Latvia, Sept 2018
Hitchhiking around the Latvian coast; Cape Kolka, Ventspils, Liepaja, and on to Lithuania.
Contains 170 photos, the last of which were added 6 years, 1 month, 4 days, 6 hours, 8 minutes, and 7 seconds ago.
Hasty turnaround in Riga; there long enough to buy a sim card, lunch, and a bus to Kolka, westwards around the coast.
One night on Cape Kolka (Latvia). One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I stayed in one of the Saules Majas - Houses of the Sun - a barrel with a bed in it, electricity or heating or water, right on the beach. The mirrored glass window faces the sea, and you can see the sunrise and sunset from the same place. The Cape is a national park, and it was utterly tranquil.
I got up to watch the sun rise, and went for an early hike around the pine forests.
The plan was to hitchhike out as the public transport is sparse, which was immediately successful as my barrel-neighbours were driving the right way and took me with them to Ventspils.
So I hitchhiked from Kolka to Ventspils, and my drivers dropped me off in town. I went to the library, and wandered around a bit. Ventspils is okay, but didn't really vibe, and there are no hostels or other good places to stay. So I made a plan to get out, and move on to Liepaja.
Then I immediately bumped into my original drivers again, who had stopped for a break and were just about to continue around the coast. So they took me to Liepaja. Easy mode.
Two nights in Liepaja, which is bigger than Ventspils and has more of a backpacker scene. The beach is unfathomably soft and white. There's also a giant lake (Lake Liepaja) which is surrounded by nature reserve and has a beautiful spit leading a way out into it.
Then I took a bus to Klaipeda. Note - the international Ecolines bus does not leave from the main bus station, which I found out after walking all the way across town to it. I had to taxi back to a square in the old town (10 mins from my hostel) to make it on time.
I was in Balkan taxi mode I guess, and all set to fight for this to not be more than 5eur.. but there was actually a meter running, and after the driver had quoted me 5 or 6 before we left, it came to 4, and he wouldn't take a tip. I'm so used to taxi drivers trying to rip me off, this was a delightful surprise.
Then the bus driver was napping, and we left 20 minutes late. Somehow still arrived to Klaipeda on time though.
