15th Sept - Forest in Latvia to Valmiera

I woke up at 6.30 in order to pack up everything and get on the road by 8 as I really wanted to see if I could make it to Valmiera to meet Sandra from Couch Surfing before 1.30 and it was 100km away. I had spoken to her last night using Skype on my phone from a free wi-fi connection at a Petrol Station and she had seemed really friendly and welcoming on the call. She said that she was going to Riga tomorrow and so could not put me up but that I was very welcome to join her if I could get there by 1.30. She was going to a film festival and was planning on watching a few movies. I really liked the idea as she seemed so lovely and I had not been to the cinema in ages.

Normally 100km would take me less than 5 hours on flat roads and so it should have been possible for me to make it by 1.30 however the weather was terrible! There was a really really strong headwind and rain. I pushed hard but I only managed to get to Valga for 12.30 - about 50km. I called her and let her know I would not be able to make it and she kindly said that she would arrange for me to stay with some friends of her's in Valmiera instead. :-)



I spent about one and a half hours warming up in a garage, drinking coffee and using the free wi-fi connection to call my friends and family and then when the weather cheered up I set off again. I crossed into Latvia about 2ish. There was only 1 little sign and no real border as such. It was a nice flat road mainly through forests but there was still a very strong head wind.

I stopped off at another garage to use their wi-fi and check my messages to find out how to contact Sandra's friend and tried to buy a Europe Road Atlas only to find that unlike Estonia, Lithuania don't use the Euro - oops! They accepted credit cards but I would have to find an ATM somewhere. I had thought that I could use Euros in all the Baltic countries - what a numpty!

I did not arrive in Valmiera until about 5.30 (only 4 hours later than planned). It had started raining heavily again and so I was wet and cold. Davis (Sandra's brother in-law) drove to met me at the Petrol Station on the outskirts of town and I followed him to his flat. It was lovely to have someone meet me and to jump in a hot shower. Davis' wife Jaraka came home not long afterward and we all went off on a tour of the town in the car with Davis driving.



Jaraka popped into a shop and bought me a traditional Latvian sweet. It was amazing. You can buy them in pretty much any shop and they are stored in the fridge. It is like chocolate coated New York Style Vanilla Cheese Cake but in a small sweet packet - perfect :-) It is almost as good as Starbucks Cheesecake but a fraction of the price and available everywhere.



It was the best tour I have ever had of a town! Davis had trained as a guide many years ago and knew every obscure fact there was to know about Valmiera and Latvia. I found it absolutely fascinating and loved the statistics for there utter obscurity! I wished that my Dad had been there to enjoy the experience too as he would have loved it too....



There are 10 kindergartens, 5 primary school, 2 high school, 1 university and one professional college in the town. The have an ice skating rink, a huge basket ball hall (where the international woman's championships where held), a beach volley ball court outside next to the river, a skate park and a BMX park where the national champion trains.... there were so many other facts that I don't even have the energy to write them down. Needless to say I did film the event and so I have it on video to remember for ever! It was very funny and lasted about 1 hour.



I explained to Davis that I had not been able to find peanut butter since Mongolia and so he took me to the largest local Supermarket - and there it was! It had been a long running joke between Jenna and me in Mongolia that the next peanut butter would be Moscow but I had failed to find any until Valmeria, Latvia!



When we got back to the flat we were not very hungry and so we just had some snacks and I ate loads of peanut butter from the jar :-) Davis told me loads about Latvian culture and Jaraka also told me about Slovakian culture as she is originally from there. I loved having a glass or two of Jamesons and nattering with them until late. They were really fun people with a great sense of humor. I enjoyed staying with them very much.


This is a youtube video about the history of Latvia which I found very funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKIeD3RxRQ



They have the best toilet I have seen on this trip!

Not only did they have a gold sprayed loo but they also had a plastic chandelier and a picture of Mona Lisa!

Had a lovely night drinking whiskey and chatting.