Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - Bike Trip to Demene, Silene, Elerne

2010-07-19

вылазки байк природа фото

GPS track 1

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GPS track 2

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This was us riding on July 3rd and 4th. The part from Demene in red was done manually - I accidentally turned off the GPS on the beach in Demene. Actually, we were riding along the Belarusian border on the border patrol road! For some reason I thought Lithuania was nearby, not Belarus. If we had been caught, they'd have slapped us with a hefty fine, I think.

We spent the night at the Silene tourist base, and they don't even have a simple tent pitch rental option, everything is geared towards RVers, but we made a deal. Their spots and firewood are on the pricey side, but it worked out so that it cost us a reasonable price. (Wow, I'm being so vague, zero specifics. Some things I just don't want to say publicly, and the rest I don't remember).

The road to Silene:

I'm trying to figure out other track rendering services besides Google Maps here, so here's some flash for you. In one spot we rode into a swamp, since we were adventurously riding at random instead of sticking to known roads like boring nerds. We rode exactly 90 km on the first day, but mostly on dirt roads and country lanes.

This is how the Aglona folks sell bread by the Solo mall:

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By the way, they also have a bread museum, gotta go there sometime

A person in a blue t-shirt pushes a bicycle through a deep muddy rut with puddles, passing through a field with tall grass, with a forest on the horizon.

This isn't the swamp yet, just our regular road, pretty tolerable and scenic.

A cyclist moves along a narrow path going through an overgrown field with tall grass and blooming plants, towards the tree line on the horizon under a cloudy sky.

Now going here was a mistake. A dense coniferous forest with many straight trunks, through which a forest path goes into the distance. The ground is covered with pine needles and dry branches, with patches of sunlight falling on them.

It's still sunny, but the mosquitoes are already trying to tear you to shreds.

 A man in a blue t-shirt, cap, and glasses stands next to a loaded bicycle in the middle of a dense forest with fallen trees.

This is unquestionable mountain biking now. Actually, it's not as scary as it looks. One bad thing — the bikes are loaded, heavy to lug around.

 View from the back of a person in a blue t-shirt and cap, walking along an overgrown forest path and pushing a bicycle. Camping gear is tied to the bike: an orange sleeping bag and a blue mat.

But we have to.

A narrow path, overgrown with tall green grass, surrounded by dense trees and bushes in a summer forest.

The further we go, the merrier it gets.

 A man in a camouflage cap and blue t-shirt, wearing glasses, stands in a dense green forest, holding a large mushroom in his hand. A winding forest path is visible behind him.

The child discovers the world.

 A smiling man in a blue t-shirt and cap stands on a forest path next to a loaded touring bicycle, surrounded by the dense greenery of trees.

View from the back of a man in a blue t-shirt and cap, making his way on a bicycle through tall green grass in the forest.

That very swamp we rode into. At this spot I yelled: "We're not going to repeat the mistake we made in Belarus". We turned back. The mosquitoes were so ferocious that we barely made it out.

A summer landscape with a dense forest in the background and tall bright green grass, illuminated by the sun, in the foreground.

If you're thinking: "There's no road here, you can't even walk through", then yes, I hasten to confirm. That's exactly how it is. But we made it through.

 A narrow rut or ditch filled with murky water, running amidst thick green grass and weeds. Bright sun glare is visible on the water's surface.

Stuff like this seems like nonsense by now.

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Fortunately, when we crawled out of the swamp, near a farmstead we ran into a guy who was mowing man-sized grass on the road! The guy informed us that we'd make it out.

A summer landscape with a marshy lowland overgrown with green grass and sparse birch trees, against the background of a dense forest under a clear sky.

Very pretty, though its purpose is unclear.

A man on a bicycle poses in the gap between the two halves of a stone monument split in two on supports. The left half of the stone is engraved with '19', the right with '5', and thick green trees are visible in the background.

We made it to Demene — this is a monument there.

 A dirt road leads through a green field with young spruce trees to wooden village houses against the backdrop of a dense forest. A bright blue sky with rare white clouds stretches over the landscape.

This is right on Lake Riču, a stone's throw from Belarus. It's done very beautifully, good thing someone lives right on the border.

 A large spotted dog with glowing yellow eyes stands behind a chain-link fence, looking straight at the viewer. In the background is a dense forest, and in the foreground is a dirt road.

And protects its waterfront property well, too.

 A field dotted with lilac and white wildflowers, with young pines, transitions into a strip of dense mixed forest under a blue sky with cumulus clouds.

This is where I smelled wild strawberries, plus we were already looking for a spot for the tent near Lake Riču. We ate some strawberries, but didn't set up the tent, too many mosquitoes and flies, and the spot wasn't very convenient anyway.

A bright sunset over a pond with a wooden pier extending into the water. Sun rays are reflected in the water, surrounded by a dense forest. A quiet pond covered with floating leaves reflects a mixed forest of birches and pines. Small houses and neatly stacked woodpiles are visible on the distant grassy shore.

This is the Silene tourist base now, well, or campground. Call it what you want, the point is clear.

A wooden rabbit hutch with a green roof sits on logs on a green lawn. Inside the hutch are a ginger rabbit drinking from a waterer, and a dark rabbit in the background.

 Two fluffy puppies with dark fur and light tan markings look up through the large mesh of a chain-link fence in the foreground.

There's plenty of critters at the campground, and the German Shepherd puppies even have a pedigree.

 A man in glasses, a black t-shirt, and shorts stands by a brightly burning campfire in a forest clearing. In the background, tall trees and two yellow log benches are visible.

We started the campfire like civilized people.

WARNING, NSFW!

CANNOT BE UNSEEN!

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Alright, I censored it for you. A bit chubby, of course, but overall you can see the muscles too.

A bright yellow field of flowers under a clear blue sky. In the foreground is a strip of green grass with wildflowers, a few bushes, and a dirt road on the left.

Rapeseed, which is trendy right now.

A winding dirt road leads into the distance to a lake surrounded by green fields and wooded shores, under a clear blue sky.

This is us riding all the way around Lake Bruņu in search of some manor. It didn't impress us much, and we didn't end up swimming in the lake either. Fail.

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