The Wild East

"There were horseflies in there. They were absolute bastards"

Caught the early bus to Latvia. The journey was fairly uneventful, we arrived in Riga, the capital around midday. Riga is by far the biggest city in the whole region (800 000) and possibly the liveliest.
Our intended accommodation was the Hotel Balitija, but when we saw a boarded-up door and broken glass strewn over the pavement, we had to make do with the Hotel Aurora.
Aurora was a good Soviet-style hotel- dark, dank, seedy hallways, peeling paint, unfriendly staff, shady-looking clientele and terrible security (one firm kick to the door and you had access to any room you wanted). The smell of the toilets almost deserves a lowedown to itself.

We then proceeded to explore Riga. MT suggested that we should first explore the Opera house. The Russian-speaking guard gave us an unofficial tour (the building was closed), but then demanded “a contribution to the upkeep of the building” (his beer money I expect). He had cunningly locked the doors so our only option was to part with 2 Lats (2 quid) but this was a worthwhile investment to see such a fabulous and historic building.
Another occupation museum- this one was equally anti-German and Russian. There are more Russians than Latvians in Riga.
We had a go at watching the TV in the late Afternoon. It wasn’t much good though- 4 channels all poor quality, one of which played some kind of Latvian Big brother.

Went to the Colonels bar- supposedly one of the hippest places in Latvia (beers 1 pound), but we obviously arrived too early, there was hardly anyone in.
Went across the bridge to have a look at the Radisson SAS hotel, the smartest and most expensive in Latvia. Surprisingly we weren’t checked so we conducted our own unofficial tour.
There is a purpose-built shopping centre, 10 floors, a viewing balcony. Rooms are pretty good value (100UK for a double).
After downing several beers I inevitably needed a pee, and since these were the best toilets we would see for a while took advantage. The viewing balcony was excellent, one of MT's ideas was just to bring some beers up here and relax. His idea was quickly quelled.

Thursday- Sigulda (a medieval town 40Km noth of Riga)
We got lost in the endless grasslands. There were horseflies in there. They were absolute bastards- my ankles were on the lunch menu.
The temperature was again extremely hot (summer 2002 was one of the hottest on record).
We kept meeting the same people all day: Eminem and wife, a pair of Norwegian girls (Taylor:”the KGB spies”), a Latvian family (the Latvian mafia).
Sigulda has a cave with 16th century graffiti in and a spectacular castle which was rebuilt. In brick for some reason. In the late afternoon we explored the longest toboggan run in the world.
It was closed and empty, so again we conducted our own unofficial tour. The buildings were in a fairly poor state of repair. Later at the railway station we saw the Norwegians for a 4th time, who pretended not to notice us.
A few drinks in an outdoor café. I was accosted by some shady characters from ‘the Southern Republics’ the newly independent ‘Stans’.

Friday
Jurmala, a collection of sea-side resorts on the Baltic. We were having a rest on the main promenade, and yes, we had another encounter with the KGB spies.
There were two men doing a shoddy job of putting up a bouncy castle. Mark remarked on the similarities between these two characters and two former work colleagues at Woolworths (who perhaps should remain anonymous? You decide Markus). The work was progressing at a painfully slow and leisurely rate.

Walked south down the beach- the girls were probably the most beautiful I’ve seen anywhere- and sat down and relaxed. MT didn’t seem to be as good spirits as me for some reason. Had a buffet lunch for dinner, delicious, even better with a cold beer. MT seemed a little unhappy at the lack of a McDonalds. He was even more unhappy at giant wasps zooming in on his lunch. As he brandished our Lonely Plant handbook making giant swatting movements my 'you'll only get them more angry' comment didn't seem to help.
The bouncy castle had finally been put-up. Unfortunately, only two customers appeared after all that effort.
Dinner- Latvian restaurant, good quality but moderately expensive. Spent the remaining time in Latvia strolling round the fountains and parks.

Saturday 20 July
Bus to Kaunas, Lithuania with Eurolines which was going to Koln, Germany. Trying to get the luggage on board was a nightmare. A separate ticket had to be collected from the driver.
The assistant, a woman around 30, was extremely stressed-out. She took most of her anger out on me and Taylor. Firstly we were too slow in putting the luggage away, secondly I couldn’t find the seats fast enough (the seat numbers appeared to be totally random) and her final temper tantrum occurred when she discovered we were going to Kaunas, which, for some reason caused extra trouble and stress.
Why couldn’t we just go to Germany/somewhere else instead?
The coach was very smart. A film dubbed in Russian played an American film. I can’t remember which one it was, a fairly recent one.
Someone got a very severe scolding for using the toilet off Miss Stressed.
Got to kaunas at 4pm.

We purchased some yogurts, a recommendation from the Taylor-in-Scandinavia-survival-school.
The TV was dull, but Taylor suddenly whooped with glee when an advert for both Dalton and Bean came on. “Tim-o-te Dalt-on and Sean Benn”. I was paying the price of the buffet meal on Friday, needing 5 trips to the toilet...

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