- Left – 8am
- 20th August 2015
- Miles rode – 266 (426km)
3 countries today!
I paid for a cheap room (15 Euros) in a dorm and as I’ve found often, if the hostel is out of the way it’s often empty. I woke up alone in a lovely farm house in the middle of the Latvian countryside, a lovely sunny day. The country road out of Latvia was empty, just me the sun and beautiful scenery.
By 11am I was crossing the border to Lithuania and for the following few hours again I was on empty roads with beautiful lakes and forest all around, I couldn’t resist making a right turn and heading off through forest tracks.
At midday I stopped at a service area for petrol and coffee and they were serving Jaegermeister! Any country that feels it’s ok to have a coffee and Jaegermeister and then drive is ok with me.
I had dared to start imagining that Lithuania like Latvia had no motorways and the whole country was a fairytale with no rush, no congestion & no cities, then early in the afternoon I saw a massive factory and shortly after my sat nav took me straight onto a motorway, cars & Lorries jostled for prime position around me and switched lanes aggressively as everyone wanted to be first to their destination. Welcome to industrial Northern Europe! I don’t want to be here I thought. The motorway trapped me with galvanised steel barriers for 10 or so kilometres before I could turn off, I was free again.
I had intended to stay the night in Lithuania but when I arrived at the town of Marijampole it wasn’t up to expectations so I continued on and found myself in Poland. Suwalki is a Lovely town and with beer for under £1 per pint and great pizzas for £3. I’m going to like it here I thought.
