Monday, 13 May Week 03

This morning we're taking it easy. First we're going to take another shower. It takes some getting used to when there are people on this site. There's just one room for men and one for women, and there are three showers each with no curtain or partition. Not everyone's cup of tea, but we're completely alone here now. And of these three showers, only one has hot water!

At around 10 a.m. we finally set off and drove further west on the 141. Sometimes more, sometimes less along the Neman. At the height of Biténai we put the indicator to the left. This place has a lot to offer. A large colony of storks nests in the trees here, which is a rarity. Storks prefer freestanding chimneys, roofs, masts or similar.

Then the writer and publicist Martyno Jankaus lived here. The museum is closed at this time of year. To be honest, it's not what interests us.

In a park, various artists were given space to create large paintings and sculptures, and this park is freely accessible. We are thrilled.

Biténai is located directly on the Neman River and the border with Russia (Kalingrad) runs right through the river. Several viewpoints offer a beautiful view of the landscape.

We continue on the 141 for several kilometers on a rather bumpy road to Siluté. We stop here to do some major shopping, as we are missing a few things.

Our destination for today is Dreverna. We are immediately impressed by the parking space at the harbor. There is only one caravan from Estonia on the entire site.

We will spend the night here with a view of the Curonian Spit (our destination for tomorrow).

We enjoy the end of the day, climb the observation tower and cook ourselves a delicious dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant is only open on weekends at this time of year.

Tuesday, May 14

There's not much going on at our overnight spot in the port of Dreverna. A caravan and we are standing on the large meadow. A few boats are bobbing in the water. And right behind us, a family with a dog is loading one of these boats. But it turns out that they don't want to leave today. The car is right behind us and every now and then they have to get something from there. Car doors don't close so quietly - most of the time! And the party to mark the start of the season is probably taking place on the boat.

No problem for us – quickly pull out the power plug, slide down from the wedges and drive to the front. Climb onto the wedges, connect the power and fall asleep in wonderful peace!

Today we are going to Kleipeda. From there the ferry leaves for the Curonian Spit. We are there at 10:30 am and the ticket is quickly bought. This trip is not cheap - the ferry costs 41 euros and the trip across the spit costs an additional 20 euros in tolls. Oops, and there are a few cars and trucks there and the ferry that is coming in is not very big.

But sometimes you need a bit of luck! We are the last vehicle to fit on.

After about 300 meters of ferry ride we go back down and chug off towards Nida.

The road is not in the best condition. A long construction site shows that work is being done on it.

In Nida we move into the only campsite.

They know that here too and that's why they charge 32 euros for one night!

We unload the e-bikes - it's lunchtime and we first have a delicious lunch at the harbor in Nida. We also have an interesting conversation with a young German from Lower Bavaria who has been traveling for 8 months in his self-converted van.

But now let's go to the Parnidis Dune. One of the highest shifting dunes in Europe. Impressive - and Russia is not far away.

On the west side of the spit is the kilometer-long sandy beach. You could actually walk along the sea almost all the way back to the ferry port - about 40 kilometers.

The campsite is located in a forest and yet after our return we can still enjoy the sun on our spot until after 6 p.m.

Today we chug back along the Curonian Spit and stop a few times to enjoy the special landscape.

Back at the ferry port we can drive directly onto the ferry and after a few minutes we set off, cross the Neman and are back in Klaipeda.

Then we find it a bit difficult. We actually wanted to stop in Karklé for today. But all of these small campsites are right on the road or are still closed.

Suddenly there are lots of people on the road and the parking spaces are full. We aren't used to this anymore. After a short lunch break we decide - we are going to drive to the Hill of Crosses today. Even if it is a much longer route than planned.

There is still a lot going on here at the beginning. We arrive at around 4 p.m. and by 6 p.m. about 5 coaches are still stopping here. The travelers from the Far East are being spit out, hurry to the Hill of Crosses, climb the few stairs, click, click, turn around and hurry back to the bus.

We stay here in the parking lot; after 6 p.m. it becomes quiet.

Thursday, May 16

Even though the parking lot was close to the road, we slept wonderfully. We didn't hear a single car.

After departure, the first thing on our list is shopping. The last thing we do is in Lithuania, because shortly after that we cross the border and enter Latvia.

Here is the second item on our list today.

We visit Rundale Palace, also called the Versailles of the Baltics.

The entrance fee of 17 euros per person (no senior discount) is worth it. The inner part, which you can visit, is really huge and impressive. The French Garden is not huge but is beautifully done.

The third point on our list today. A first purchase in Latvia with the aim of buying a new SIM card. You need a different card for each of the Baltic countries. We can't tick that point off yet.

We arrive in Riga at around 4.30 p.m. There are three places to stay overnight. All of them are close to each other. We don't like the first small campsite at all. It's almost full, there's an industrial building at the back and a road in front, a dead end but you can't see the river at all. The second is a parking space in a port area. There are places on asphalt, right by the river with a view of Riga (industry and a bit of the old town). A small green strip in front of the car and warehouses and all sorts of other things from the port with activity at the back.

The third place, again a small campsite, direct view of the river if you are lucky and get a spot right at the front, lots of green and only sparsely occupied.

Perfect, we'll take that one, especially since we're lucky and can stand on the river bank.

We look towards the west, the sun is still shining until almost 9 p.m. and we can enjoy our dinner outside.

Friday, May 17

Our day in Riga! Let the pictures speak for themselves!

Daily distance: Riga hike 11 km

​​​​​​​Pitch costs: 27 euros, including water/electricity, we do not charge electricity

Sure, we haven't seen everything in Riga. But for us, this one day is just right.

When we leave shortly before 10 a.m. we see that a cruise ship has already docked. We found that there were a lot of people out and about in the city yesterday and today it will be a lot warmer. There is no wind and the sun is shining from a cloudless sky.

We chug off towards Cape Kolka. Our first stop is in Kemeri. We discover a beautiful park, a restored water tower, a love pavilion and a small church on our walk.

We drive many kilometers along the Gulf of Riga but rarely see the sea.

But we spontaneously find a nice spot for a lunch break.

Finally we end up at a hiking parking lot near Cape Kolka.



We climb the observation tower and hike to Cape Kolka and back. Just right after today's driving. We like the cape.

We did it again and learned again - you shouldn't spend the night in a parking lot on a Saturday night! First we park at Cape Kolka in a hiking parking lot. Back from our little hike, we cook ourselves something nice for dinner and watch the comings and goings on the site. And then the first weirdos come and do a lap. The site is covered in thick dust. We decide to drive to the tarred parking lot right by the cape. There are still a handful of cars and a small bus from Germany there.

We enjoy a wonderful sunset shortly before 10 p.m.

It's slowly getting dark and we've barely got into bed when the next idiots arrive in their tuned cars. They're chatting loudly with the engines running and the music turned up loud.

And yet we are lucky in our misfortune. It doesn't take forever before they drive away and from then on it is wonderful peace!!!!

We leave the site at 7:00 a.m. We are having a bit of trouble with today's coastal trip.

Every few kilometers you could turn off and drive on a gravel road to a tiny village, actually just a collection of houses. Eventually we find a place for our second coffee and a little later a nice spot for our breakfast.

But we are not impressed by the route.

We continue to Kuldiga. Here the Venta flows and the Ventas Rumba (waterfall) is the widest waterfall in Europe. The waterfall is about 100-110 meters wide and up to 2 meters high.

Ok, there are more spectacular waterfalls but we like it.

Now all we need is a quiet, beautiful place to spend the night. We find one just before Sabile. There is a huge, beautifully landscaped area on the banks of the Abava. You can also spend the night here. For 11 euros you have endless space at this time of year. And on top of that there is the Abava waterfall. Well, we would call it a small rapid!

There are trash cans everywhere, there are pit toilets (if you need them), even electricity (if you have a really long cable and it costs 10 euros) and two open-air sinks, but no drinking water.

At 5 p.m. everyone has left because of the storm and we have our heavenly peace.

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Sunset at Cape Kolka!