Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - bike trip to Demene, Silene, Elerne

2010-07-19

вылазки байк природа фото

This is from our ride on July 3rd and 4th. The part marked in red out of Demene was done by hand — I accidentally turned off the GPS on the beach in Demene. We were actually riding along the Belarusian border right on the border patrol road! For some reason I thought Lithuania was nearby, not Belarus. If we got caught, they would have slapped us with a hefty fine, I imagine.

We spent the night at the Silene tourist base, and they don't even have just regular tent spots for rent, everything is geared towards RVs, but we worked something out. Their spots and firewood are a bit pricey, but the way it worked out it ended up costing us a reasonable amount. (Wow, look at me being all vague, zero specifics. There's some stuff I don't want to mention publicly, and the rest I just don't remember).

The road to Silene:


View Bike Demene Silene Elerne Day 1 in a larger map

The road back:

 
View Demene Silene Elerne day 2 in a larger map

I'm trying to get the hang of other track drawing services besides Google Maps, so here's some flash for you. At one point there we rode straight into a swamp, since we were riding adventurously at random, not like boring nerds sticking to known roads. We did exactly 90 km on the first day, but mostly on dirt and country roads.


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The road back. We did 70. For some reason it's become a tradition for us to only do 70 km on the second day. Maybe fatigue taking its toll.


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

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They actually have a bread museum too, gonna have to go visit it sometime

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

This isn't a swamp yet, just our regular road, pretty tolerable and picturesque.

A cyclist moves along a narrow path running through an overgrown field with tall grass and blooming plants, toward a line of trees on the horizon under an overcast sky.

But we shouldn't have gone down here. A dense coniferous forest with many straight trunks, through which a forest path stretches into the distance. The ground is covered with pine needles and dry branches, dappled with sunlight.

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 undeniably mountain biking now. Actually, it's not as scary as it looks. The only bad part is the bikes are loaded down, they're heavy to drag around.

 Back view of a person in a blue T-shirt and cap walking along an overgrown forest path and pushing a bicycle. Camping gear is strapped 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 more fun it gets.

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

A child exploring the world.

 A smiling man in a blue T-shirt and cap stands on a forest path next to a loaded touring bike, surrounded by dense green trees.

Back view of a man in a blue T-shirt and cap pushing his bike through tall green grass in the forest.

That very swamp we rode into. Right at this spot I yelled out, "We are not repeating the mistake we made in Belarus!" Turned back. The mosquitoes were so ferocious we barely made it out.

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

If you're thinking, "But there's no road here, you couldn't even get through on foot," then yes, I hasten to confirm. That's exactly how it is. But we made it through.

 A narrow rut or ditch filled with muddy water, running among thick green grass and weeds. Bright sun glares are visible on the water's surface.

Stuff like this seems like nothing now.

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Luckily, when we climbed out of the swamp, near a farmstead we stumbled upon a guy who was mowing man-high grass right on the road! The guy told us we'd find our way out.

A summer landscape featuring a marshy lowland overgrown with green grass and scattered birches against a dense forest under a clear sky.

Very pretty, although its purpose is unclear.

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

Made it to Demene, here's a monument there.

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

This is right on Lake Riču, a stone's throw from Belarus. It's done up very nicely, someone is living the good life right on the border.

 A large spotted dog with glowing yellow eyes stands behind a wire mesh fence, looking directly at the viewer. There is a dense forest in the background and a dirt road in the foreground.

And protecting their waterfront property well, too.

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

This was me catching a whiff of wild strawberries, and we were already looking for a spot for our tent near Lake Riču anyway. We ate the wild strawberries but didn't bother pitching the tent, way too many mosquitoes and flies, and the spot wasn't very comfortable.

A bright sunset over a pond with a wooden pier extending into the water. Sun rays reflect 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 piles of firewood are visible on the distant grassy shore.

This is the Silene tourist base, or campground. Whatever you call it, the gist is clear.

A wooden rabbit hutch with a green roof is set on logs on a green lawn. Inside the hutch is a ginger rabbit drinking from a water dispenser, 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 wearing glasses, a black T-shirt, and shorts stands by a brightly burning campfire in a forest clearing. Tall trees and two yellow log benches are visible in the background.

We started the campfire like civilized people.

WARNING, NSFW!

CANNOT BE UNSEEN!

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Alright, 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.

The trendy rapeseed of today.

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

This is us riding all the way around Lake Bruņu looking for some manor. We weren't too impressed by it, and we didn

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