LATVIA

Another change of currency. We have given up trying to work out what the written words say. The credit card is very useful, we can always understand the numbers on a till.

The border buildings are still in place but except for the border sign there is no sign of life. I wonder what ghosts linger here unbelieving of foreign vehicles driving through without any challenge.

The signs at each border have been very informative of road regulations. In all the countries we are passing through it is obligatory to have headlights on in the daytime. We both think it is a good idea as it certainly makes driving easier in any weather condition.

We came across these fellows patching the road. We found out very quickly that Latvia had not spent their EU funds on roads. Driving here is not so much as dodging the potholes  as it is of rumbling over a road almost entirely of filled potholes.

Oh dear !! what does this mean. We came to a bridge but are still not sure if this is what we were being warned of.

After arriving in Riga we went to Riga City Camping which is about 2 kilometre from the city. It was a great position and very popular. There were washing machines so time was spent doing the mundane housework before we ran out of clothes. This little fellow lived next door to us. They were from England and had been travelling for 6 months. We gave Thomas a kangaroo and a koala and next morning he showed us the zoo he made to accommodate the animals.

The campsite offered a bus tour as well as a small boat tour on the river and the canal running through the city centre. A good way to see the city before walking around.

Riga was once known as the Paris of the East. The building are of a similar height and there are many Art Deco buildings. There is an avenue of Lime Trees similar to the Unter den Linden in Berlin also. It is a lovely town to wander through with many pedestrian squares as well as well as the usual myriad of restaurants.

We had a cappuccino in the biggest cups we had see for a while. 

Kevin was amused by this booze bus. The occupants pedaled along with a wine barrel in situ and the driver up front pedaling also, hopefully not drinking.

Many of the older wooden buildings in Riga have been heritage listed and are now being restored.


In the park we came across the usual locks put there by lovers.

The monument in the centre of town always had people watching carefully to see if the guards would move. We also stood there and finally saw them move but only when the changing of the guard ceremony took place.

Riga has a lot of huge statues dotted around the parks. 

From Riga we travelled to Ligatne where I had read there was a tour of the nuclear bunker the Russians built during the cold war in case someon pressed the button. Unfortunately it was closed but is reopening soon so we may see it on the way back down.

Ligatne also has a huge paper mill which now uses recycled paper but used wood in the past. All the town buildings are built from wood, some new and others original.
 

 Even the swing is wood where usually the parts would be rope or chain.

 The power poles all through these areas are also  wood.

While driving around we came across this ferry sign so off we went to investigate.

After watching a car being taken to the other side we decided we also would pay the Ferryman.



We payed the ferryman and  we started driving on OK, me with my heart beating fast as we seem to rock a bit as the pontoon got itself balanced. Then crunch grind, Kevin had left the step down and as it was a very tight fit all that could be heard above my screams was the step getting crunched on the ferry uprights. Kevin borrowed a hammer and tried to straighten the step as I added some comments to the job he was doing. When I load up the video you will see and hear what happened after.

Finally we made it to the other side and off we drove halfway up the exit hill. Unfortunately being front wheel drive Harry had a hard time trying to make way on the sand covered by small rocks. They hadn't taken into account that a bigger heavier vehicle was not the same as a car.

OH Dear!!! The ferryman came up and went to get a plank

More shuffling and it was decided to back onto the ferry and back to the other side. With me not being able to get out I white knuckled it back down and off we went again. Poor Harry he was most dejected!
And what a lovely ferryman he even tried to give us back our 3 euro.

 

 

This is one of our campsites behind a garage which had the most beautiful Peonies in full flower.

We came by the biggest stockpile of wood waiting to be chipped that you could imagine. The piles must have been a kilometre long.

   

 The deer signs in Latvia are different  to Lithuania. I wonder what they re like in Estonia.