elsewhere. However, I did see more signs of Cyrillic script along the way.

Left Dobele under bright sunshine and calm winds. After finding my way out of the city, through flat open farmland such as that shown at left. The first 14km, the road was a bit rough but got better on joining a larger road. At 21km, I was back to the A9 highway heading towards Riga. This road went through some more forest areas and had smoother stretches. However it was also busier and got a little busier as the morning went along. The kilometer markers started counting down to the end of the A9. Along the roads here even in rural areas are many small bus stops. The small villages might have a real shelter at the bus stop and the countryside just as a bench or even just the sign. What is useful is the bus stops also provide a small place for bus to pull away from traffic and hence also a cyclist to pull over to the side.

Made good time and by 59km I was to the end of the A9 highway. Now a choice to make of how to get into the big city. The main highway went left, so I followed A5 right instead. After 5km, I came to the smaller P132 road that went via Marupe. This was a little bumpier though also likely less busy. Another 5km brought me into Marupe and shortly thereafter to the city itself. In contrast to Polish cities, cycling into Riga was surprisingly easy as the pavement stayed in good working order. I cycled most of the distance but after coming to the large 1941-1945 war monument walked in further.

The war monument was one of the grandiose Soviet style monuments with three soldiers fighting, a statue of mother Russia and a tall column topped by several red army stars. There were 16 flagpoles (15 republics?) but no flags flying. Also not much else at the monument. From here I walked to the river and then across the bridge into the old city of Riga itself. Hooray, that wasn’t too hard.

I went to find a hotel not too far from city center. The first one was quite expensive but could recommend me to something still pricy but less expensive. It was just before 2pm, so after a quick shower and change of clothes I had time to walk back to center of the city and do some walking around. The photo at left shows several street vendors selling amber. Apparently large amounts of amber is found in Kaliningrad area and smaller amounts in other parts of the Baltic States. The photo at right shows the old town square with nice historic buildings.

The next four photos shows an eclectic mix of different images from my wandering. First a nice city view to the east from above on the hotel.

Next, a pay telephone where the interesting feature seems to be that many of these city pay phones are marked as “wifi” phones. It seems that the Latvian telecom has turned pay phones into wireless access points. You can then buy cards to use that give a temporary user name and password and hence use wireless from within ~100m of these phones.

Next was the rather sober “Museum of National Occupation of Latvia”. This was right downtown and free with a donation. I spent some time walking through the carefully chronicled exhibits that showed the history of how in 1939 Latvia accepted Russian military bases, in June 1940 accepted Russian demands to replace its government and how that government a month later joined the Soviet Union. It showed how Latvian national institutions were broken down in 1940, the war years under German occupation and then the post-war years as Latvia was changed to be a Soviet Republic with the means of repression and camps used, as well as how national institutions, agriculture, religion and others were all shaped. It ended with a brief chronology of the end of the Soviet Union along with Latvian declaration of independence. Would be curious to see different perspectives on this history but this museum was strongly nationalistic Latvian.

The last photo shows a few bike messengers I saw on the street. Like messengers everywhere, they seem fearless as they dart amongst the city traffic. Quite a bit more nimble than I’ll be on my loaded touring bike.

79km today, 1840km across Europe, 3478km total.

Dobele, quiet roads through Latvia

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Weather keeps improving in the Baltics. Awoke to bright sunshine, though cool temperatures. Waiting until 8am to have breakfast as the cafe opened. It was about 160km along the main road to Riga, so wanted to get about half of that cycled today. The road was busier than south of Liepaja but otherwise quiet and good road. There were some gentle grades to go up and down but rarely anything to coast. I’ve passed several of these weather control boxes as on left along the road.

At 10km was Skrunda. I cycled along and before I knew it I was over the bridge and out of town. Occasional forests but also open lands. Saw sheep and open pasture areas. The wind was mostly from behind, so quiet peaceful cycling.

At 35km, came to the turnoff to Saldus. I took the turnoff to go into town as I expected it to be one of the largest places to go through today. Stopped in the center of town at 40km. Saldus had an old church dating back to 13th century. Also an active open market and a supermarket to fuel up on more food.

The photo at right shows the restroom (WC) in Saldus and also an interesting aspect in that you get little receipts here for everything. As you can see in the blown up inset, here is my carefully numbered receipt for Ls 0.15 for use of the toilet. I sometimes keep these little receipts but mostly find next places to throw them away.

After Saldus it was back to the open road. I saw two of these World War II memorials such as shown at left. I found it curious that the end of the war was still denoted (1945) but no longer the start when Latvia was forceably joined into the Soviet Union. I also saw several concrete type bunkers so can imagine the front was in this area for a while.

At 65km, I passed the boundary from one region to another. There was still an older Soviet style marker but at least as useful was the large tourist boards. These showed no hotels in the next 95km on the main road. They did however, show a hotel in Dobele, 30 km further on: 16km on the main road, and 14km on a side road. So my destination was set.

The road became better in the new region. However, at 81km, even the smaller side road was a good condition. Without too much difficulty, found my way to center of town. Here I asked for location of the hotel. Turns out it was right around the corner. Dobele has a nice historic town square dating to 1495. One of the shops even sells bicycles and bicycle parts. There is a nice historic church.

I went out to nearby supermarket. The yogurt was from Latvia, the apples from Italy, carrots from the Netherlands and ice cream from Russia. I wonder how many of those trucks have been passing me on the road.

By the way: if a cyclist from St Petersburg is reading this (or someone has contacts in St Petersburg), let me know. I’ll be there for three weeks and will look for a good place to have the bike serviced and checked before continuing across Russia. Most of my time will be spent on Russian language studies, but would be nice to meet some St Petersburg cyclists as well.

95km today. 1761km across Europe. 3399km total.

Rudbarzi, cycling into Latvia

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Crossed another border and now in Latvia. Not that I noticed much difference so far between Latvia and Lithuania except that language is different and that I needed to change currency. Cold overcast skies when I awoke with a wind from the west. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about going out in the cold, so dawdled a bit before packing everything on the bike and going again. Two kilometers to the main road and then north to the border.

The road northbound was surprisingly quiet cycling. At 8km, I came to the border. There must be some rules about insurance in Lithuania since several places to buy insurance on the Lithuanian side. Otherwise, no border control or need to check out. Into Latvia, it was a simple passport check and stamp. I used the chance to ask about potential hotels after Liepaja.

The road was a little worse on the Latvian side, but otherwise similar in going through the forest, which helped block the cross wind. At 20km, I came to the first real village: Rucava so took the turnoff to see if I could find a bank or ATM. There was nice church in center of town and a small shop, but no change to get money.

Continued quiet cycling with a few open spots where I could feel the cross winds as I came to Nico at 42km. I had eaten some breakfast things before departure but was starting to get hungry. I followed signs to “i” and even found a (closed) office for the visitor information. However, helpful person here told me there were no places to get money in this town. Otherwise, looked like a nice cute town with a library, hotel, shop and restaurant.

Onwards to Liepaja! At 60km, I came to big sign on the outskirts. This helped me plot a route into town and even showed several banks. Liepaja is a town of 87,000 people but was surprisingly easy to get to the center. I followed side road and then walked along the small tram line for a while. Got myself to the center just before 1pm, hooray! Found an ATM and withdrew Latvian money. Also went to the HansaBank to exchange my remaining Lithuanian money. I must have picked the slowest bank in town as it took 55 minutes before a teller was finally available. The lobby was full, and everyone took a number. However, for a while there was only one teller, and even when there were three they seemed to take breaks or have to spend a lot of time with each customer.

Otherwise Liepaja had a nice town center, and quite a few different big Easter decorations out around town.

After an hour at the bank, I was almost on my way. Stopped at gas station shop for some lunch and then cycling outbound. The west wind was still there so tailwind. The highway was the main one to Riga and busier than the one I had come in on. However, as I got further it became quieter. The sun had come out and it had warmed up as well. There were some gradual hills to climb up and over. There wasn’t much in way of shoulders but traffic was able to pass fairly easily, even in stretches where roads were rougher.

It was starting to be a longer day but found myself to outskirts of Rudbarzi. The customs officer had remarked that there was a small motel in town. I saw a cafe and went to ask about the motel. At the door I noticed a sign with word “Motelis” and so actually had found a motel. Nice place to stay for the night. Internet doesn’t seem as common here as in Poland but am finding nice little hotels to stay at.

By the way, for those of you wanting to watch another cross Eurasia trip: Herman Veldhuizen is about to take off on his trip from Norway to Tibet.

123km today. 1666km across Europe. 3304km total.

Sventoji, quiet roads along the Lithuanian coast

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Today cycled much of the Lithuanian coast on the Baltic Sea. Quiet roads on the Curonian Spit and also some quiet bicycle paths north of Klaipeda. Awoke to cold overcast skies, but very happy to see it was dry. My bicycle made a few new noises after the wet, even after I stopped to oil the chain.

Without too much difficulty, found my way from Nida back to the main road. This road was surprisingly quiet and much of it looked like photo at left. Fairly flat, although a few hills as we neared the end of the spit. The area had signs for a nature preserve as well as indications to stay out of those areas. There was small town of Juodkrante at 30km and at this point the road switched over to follow the bay side. A few small hills and at 46km, I was at the ferry to Klaipeda. As we crossed, Klaipeda looked like a somewhat busy seaport with traffic.
I was still using my large scale Eastern Europe map, so mostly followed the road along the coast northbound. I thought I saw a green tourist information sign, but then passed without seeing it. That seemed to be a theme today as I saw several indications of those information areas in Palanga and Sventoji but at them found not more than an area map. Without too much difficulty, found my way onto 168 and heading north out of the city. Found a gas station here and bought a map of the Baltic States. This was quite useful since it showed the small roads along the coast to Palanga and beyond.

The small road went along a nature preserve area and had periodic boards with information and maps. It was once again a quiet peaceful road. At 64km, I came passed through Karkle and shortly thereafter came upon these route 10, bicycle path signs. That must correspond to the smallest size route on my map. This was nice peaceful route that brought me through the forest and into Palanga.

Palanga had several hotels, a nice town square and signs but no obvious information point. I did find some signs that had Palanga on one side and Sventoji on the other. What was promising were two things: several points of accommodation listed in Sventoji as well as indications this bicycle route 10 would continue along the way. So, I set off through town and on to Sventoji.

Reached Sventoji and it looked a bit like a ghost town. Several restaurants all looked closed. Their map showed that many of these accommodation points might be guest houses during tourist season. No real hotel or other obvious point. Asked one gentleman who could explain in Russian where to go further down the road. Also three youths with alcohol on their breath who explained they lived in the hotel and I could ask there. Nearby, not very obvious was a small door leading down to restaurant with hotel above. I asked, for 70 lit, found a very nice room and it was a deal. Seemed like a good place to stop since the next 60 km northbound didn’t seem to have much in way of towns. I’m not quite sure if Easter Tuesday is also a holiday but it is all very quiet here in Sventoji. Also no indication of wireless internet, so will see.

I’ve only seen a small piece of Lithuania, but several things became obvious on crossing the border and more today: (1) I’ve transitioned to place where the second language is English, not German. Throughout Poland, and even through Kaliningrad, seemed if you couldn’t communicate they would first see if you knew German. English seems a quicker choice here and also present on some signage. English is more prevalent with younger generation here and Russian with the older. (2) Change back to Latin script from Cyrillic is quick and obvious. This area seems to have more the the EU signs around as if pointing the future to rest of the EU rather than with Russia. (3) Reasonable roads, and surprising amounts of little bicycle paths in this particular area of the coast.

90km today. 1543km across Europe. 3181km total.

Nida, into Lithuania with April showers

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A wet and cold day as I came back into the EU. Woke up this morning to a light frosting of snow. While it changed to coming down as rain later, the snow on the ground stayed all the time I was cycling. Had a somewhat relaxed breakfast while anticipating the day ahead. Snow showers had mostly changed to rain as I cycled out of town. I was on the north end, so fairly quick on main roads heading north to Zelenogradsk. There was a bit of traffic, but this became far less as I came past turnoff to the airport at 14 km.

There were several small villages but mostly quieter roads after this. The rain was soft but steady so mostly heads down to continue cycling. At 29km, stopped at a Lukoil gasoline station for brief snack. I gave them my Kaliningrad map as I’ve been shedding some maps along the way rather than accumulate them. How far to the border? 50km.

This next part was cycling along the Curonian Spit, a narrow stretch of land and sand dunes approximately 100km in total length. Much of this looked like the photo at upper left, with occasional signs pointing to small paths to either coast, occasional roadside pull outs with tables and a few vacation settlements. The rain caused me to mostly get into slow and steady cycling mode to keep warm rather than stop and look too much. However, looked like an interesting wild and unspoiled area. I was surprised at how many trees I saw along the way.

By 79km, I was through the last of the towns and now onto the border. Curious what I would find here. Exiting Russia was more simple and straightforward than entering and they even let me ride my bicycle across the border. The Russian exit station consisted of four stops (1) first one they just wanted to know what passport I had, once I pulled it out – all was ok and sent me to next stop (2) second stop was customs, once they found out I was US someone came out and asked me in English if I had anything to declare, “no” (3) third stop was passport control, this took a bit and I had to take off my warm hat so they could compare me to my passport photo, then a lot of waiting before finally stamping my passport and handing it back (4) last stop was just a guard gate where they phoned back to make sure I was allowed to leave. Overall, quite simple and straightforward as border crossings go.

Now 300m further was the Lithuanian entry point. Just one stop where the guard came out, took my passport, looked at things and stamped them as good to go. Big signs welcomed me to the EU. I knew Lithuania had its own money but big question was quickly answered for me as I saw signs in Latin script rather than Cyrillic.

The border crossing had caused me to stop and hence feel a lot colder than I had gotten cycling along. I decided it would be better to stop at Nida rather than stay out in the rain too much longer. I took the turnoff and into town of Nida. First stop was the ATM to get money. Next, I went over to a big information area with an “i”. Helpful person there explained (in English) that it was holiday for second Easter Day. Stopped and had some food in the cafe and as I was going out to find a hotel, someone came over and asked if I needed a place to stay. Walked over to these small little cottages nearby. She brought her daughter over who understood more English and we quickly struck a deal. A little wandering through town, but mostly trying to get warmer here from a cold day of cycling.

83km today. 1453km across Europe. 3091km total.