Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - cycling trip Saulkrasti and Sigulda, day 1

2010-08-27

Everyone knows Jūrmala, but not everyone knows that in the opposite direction from Riga along the coast lies the settlement of Saulkrasti. Crowds of Rigans and other folks go there to chill by the sea too, since in some ways it's simpler and cheaper than Jūrmala. There's also a famous jazz festival held there.

We, however, went because Aux lives there in the summer, and he suggested we bike from there to Sigulda, especially since it's close. I'd only been to Sigulda a couple of times before and hadn't really seen it, and I hadn't been to the sea at all this year, so there were plenty of reasons to go.


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It was really sketchy mounting the bike with a system from "Maxima" for 5 Ls, but it seems to work okay, no worse than a punk-ass one for several times the price.

Two men are standing near a green Volkswagen car with bicycles mounted on the roof against the background of a multi-story residential building. The man on the right in a dark tank top and sunglasses is smiling, holding the bike with his hand, while the man on the left in a yellow t-shirt and with a backpack is looking at him. 

We rigged this with bungee cords for an extra guarantee

IMG_0127 Close-up of the central part of a black mountain bike with yellow accents mounted on a rack. The pedal assembly, chain, parts of the wheels, a silver bottle cage, and the black rack lock are visible.

Pudding, this is Alice.

 

A young blonde woman with a serious expression sits in the backseat of a car, holding a mobile phone in her hand. Outside the car window, the silhouette of a person in a yellow shirt is visible.

On the way, we spotted a "city festival" in Lielvārde. Bought some "homemade" ice cream there for 0.80 Ls a cup. Looked and tasted genuinely homemade, but Rūjienas is still better.

In the foreground, two men in glasses: one in a yellow t-shirt is eating ice cream from a cone, the other in a blue tank top is looking straight at the camera. Behind them, a blurred scene of a street event with people and vendor tents is visible. 

My skeptical facial expression accurately conveys my attitude towards the price/quality ratio.

In the foreground, two men at an open-air market: one is holding pink cotton candy and a bag of marshmallows, the other is eating from a waffle cone. In the background, vendor tents, other people, and green trees can be seen.

The city festival in Lielvārde is lame, mostly Chinese textiles, and there's nothing even worth looking at, except for the ice cream above. Prices are low, though.

 A young woman with long blonde hair is picking out clothes at a summer outdoor market under a white canopy. Goods, including socks and children's clothes, are displayed on hangers and in boxes, and trees and other shoppers can be seen in the background.

Here is that very Rūjienas ice cream. If anyone lives in an underground bunker and still hasn't seen it, let me inform you that this is one of the few brands that makes ice cream out of milk, not vegetable fats. Then again, here in Latvia they make it tasty even out of those, unlike the Russian one ("Russkiy Kholod"), which I didn't like.  I do like Rūjienas, but for some reason only in cups, and not in boxes. Though to be fair, I haven't eaten ice cream from a box in a long time - diet. The cups, however, are insanely delicious, by the way, crispy and well-baked.

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In Saulkrasti, civilization has reached unprecedented heights - street signs at intersections. I haven't seen anything like this in Latvia until now.

A navigation pole with several signs in Latvian directing to local attractions, streets, and the station. In the background, thick green trees and roofs of brick buildings are visible. 

Aux said that aside from the central streets, there are no others here. The houses have their own names, like the one below.

A man in a yellow t-shirt and black shorts with a backpack walks past the metal gates of a house with a wooden sign 'Lejasbražas 1' and a mailbox. Behind the gates is a canopy under which a bicycle is parked and laundry is drying.

A man in a yellow tank top and a backpack on his back pets a large reddish dog in the yard of a house next to a wooden doghouse. 

The beach is 50 meters from the house, but very rocky by the pier. Further down there are sandy beaches, beautiful, almost like in Liepāja or Jūrmala (but it's still slightly cooler there because of the dunes)

A sunny summer day on a rocky-sandy beach, where a few people are swimming and relaxing by the water. On the horizon, a boat and a long pier can be seen against a clear blue sky with sparse cirrus clouds. IMG_0220

A bug smelled the sandwich and didn't want to fly away.

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A smiling man crouched down next to a large reddish dog that is gently licking his face. They are on a paved patio against a backdrop of lush greenery and a doghouse.

Cautious cat is cautious.

A black cat with bright yellow eyes peers out from behind a dense green bush and a metal fence. 

But he loves to play.

A smiling young woman in a white hat crouching by a metal fence reaches out to a black cat on the other side of the fence. 

. . . cautiously.

A girl in a white hat with long blonde hair crouched by a metal fence, reaching out to a black cat peeking out from behind the greenery. Next to her on the grass lies a glass bottle. 

It hadn't even started getting dark by the time we hit the road (at 4 PM!)

Three young people in bicycle helmets and sportswear stand with their bicycles on a dirt path and smile. Residential houses and lush greenery are visible in the background. IMG_0263

Forest landscape with a pond completely covered in thick yellow-green duckweed, and tall trees forming a dense background and frame.  A forest pond covered in light green duckweed is surrounded by a dense mixed forest and lush vegetation in the foreground. A sand quarry with piles of light sand and a small body of water reflecting the sandy mounds and surrounding forest under a cloudy sky. A man in a blue sports tank top and a bicycle helmet stands by a forest pond surrounded by green trees that reflect picturesquely in the water.

We didn't get in here, there was a private party. But otherwise, it's some sort of restored castle.

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Here's where all those hordes of storks in Latvia come from! They breed them near Sigulda.

A group of white storks walks across a plowed field looking for food. In the background, a golden wheat field, a green forest, and a blue sky are visible. 

Around Sigulda it's also civilized. You can immediately see where the money flows. We don't have this in Latgale.

A wooden road sign with arrows pointing the way to various tourist attractions, set on a green clearing among trees on a sunny day.

We don't have this either.

A wooden tourist sign with yellow arrows in Latvian points to various sights, such as castle ruins and a cable car, against a background of green trees and a blue sky. 

And not this either. The hill, by the way, is simply excellent, almost like in Turkey, just shorter.

A cobblestone path with a white dividing line goes deep into a dense, shady forest. A wooden railing stretches on the left, and two cyclists can be seen in the distance. 

The bridge at the entrance to Sigulda over the Gauja river. Right on the right is the Makars campsite, where we spent the night (except for Aux).

A cyclist in a helmet rides across a bridge, a van and another cyclist are visible ahead against the backdrop of a dense green forest bathed in sunlight. IMG_0330 A dense mixed forest covers the hilly riverbank under a clear light blue sky in the rays of the sun. IMG_0356

We had to eat God knows what, and in the dark, since we didn't know where the supermarket was and bought groceries at a village shop.

A man in glasses and a green windbreaker sits on a log on the sand at night and packs things into a backpack. In one hand he holds a package with food, and a turned-on pocket flashlight lies on the sand nearby.

And these are photos authored by Aux

Two cyclists in helmets and sportswear stand by their bicycles against the backdrop of a field with reddish vegetation and a forest. The man on the right is smiling at the camera, and the one on the left is looking down, holding a water bottle. A smiling man in a blue tank top and a bicycle helmet stands on a wooden platform attached to an old tree with a pagoda-shaped roof, against the backdrop of a dense forest and an overgrown pond. IMGP0881

Overall, the first day went pretty well. We swam in the sea, ate ice cream. Didn't ride much, though, by my standards, but then again, the hills in Sigulda are excellent, it's fun both riding down and riding up. At the Makars campsite, by the way, there are plenty of Germans with motorhomes, many with bikes. One was on a recumbent, with a Vaude tent and Ortlieb bags. I would've been green with envy, but soon enough I'll have all the same stuff myself, except maybe for the recumbent.

If you're not aware of what a recumbent is, here it is. It has many advantages compared to a classic bike, especially for tourists: your back doesn't get tired, you can see the landscapes well, and there's less far to fall.

A smiling woman in a helmet and sunglasses rides a yellow recumbent bicycle along an asphalt path. Her legs are stretched forward, towards the pedals.

In the campsite, by the way, there is electricity, a toilet, a shower. The prices, however, aren't Latvian, but German. What we didn't know is that if you paid for a spot, they supposedly give you boats to ride for free. Don't repeat our mistake.

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