Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - cycling trip to Aglona, report

2010-07-03

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GPS track 1

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GPS track 2

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

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

An expansive landscape with a dense green forest, in which a body of water peeks through. 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 sits in a large nest on top of an electric pole under a cloudy sky, framed by tree leaves.

We saw a crazy number of storks, like 20 of them. I only snapped this one because the kid's head is sticking out.

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

There was a sign for "Some-Church-Or-Other" here, and we turned to check it out just in case.

Here's this masterpiece of brick architecture:

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Now, the Aglona Basilica is a different story.

A white-stone two-towered Catholic cathedral in Baroque style, surrounded by greenery under a cloudy sky, with an asphalt road in the foreground.

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

We pitched our tent on the grounds of the www.malvines.lv guesthouse. The owner was right there with his family at the time, his name is Jāzeps. The name is roughly the equivalent of the Russian "Yegor", way too hardcore for my taste.

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

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

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

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

This is me in an Integral Designs membrane jacket. The jacket is awesome, although a hood adjuster wouldn't hurt.

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

A trail with plaques — first time I'm seeing this. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were horrendous, and I barely had time to read anything. Plus, reading in Latvian when you're tired is tough. Don't forget, by that time we'd ridden 60 km (partly on gravel roads), rowed half a kilometer on the boat, and still had a half-hour walk 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 downwards. In the background, a forest path with wooden railings is visible among dense greenery.

They clearly maintain and clear the trail, just not always quickly.

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

This is actually the coolest place I've seen in nature in Latvia lately. It's hard to see here, but the boardwalk goes across a swamp — a very cool feeling. Almost like rails 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 railway tracks laid in the middle of a shallow lake under bright sunshine. Two people are wading through the water along the 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, there's a wooden walkway with railings.

Here we're already back, and I'm grilling sausages. I'm not going to buy meat products like this anymore: there's so much MSG and salt in them that they're completely tasteless. I've been eating natural food for a few months now and have lost the habit of this much salt and fat. We actually had a really hard time lighting the fire, by the way — lack of experience. I'll probably just cheat and buy storm matches.

A man in glasses crouched by a night campfire, grilling a sausage on a stick.

Next morning:


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

Punk only hauls the tent himself, uses my jacket, and I'm the one hauling the grub too. Freeloader.

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There's enough room at "Malvine" 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 dense forest under a clear blue sky. On the far shore of the pond, a yellow tractor is visible among mounds of earth.

This is where we saw a sign for "King's Mountain" and turned. Someone had told me about this place, but I hadn't 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 fir trees, a wooden bench, and a decorative wooden structure.

People walking in 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, a man in a light shirt is seen from behind, walking along the path towards the other visitors.A bright sunny day in a spacious park with well-kept bushes, flowerbeds, and wooden sculptures. People stroll 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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Carved wooden sculptures of people are set in a round flowerbed with flowers and greenery outdoors against the backdrop of a forest. In the center of the floral arrangement, a small wooden plaque with an inscription is visible.

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

King's Mountain turned out to be the kingdom of heaven. Consequently, all these statues aren't pagan idols, as one might initially think, but biblical characters.

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Adam and Eve, for instance

A man with a bicycle stands on a gravel path in front of a massive wooden log sculpture 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 located 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 sculpture of a hand, 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, tiled floor, seating by the wall, and a large arched window looking out onto the street.

The trumpet of Jericho?

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

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 stones, bushes, and other wooden figures are visible around under a clear blue sky.

Moses and the Ten Commandments.

Having looked at the wooden beauties, we rolled on.

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

This is an Old Believers' church, there was a tourist sign pointing to it. It's closed and not in use, which is understandable: there are barely any people 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: a lake with water lilies and a rusty metal fence in the foreground. Behind them, among tall grass, are two wooden village houses, and a forested hill is visible on the horizon 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 the 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 onto the path under the bright sun.

Someone must walk here though, since there are boards laid over the mud. Granted, one of them has rotted through.

This was us riding in circles for a long time, but finally made it to a lake with a beach and took a dip. The water was cold, but at least it looks pretty.

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

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