We really fell in love with the baltic states! If we have not raved enough last week, then this week at the latest! Although the weather was not so good with us, we really enjoyed the time cycling!

Saturday 15.07.

That morning we were gently woken up by the melody of the numerous wind chimes.

We took some time to take a closer look at the house and its treasures. However, there is so much to discover that probably it would take you a few week to get to know this place. Asta, who was also just visiting here and is the best friend of Alex's girlfriend, invited us to visit the dragon boat festival. The young people of Tochka, as this place is called, were already dressing up as pirates to prepare the children entertainment at the dragon boat festival. Tilman and I first had something very unpiratey in mind - sending modern messages in bottles. Once again, for some time, various postcards accumulated, waiting to be sent. So we first went to the post office, where we amused the official with our wishes - especially the stamps for Tilman. After the mail was put in the bottle ähhh in the mailbox, we went to the Promemade at the lake. A really nice place! Everywhere people were bathing or playing beach volleyball and just enjoying the good weather. In the distance we could already hear the drumming of the dragon boats. When we arrived at the boats, we watched the final race of the young people. Some teams seemed to be more competetive than others. Hidden in the bushes we found the camp of the pirates. From slackline to archery to piratey tunes on the xylophone, everything was there and the kids enjoyed it very much!

Alex told us that many of the young people have only been participating for some time and he already has many other actions in his head. Asta also told us that they have a small self-built western town just outside the city where they do LARP (Life Action Role Playing). So dressing up and playing different scenarios. We followed the wild horde of pirates back to the tochka with the intention of taking a little nap. After some time another couple came over Warmshowers - Lisa and Glenn from Belgium. We chatted with them for a while before we went exploring again. Alex even showed us his immense miniature collection and all his games. In the attic we found a whole treasure trove of costume and equipment materials for cosplay, i.e. dressing up as certain characters or scenarios. In the meantime Glenn prepared a really tasty dinner for everyone and we exchanged a few more experiences with them. Then we played a round or two of Codenames with Glenn and Asta.

Sunday 16.07.

Somehow I could get used to being woken up by the wind chimes. Since today was going to be an unusually hot day and we woke up too late to "get going early" anyway, we just decided to leave in the late afternoon, after the heat high. Until then the other two used the time to organize a few things and Tilman and I chatted with Vilija.
After 16:00 we drove off and once again I cursed the strange sandy roads with the bumps caused by too many cars. When we drove through a very mosquito rich forest, we also met a man who seemed to be looking for something in the forest. We asked him and he told us that through this forest was a front in WW1. That's right - if you look closer, you can see the remains of the trenches in the forest. Kind of creepy... he showed us ammunition he had found. Sometimes he also searches for human remains on behalf of relatives and often finds them. A current problem is when former soldiers of the Soviet Union are found. Due to the war and the border regulations it is difficult to transfer the remains.

After this instructive hour, we continued our way through the sandy ground and before we knew it, we were already crossing the border into Latvia with the other two. A few kilometers later we found a really good campsite - perfect for two or more tents. Glenn cooked food with great pleasure while I looked over his shoulder and picked up a few tricks. Maybe we should use the stove more often too.... It was still a nice evening with the two of them and we somehow couldn't stop exchanging our experiences.

Monday 17.07.

We adapted to the rhythm of the two and got up a little later than usual and enjoyed a long breakfast with the two. The first kilometers we still rode together, until at some point our paths separated. Tilman and I rode a quiet paved road through the forest, while the other two preferred the gravel road. In Kraslava we took a break in the shade with an ice cream in our hands. And as luck would have it, we met Glenn and Lisa again. At the nearby castle, everyone replenished their water supplies - yes, it was still very warm!

After that, we parted ways once again. Will we see them a third time? Maybe they will pass us on their way south?
We continued our journey to "Devils Lake" or "Velnezers See". There, an unusual silence awaited us. The lake is called Devils Lake because animals give it a wide berth and only a few fish can be found in the pond. So far, there is no scientific proof, but the assumption is that a gas accumulates on the surface, which prevents sufficient oxygen from entering the water. Exciting, isn't it?
We postponed our next stop in Latvia, the oldest town Ludza, to the next day due to a rather gravel road and pitched our tent in front of, we assume, the parking lot of a small cemetery. Just in time, because as soon as we had made ourselves comfortable in the tent, it began to rain.

Tuesday 18.07.

Tuesday morning predicted a change in the weather. The sound of the rain on the tent made us stay a little longer in the tent and for once we even had breakfast in the tent. And then we continued on the gravel road. That and the sudden change of weather caused me a headache. At the end of the gravel road was fortunately an asphalted road, where we were addressed by a native Alki on the wheel, which wanted to give Tilman first of all something clear from his Fanta bottle. What Tilman rejected of course exemplary. We drove past a large lake and made at a bus stop on a bench something break and talked. A few kilometers ago we had a disagreement and maybe not the best communication with each other. So it was first "Wahrrad" time to solve the problem - it's just not always peace and quiet, although for the latter it was about time again.

The rest of the day we just seemed to be lucky. Twice a bad rain almost caught up with us, but we escaped it at two really good bus stops (and bridged the time with a Minecraft video). Also the road to Ludza, marked as a gravel road, was at least half asphalted and we found a good campsite protected by small trees - and lots of mosquitoes....

Wednesday 19.07.

The gravel road of the previous day led us directly into Ludza. An idyllic little village. At the lake we found a really good place for breakfast. For a change with table, bench and toilet instead of road and forest. We made friends with the local fishermen and washed Tilman's socks in the water. The place was so beautiful and for once the sun was shining again, so that it was really not so easy for us to continue our journey.

Especially not, because from Ludza to Rezkene, in the direction we had to go, there was only one major road. It was nothing compared to the Romanian roads, but pleasant is also something else. In Rezekne we filled up our supplies at Lidl and pumped water from the ground into our water canister (which we have been carrying since Romania). The weather continued to be weird and we only took an occasional break. For example to photograph a funny bridge.

Towards evening we got a heavy rain shower and we were lucky again. The house we just drove past was inhabited and the people also just took refuge in the house. So we met Liane and her family. She invited us to come into the kitchen and have a warm tea. Liane was a bit older than us and just lived in the family's summer house. We hit it off right away. She was in Portugal for Erasmus and plans to visit Munich with her family in a few weeks. We had again so many topics of conversation, which wanted to find no end and were interrupted only by a small concert of her son. In the end, we were even allowed to sleep inside and let the tent dry a bit in the garage.

Thursday 20.07.

Liane and family prepared super delicious mini pancakes for breakfast - and there was coffee :) A really nice morning just. Freshly strengthened we drove the last 10km on the big road, before it went again on smaller ones. In Latvia, driving is a bit boring, as we mostly followed the "P" roads, which always connected so smaller towns. However, there were often 40-60km in between, so we often only drove for one or two roads in a day. A bit monotonous. Today we found for once a good playground, where Tilman also laid a bench and let the sun shine in his face.

Otherwise, not much exciting happened. In the evening we drove past one of the numerous lakes again and saw from above a beautiful bathing area - a potential camping site. We asked the two people down at the bathing spot if it was ok to camp here for one night, as we were not sure if it was private property or not. Once again they asked the right ones, because they knew the person who owns it and asked them briefly by phone. As an answer came back: "As long as they take their garbage" - perfect! We don't understand anyway why people don't take their garbage with them. I mean, they even brought it there...
Well, Tilman set up the tent while I started cooking. We used the time the couscous needed to soak to go into the lake - we needed a shower again! Fresh out of the water and with a full stomach we watched the sun setting behind the lake.

Friday 21.07.

Without any alarm clock, we were woken up by the increasing heat in the tent. Since we had cooked last night, much of the time in the morning went to dismantling on cleaning the cooking utensils. Somehow we understand again why we do not cook so often...
Then we went to the next village to have a yogurt and oatmeal in the beautiful town hall square. The weather turned out, as the whole week already very changeable and we found only now and then at bus stops an acceptable place to make a break. Since we drove now really fast against the north, the days were also longer and longer for us and you hardly realize, it is already 21:00 and the sun is still shining. Maybe it is time to find a place to sleep. At a church we stopped us asked a man who has addressed us, whether he knows a good place to camp and he suggested his property in about 3km. There we did not say no and drove to said address. With the size of the property he had in any case not understated! It was huge and we were allowed to choose a place. A little later his wife came out and gave us a can full of self-picked raspberries. Super sweet! While we were setting up our tent, they loaded their canoes onto the car to participate in tomorrow's "sunrise concert" at the lake. And although it was still not really dark at midnight, we decided to go to sleep slowly.