Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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Bike trip to Aglona, report

2010-07-03

вылазки фото байк природа туризм спорт

This is about last weekend, now with pics. I posted the tracks earlier

A calm body of water, its left bank densely overgrown with tall green reeds and grass. On the right, a large deciduous tree stands in the water, reflecting on the surface, with a strip of forest visible on the horizon under a cloudy sky.

A vast landscape with a dense green forest, through which a body of water peeks out. A wide lake and hills are visible on the horizon under a cloudy sky.

This is the view from the bird watching tower

A stork with a chick sitting in a large nest on top of an electrical pole under an overcast sky, framed by tree foliage.

We saw an insane number of storks, like 20 of them. I only snapped this one because the kiddo's head is sticking out.

 

A rural landscape with a pond and green meadows, surrounded by a dense forest. Several people are fishing by the water, wooden houses and a large deciduous tree are visible nearby under an overcast sky.

There was a sign for "Some-church-or-other" here, so we turned to check it out just in case.

Behold this masterpiece of brick architecture:

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Now, the Aglona Basilica is a whole different story

A white-stone twin-towered Catholic baroque basilica, surrounded by greenery under an overcast sky, with an asphalt road in the foreground.

 

Sunny summer landscape: a well-kept lawn in front, beyond which a view of a blue lake opens up through a row of trees. A wooden pier and a moored red and yellow catamaran are visible on the lakeshore.

We stayed on the grounds of the www.malvines.lv guesthouse. The owner was right there with his family at the time, his name is Jāzeps. A name kinda like the Russian Yegor, pretty hardcore for my taste.

They charged us 4 lats for the tent, another 2 for firewood, and 5 for the boat. It's not exactly pennies, of course, but at least the firewood and the boat came in super handy. In the middle of Lake Cīrīšs, which you see in the picture, there's a trail. It was built by my favorite state organization, Latvijas valsts meži. The trail is excellent, so far I've only seen a better one in Pilskalnes Siguldiņa

A wooden pier, on which stand two logs stylized as cannons, leading to a densely forested shore with a wooden staircase and a sign reading "LATVIJAS VALSTS MEZI".

The lens was dirty, hence the pics look like this.

A man in glasses and a khaki jacket sitting in a turquoise boat on the water surface with reflections and reeds, looking directly into the camera.

Here I am in my Integral Designs hardshell jacket. The jacket is awesome, though an adjuster on the hood wouldn't hurt.

An information board for the Lake Cīrīšs nature park (Cīrīša ezers) with text in Latvian about the Upurkalns hillfort, accompanied by old black-and-white and modern color photographs of the area.

A trail with info boards, it's my first time seeing one like this. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were vicious, and I barely had time to read them. Plus, reading in Latvian is tough when you're exhausted. Don't forget, by that time we'd ridden 60 km (some of it on dirt roads), rowed half a kilometer on the boat, and we still had a half-hour hike along the trail, dodging giant mosquitoes.

A young man in glasses, a cap, and a green t-shirt stands on a fallen tree trunk in the forest and shines a flashlight down. In the background, a forest path with wooden railings is visible amidst dense greenery.

They clearly keep an eye on the trail and clean it, but always quickly.

A narrow wooden bridge with railings is laid over a dark body of water, surrounded by a dense green forest.

This is generally the coolest place I've seen in nature in Latvia lately. You can't really see it here, but the footbridges go over a swamp, the feeling is awesome. Almost like train tracks across a lake.

The Spirited Away anime:

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And here's where Miyazaki nicked the idea from (clickable)

 

A freight train on railroad tracks laid in the middle of a shallow lake under a bright sun. Two people are wading through the water along the train cars, their silhouettes reflecting on the sunlit water surface.

 

A wooden staircase climbs up a slope in a dense dark forest, and on the right, a wooden path with railings is laid out.

Here we're back already, and I'm roasting sausages. I'm not gonna buy meat products like this anymore, there's so much MSG and salt in them that it's completely tasteless. I've been eating natural food for a few months now, and I've lost the habit for this much salt and fat. By the way, we had a really hard time lighting the fire, no experience. I'll probably just cheat next time and buy some storm matches.

A man in glasses crouching by a night campfire, roasting a sausage on a stick.

The next morning:


A man in a bright green jacket and a cap stands by a bicycle loaded with camping gear in a green clearing. A car, a tent, a lake, and a forest are visible behind him under a clear sky.

Punk only hauls the tent himself, he uses my jacket, and I haul the grub too. Freeloader.

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There's enough space in "Malvīnes" for twenty tents, if not a hundred. They have cabins too, 10 lats per person.

A small pond with blue water surrounded by a green meadow and a dense forest under a clear blue sky. A yellow tractor is visible on the far bank of the pond among mounds of earth. 

This is where we saw the sign for "King's Hill" and turned off. Someone had told me about this place, but I'd never been there before.

A picturesque summer landscape with a quiet lake surrounded by a dense green forest, under a bright blue sky with light clouds. In the foreground is a green lawn with two small spruces, a wooden bench, and a decorative wooden structure.

People walking around the green area of a landscaped park with a wooden house, a pond, and decorative plantings under a bright blue sky with clouds. In the foreground, seen from the back, is a man in a light shirt walking along the path towards the rest of the visitors.A bright sunny day in a spacious park with well-kept bushes, flowerbeds, and wooden sculptures. People are strolling along the paths past a pond and a small house with a red roof, a forest is visible on the horizon.

A man in glasses and a cap takes a selfie, blocking part of the frame. Behind him stands another cyclist in a helmet and glasses with a bicycle on a dirt road, surrounded by trees under a blue sky.

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Wooden carved sculptures of people are set up in a round flowerbed with flowers and greenery outdoors against a backdrop of a forest. A small wooden sign with writing is visible in the center of the floral arrangement.

A log gazebo on stilts is located near the shore of a small pond, surrounded by green hills with paths and trees under a cloudless blue sky. In the foreground is a flowerbed with purple and pink flowers, a wooden bench, and carved wooden sculptures.

The King turned out to be of the heavenly kingdom. Correspondingly, all these statues aren't pagan idols, as you might first think, but biblical characters.

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Adam and Eve, for example

A man with a bicycle stands on a gravel path in front of a massive wooden sculpture made of logs, surrounded by blooming bushes. In the background, green hills with a dense forest stretch out, and walking people are visible under a clear blue sky.

These are the apostles

A wooden house with a red tiled roof is situated on the shore of a wide body of water, surrounded by a dense forest. On the green meadow in front of the house, blooming bushes, a large wooden hand sculpture, as well as a small pond and a truck with a trailer in the distance are visible.

 

The interior of a waiting room with a ribbed heating stove in the foreground, tiles on the floor, seats by the wall, and a large arched window facing the street.

The trumpet of Jericho?

Pink water lilies with blooming flowers and buds float among round green and crimson leaves on a water surface with light ripples.

On a green hill stands a wooden statue of Moses with the tablets, next to it is a sign in Latvian "MOZUS AR 10 DIEVA BAUSLIEM". Large rocks, bushes, and other wooden figures are visible around under a clear blue sky.

Moses and the Ten Commandments.

After checking out the wooden beauties, we rolled on.

A blue wooden church with silver domes and crosses rises among bright green grass and trees under a clear blue sky.

This is an Old Believer church, there was a tourist sign pointing to it. It's closed and isn't used, which makes sense - there's almost nobody around, and tourists most likely don't give a damn.

A wooden church, painted bright blue, with a bell tower and a cross on the dome, photographed from the bottom up against a clear blue sky.

A bright summer landscape: in the foreground, a lake with water lilies and a rusty metal fence. Behind them, among tall grass, are two wooden village houses, and on the horizon, a forested hill is visible under a clear blue sky.

 

A clear summer landscape with a dark blue lake, surrounded by dense greenery and a forest on the hills. On the right, by the water on a slope, stands an old wooden house with a darkened roof. 

A narrow wooden boardwalk is laid through tall green grass and reeds. Sharp shadows from the plants fall on the path under the bright sun.

Someone does walk here, seeing as boards are laid over the mud. Mind you, one of them has rotted through.

Here we rode in circles for a long time, but finally made it to the lake with a beach, and took a dip. The water's cold, but at least it looks pretty.

A blue lake under a clear blue sky, surrounded along the far shore by a dense green forest. In the foreground, a grassy shore with reeds in the clear coastal water.

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