Lithuania

When i entered to Lithuania, I was both tired and in addition my plan for Baltics countries ended in Pape National Park. Therefore it was time to take a brake. In the earlier post, I mentioned that i had met Thomas and found his place in Kalipeda. I stayed there for 3 full days, and just relaxed. Klaipeda is located next to the beach, so I had morning swim every morning and during afternoons was hanging out with Thomas, Dennis and their friends. I dont think I could have had better place to recharge my batteries, learn about Lithuania and just chill. Thank you guys for that :) I liked Klaipeda as a city, even if i did not spend so much time in the citycenter.

After Klaipeda I started cycling towards Curoniqn Spit and Nida, even though it was not my plan that I had made during my stay in Klaipeda. In general, I have very flexible plans and they might change very fast. Curonian Spit is a border between Lithuania and Kaliningrad. What a different feeling it was to cycle with new energy, while following beautifull white sand shoreline. On the one side there was big dunes and on the other side was peacefull lagon, in between pain forest. I pitched my tent next to the lagon, and while I had a swim a family had ended up having a dinner close to my camp. They invited me to join them to eat some smoked fish and of course i went. Smoked and dried fish can be found all over Baltics and it is very deligious!



 
 

The next day i continued towards Nida, and planned to take a ferry back to mainland. I met a couple from Holland, whom i had met earlier on the trip. We shared the same route all the way to Poland, so we decided to cycle together. Ber and Christel are just pure inspiration, and my new idols! This kind of sparkles I want to have in my eyes as well, when I get older. How hard it was to say goodbyes in Sweinka, in Poland.






For me, Lithuania was the most surprising country in Baltics. The hospitality and help of the

strangers was once again overwhelming. Most of the roads, which i did in Lithuania were not along the Euro Velo cycling routes. After leaving the costline, I followed Kaliningrad border, and tried swimming across Nemuna river to Kaliningrad, but the border patrol came with the boat, when i was half way through.. So i had to skip the plan. In Lithuania it is easy to find a place to pitch a tent, and they have free camping places with all the facilities but water. Even if i loved my holiday next to the beach, the rolling hills close to border with Poland was my favorite cycling part. In Finland we dont have that kind of a landscape, and the hills were easy to cycle, and of course easier to roll down :)





Here comes some random facts about Lithuania and Lithuanians, which i heard from the locals: When the local people heard that i come from Finland, they always said that Finland is a good country, since it was the first country recognizing Lithuania as an  independent country. Lithuanians drink more alcohol than Finnish people. In the beginning of 2015, Lithuania changed their currency to euros, and all the prices went up. In eurozone Lithuanians get the least money in salary, the minimum wage being only around 400 euros (!). I really got impressed by the woodwork in Lithuania, beautifull carpender work can be seen along the roads.


After leaving Lithuania my right hand stopped getting numm while cycling, which has been a problem since I left for the trip. I also had some pain on my sholder, but one morning when i woke up it was also gone. The cycling itself feels good and I have found my speed and rythym for my days. I have not had any problems with the bike for long time (until i got to Poland) and the bike has been rolling nicely. I have learned to know how far I can get during one day and what are my limits.



Currently, I am in Poland, south west from Bierbrqnzki National Park watching two eagles flying in the sky. Of course, my back tire got some problems in middle of the National Park, middle of nowhere. The outer tube didn't stay on the wheel anymore. Might be that even if I let out some pressure out when I was doing small dusty roads for one day, which were in very bad condition, the tube got damaged.. I tried fixing it, but the the back wheel kept jumping. I was lucky once again and there was a car with flat tire and when Thomak got spare tire for his car, he gave me a lift to Lomza and I went to see a bikeshop. They told me that the outer tube needs to be changed. My chain had started had streched also, so i changed that as well. And where am I know? I am just outside of Bierbrqnzki National Park and made friends with Thomak and Natalie :)

Latvia

I entered to Latvia with a new friend called Sami, who is cycling in Baltics with his folding bike. The welcome to the new country was somewhat idyllic. In the morning we went to get some food from small village shop, and group of locals were having their morning boose on the stairs, in front of the shop. They were very friendly, wished us a good journey, even if the languge that we all could understand was hard to find. Latvias seemend to be more open people than Estonians, or then just having their first drinks earlier.

We were driving on the Via Baltic for some time in the rain, but the traffic and road works were slightly too much. We decided to go and see Latvias first national park, Guaja, and some 800 years old castles and older caves. We had amazing place to camp, next to a Guaja river with a view to the castle. The national park gave us properl physical test, while trying to get the bikes up the wet muddy steep hills, but by taking the panniers away and making many trips up and down we managed.

The next day we cycled to Riga, capital of Latvia. I fixed my bike and got more gas for cooking stove and other essentials. It was nice to be in the city for a change and Riga has many sights and offers things to do for all the tastes. By change, I happened to meet a friend Ammar on the street and went to have some beers afterwords. After Riga it was time to say good byes to Sami and good travelling company. For change, how nice it was to spend evenings together!

One of my dreams and the only plan for Latvia and whole Baltics was to see wild horses, which can be seen in Pape national park. Therefore, I turned my bike towards the west coast of Latvia and planned to visit first Liepaja, the third biggest city in Latvia. The bike was doing good work and i reached Liepaja in two days. The road from Riga to Liepaja was full of Second World War memorials and graves. It was a good reminder of the history of the area.

One funny note from the road: if you see a cyclist lying half way on the road and half way in the push in Latvia, the person is most likely just taking a rest. When i saw the first one, I of course thought that he had  accident with a car, and went to talk to him. Well, by doing this, I got almost hit on my face from totally drunk man, who was just sleeping to clear his head. The rest of them i didn't disturbe anymore, let the people rest when they are in need of it :)

For the first time I was using Warm Shower network and i couldn't even imagine such a warm welcome from Martin and his family. After biking 130km in one day, shower and sightseing in Liepaja soft bed gave me deep and long sleep. Big thank you!

The Russian army left the Liepaja as late as 1991 and one part of the city was full of old Russian style blockhouses and abondent buildings. I get always amazed by how fast the nature takes over the abondent places. I also learned that the situation in Ukraine is hitting hard in Latvia. In Liepaja the russians are the once, who are suffiring from it, since some of the latvian speakers have stoped talking to them.

As a city, Liepaja is interesting and full of history. Somehow, I felt that the memories and ruins, suchs as bunkers, were everywhere where i went, but at the same time, I liked the vibes of the city better than Riga. The mix of old gritty warehouses and hipster like cafes, different type of buildings and friendly people made me to like the town a lot. It was a place I could have gotten stuck, but i had a date with wild horses.

From Liepaja I continued to Pape National park. I had planned to get some water along the way, but everything was closed. Next to a graveyard, I found a well and took up some water, but the well showed out to be a graveyard of mice. I left the water and three dead mice behind me and went into next farmhouse to ask for water before entering deeper into the national park. I got the water from old Russian farmer, who invited me to his place. Since he lived alone in the house, i was a bit worried to
enter and therefore decided to continue to see the horses. He showed me the place from the where the horses were, and i left.

Yep I found the horses... and i spend many hours with them, eventually put up my tent close to the area where they were grazing. Hih, I was one big smile and chilled with the horses until the Russian man, who gave me water came. He wanted that i put down my tent and come to his place. I dont think i would have changed my spot for anything in the world, and  moreover i was not sure what his intensions were. He left, and i was worried that he goes to get some drinks and returns. Well.. So he did. I was kind of worried, but thought that before nothing happens I have nothing to worry about. Even if i am far away from people i can always run into the forest or talk myself out of the situation. The world gave me a lession again, he had returned to had me dinner. And the next morning he brought me breakfast...

Now I am in Lithuania, in Klaipeda. After the national park i felt tired and decided to take longer rest. I tired to find camping place that was on the map, but without big success. By accident, I found super friendly Thomas who is rentting cottages and he gave me a room to sleep. I have been treated like a princess with food, drinks and company. Would not think better place to recharge my energies and plan the trip further.

There is now some photos from the trip, which can be found from the picture page. Having some problems when adding them into the posts, so until I solve out these problems, all the pics are on the other page :)

While i was looking for new earphones in Liepaja I met very helpfull man, who later introduced his band and music to me. So here we go, meet Old Folkband Zari from Latvia:
http://youtu.be/bbcYKizaqeg
http://youtu.be/ylqDmyPa0b8

Estonia

Normally the countries which are very close are the once, which I know the least. I never had big ideas how Estonia would be like. With its wildlife, nature and helpfull people, Estonia has surprised me big time. To be such a small country Estonia seems to have everything that one can imagine. Bicycling has been made very easy, the tracks are well marked and most of the roads are in ok condition. Because of my own unorganised personality, I didnt know that there are free cycling maps and many other cyclists cycling around Baltics. Easy way to start the trip.

Before I left to Tallinn, while I was lost with directions, I met a nice guy in Helsinki, who happened to go to Tallinn as well for the weekend. With Markus and Juha I spendid my first weekend in Tallinn and visited öle festival, which was a good start for the Estonian exploration.

From Tallinn I decided to follow the shoreline and went to Nova, because i had heard that the nature is stunning there. Over 18% of Estonia’s land and 30% of the Sea territory is designated a protected areas which includes five national parks, nature reserves, landscape reserves and smaller areas. Nova is one of them. I slept at the shoreline next to the sea, had a morning swim and enjoyed the sun.

Some of the roads i took were not on the best condition, since I got slightly enthusiastic for the small cute paths, and my bike had "some" problems with my decisions. First my front cross bar pipe got loose. While fixing it, I found out that the screw is broken.. So i left it loose. After a while, when I was basically middle of forest my back rack got broken ( the back-panniers are not that heavy). When I tried to fixi it, the world was showing its miracles and a german Henry-superman-cyclist appeared from the forest. The leg of the bike got broken earlier, and he used that to solve the rack problem. He gave me maps and an apple and we said good bye.

The same day was continuing as an epic day. The storm arrived, and even if i was totally socked, I couldnt stop smiling. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, since the rack was working again. I was looking for a place to camp close to the sea again, and ended up to tiny surfing place. I asked if I could pitch my tent there and they welcomed me. The day ended up with camp sauna that the surfers had and i was the happiest Lotta in the world.

The second day started with cleaning my dirty bike and fixing the gears. There was 1 hour of sun before the constant rain started. I decided to cycle to Pärnu in order to change my backrack and other broken pits and parts for my bike. 50km before I got to Pärnu the headwind was so strong that i would have walked faster than biked and of course my back tire got flat. I couldnt find the tool to remove the rear wheel.. I suppose, I had forgoten it on the road, when I needed it last time. There I was pushing my bike ovet an hour to the nearest houses to ask for the tool. The houses were abandoned, i found only one Russian grandma, who kept saying njet njet and shaking her head.

So, I kept walking and found a farm where very friendly girl greeted me and the family borrowed me the tool. I had never changed the back tire before and was surprised how easy it was. I found the hole easily and while putting the outer tire back i found huge hole from it as well. I decided to change the outer tire as well, since I had gotten Michelin protek tires from Huntteri. Now I have them both in front and back.

The family invited me to come and eat, so i went. We started to talk with Lisi, the girl who took me into the house. Fast we realised that we have lot of in common and actually we had met before. We found out that we had been on same course in Denmark 3 years ago! There I was in middle of countryside in Estonia, by change found Lisi and her amazing family, who gave me fantastic place to sleep in there sauna room! Thank you!

Life is a little miracle and by having a bike that acts like a mare, i have ended up into situations that have been both mind blowing and making me to feel very gratefull.

The challenges also have forced me to slow down my speed and mind. Somehow its hard to forgett the rush and just led it go. Where am i rushing? I dont know. I am rushing to a destination. What is my destination? Every day i am going through same conversation, which starts pretty much like this: why are u pushing yourself so much and not stopping to see the places, not making a deture to the woods, pick up some strawberries? Then i have several answers but so far the most common goes like this: i should continue so i reach to.. then the sentence stops, becouse in the mornings I dont set a destination to be reached for the day to avoid this situation. The talking in my head stops normally to this conclusion: i have reached my destination already, i am on journey and every day i am where i should be, just be and relax.

This song was in my head while pushing the bike to Lisis home: http://youtu.be/yL97AocwuaE

Finnland

Now the first 250 km is behind and it is time to say good bye to Finland. At the moment i am sitting in the ferry from Finland to Estonia without maps and plans. I believe Tallinn will offer me better bicyling maps for Estonia than Helsinki. Helsinki was treating me great, I met friends and my bicycle got new tires and handlebars at Lauttasaaren Pyörähuolto. In addition, I learned punch of usufull information about my bike while fixing it.

The trip from Tampere to Helsinki went surprisingly good. When I look back, i think the 3 days i was bicycling was like a little bike trip in a big one. When i left from Tampere the sun was shining, but the headwind was pretty strong. Within first part of the day my gears broke down and i had no clue how to fix them properly, but knew enough to take me to the next bikeshop in Lempäälä where the son of the owner showed me what to do. The gears broke down second time near to Helsinki, but this time I knew what to do and managed by myself, wihiii!

The first night i pitched up my tent next to Längelmävesi in Iittala and had a swimm. We finns are spoiled people with so many beautifull lakes and fresh water. For me it offered private beaches to swimm and enojy the silence. The first day was, like first days normally are. Getting used to the new life with all the emotiotion that it includes. I definately enjoyed, but had so much adrealin in my blood that i had to remind myself to stop and relax as well.

The second day was totally different than the first day. I woke up for the rain, put down my camp, made breakfast and started the day. I enjoyed the whole day even though the rain was not easy Finnish summer rain but heavy shower. Even if I visited all tiny villages and enjoyed the Finnish countryside with many many breaks, I somehow managed to bike 120km without noticing it. Went to sleep at my friends place in Kerava and had my last Finnish sauna and got spoiled with good food! :)

So the first part went well, the blisters hopefully get eventually better and i am looking forward what the adventures in Estonia are like. I recommend vai Finlandia bike maps, they are easy to follow and the journey goes through all the cute small villages along the way. Wihiii, i can se the land already so better to go down to the deck where I get my bicycle and see what the day brings.

The song of the day http://youtu.be/CkCpXIxZZn8

Ps. Now I have been in Estonia for some days. I have spend two nights in tallinn and now camping in beautifull beaches. What would be better than having a morning swim and breakfast while listening the waves! Have had some big challenges with my bike, for example, the back rack broke down in the woods, far away from anywhere. I think my trip continues with great fortune and my rack got to be fixed and trip continued. What has been the words in my head: graditude, graditude and graditude. I had to be reminded to receive when people give. Sounds easier than it is in reality.

I will post pics when i figured it out how to get them out from my camera without cable :) here is one photo of the rack solution :)