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.
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Nice quiet rest day in Kaliningrad. Walked through some of the city in the morning and took a restful afternoon to read and relax before another short walk. It had snowed overnight and was a cold but otherwise nice day. It was quiet in the city as most of the shops were closed. Still found a nice bakery that was open and saw some people out with shopping bags.
Kaliningrad had a few of the original Prussian sights around including an old church from 1233 that was still being restored. Church at the right was a newer orthodox church with glistening domes and many people quickly coming to pay their respects.
However, as a whole, feels more like a Russian city than a German one. Several prominent statues such as bottom left to (re)-founding of the city in 1946. Much of the city had been destroyed during the way and several spots with large concrete buildings to replace them. Also lots of shops.
Overall, nice to have a quiet relaxing day as I looked over maps, caught up on reading and otherwise took a break from the daily bicycle ride to the next place.
0km today. 1370km across Europe. 3008km total.
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Made it to a little corner of Russia today, Kaliningrad. My plan A worked! Breakfast at the hotel was a little later. From there some smooth cycling for 10km to Braniewo and then north to Gronowo and the border. Just before the border were two establishments like the one on the left for exchanging money. I decided to exchange all my Polish Zloty and hope it worked out – if not I would go back the ATM and get more Polish money. From there at 17.5km was the border.
There were a few cars waiting so I took my turn in line. Waited for a little but then a customs official waved me to come up. They asked if I had a visa for Russia, “yes”, and then asked for the passport. Two different people looked at the passport and handed it over and told me all was ok. I looked back at my passport for any stamps – they noticed took it back and stamped the passport. I was then waved through and allowed to proceed. Hey, that wasn’t too difficult I thought before remembering actually all I had done was exit Poland, entry to Russia still remained.
I cycled forward to where a set of gates were down and the Russian guard told me to wait. I was asked purpose of my visit to Russia, “to bicycle across Russia to Vladivostok”. He then went back and to the telephone. After a little wait he came back and said, “you can’t cross the border on a bicycle”. Ok, so my question: “why?”. He let me know again that I couldn’t ride a bicycle across the border. I was just as insistent to ask why again and so he said, “wait and the officer will come”.
A short bit later, the officer came up in a car. He also asked my purpose in entering Russia. He carefully explained to me that you weren’t allowed to cross this border on a bicycle. Only automobiles, buses or their passengers could cross. He asked if I understood. Yes, I did but now I was really perplexed. If I couldn’t cycle across – then how to cross the border? The officer explained that I would need to get someone to take me across in a car. Ok, but where would I find such a car?
Somewhere in this exchange the situation changed from a “make sure the tourist understands the rules” to a problem solving exercise. Not quite sure how it happened, but once they knew that I understood the rules and wasn’t challenging them….the situation changed to one where they started helping to solve things. Fairly soon, the officer asked a minibus passing through if they might take me. It wasn’t exactly what the minibus driver wanted to do, but as he learned I was cycling all the way across Russia and even planned to go through Novosibirsk – his home city, he also became more enthusiastic.
We loaded my bike and all gear in the van. They passed me a migration card to complete. We drove onto the real passport control. We all got out of the van. After looking through passports, visas and everything, all was ok and we were allowed to pass! Hooray! A kilometer or two further was a gasoline station. The van driver parked. He joked that he could take me to Kaliningrad but wasn’t going to drive all the way to Vladivostok. Oh, no this was all fine and I would cycle from here. He wouldn’t accept money for the favor. He shook my hand and wished me well. I was pleased to now be in Russia!
The sign said Kaliningrad 49km, and Saint Petersburg 1001km. Initially this road was very smooth and not much traffic at all. There wasn’t many crops in the field or cars on the road. The road came through several small villages and progressively became busier towards Kaliningrad.
I noticed several large monuments to “1945” and when this area was taken from the Germans. This area as a whole had been the Germany area of East Prussia and fierce fighting had occurred in this area. After the war, the Germans had been expelled and Koningsberg renamed Kaliningrad. The Cyrillic text was an obvious quick change as were new colors for road signs.
At 61km, I came to outskirts of Kaliningrad. I cycled for about 4 km further and then shifted to walking for a bit. I had made a hotel reservation via the internet. I didn’t see the obvious street. My “Lonely Planet Russia” also didn’t have several of the main streets that the hotel confirmation had included in their directions. Hmm, well decided to walk into center of town first and perhaps see if I could find a map along the way.
I walked to the center and the large (and expensive) Kaliningrad hotel. Ok, now time to start walking outbound. I decided to walk to less expensive hotel indicated in Lonely Planet. Along the way, found a vendor who had a city map. Great, looked things up and adjusted some to make my way to the hotel where I had reservations.
This is a large city of 400,000 people or so. Despite the outskirts being quiet, it becomes busy and chaotic in the downtown streets. I perhaps walked more than necessary but wanted to avoid crunching into a nasty pothole. I’ve decided to take tomorrow (Easter Sunday) as a rest day and explore a bit of the city. Internet at the hotel charges by the megabyte, so I haven’t put big photos in yet or updated geographic coordinates.
Despite the Cyrillic script, it is nice to be in a country where I know a little more of the language than I did in Poland. After 3000km of cycling, it is also nice to have my BikeRussia trip actually get into one little corner of Russia itself.
Now that I’ve cycled through let me also add a few observations on my quick cycling in Poland: (1) people are friendly and helpful, I could typically smile and have them explain a word or transaction (2) for parts I cycled through, German is much more prevalent than English (3) Polish roads are known for being among the least safe (as far as fatalities per mile) – I can see perhaps why. There is a lot of traffic and tries hard to pass into oncoming lanes. Roads with shoulders seem best but also useful to be alert as sometimes looked like a 3d Frogger game. At the same time, the small yellow roads can be beautiful, peaceful and quiet. Their quality varies widely but if I wanted to spend more time really seeing Poland, the yellow roads would probably be a better choice.
70km today. 1370km across Europe. 3008km total.
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