Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

☰

Bike Trip - Saulkrasti and Sigulda, Day 2

2010-08-28

вылазки фото природа сигулда латвия байк туризм

Two blue camping tents stand on a green clearing against a forest backdrop, a bicycle lies on the grass nearby. In the background behind a wooden fence, a road with parked cars is visible.

More pics, from the second day.

Several colorful canoes lie on the grassy riverbank under the shade of trees. In the background, calm water is visible, reflecting the surrounding forest.

A wide river with dark water reflects a dense green forest on the far bank under a bright sky. A sandy beach is visible in the foreground, an orange buoy floats on the water, and a tree branch hangs into the frame from the top left. A calm river with dark water flows between densely forested banks under an overcast sky. A sandy shore with grass and overhanging tree branches is visible in the left foreground. A wide river flows under an overcast sky, reflecting high, densely forested banks. A sandy beach is visible on the right, a steep cliff-like bank with trees on the left, and an orange buoy floats in the water.

Here's that recumbent.

A yellow recumbent bike with panniers stands on a green clearing at the edge of a forest. In the background among the trees, information boards, a wooden table, and boats are visible. 

This is our tent from Maxima for 4 lats.

IMG_0405 

This is Auks

A young man in an orange t-shirt and shorts stands near a red mountain bike and a wooden table with a blue spiral lock lying on it. In the background, a river with overturned green kayaks and a dense forest are visible. 

Here we are near the campsite, we decided to take a ride on the Rodelbahn (Rodelis in Latvian) at the tarzans.lv amusement park.

For those who don't know, a Rodelbahn is a self-rolling sled on a monorail, where you can brake with a lever. I'd already ridden these in Germany before, but it wasn't as fun there, it's cooler in Sigulda.

Top-down view of a wide wooded valley with a winding river in the distance under an overcast sky. Thick cables run diagonally across the foreground, and several buildings and a parking lot are visible below. Panoramic view from a chairlift descending over a green summer slope, with buildings, a road, a parking lot, and a winding river among forested mountains visible below.

You can see the Rodelbahn monorail.

Empty cable car chairs ascend a green, hilly slope next to a dense forest. A winding metal rail for summer sleds is laid out on the slope beneath the lift. 

The metal monorail of the summer toboggan run (Rodelbahn) curves smoothly on a green grassy hillside along a wooden fence. The track leads to a wooden trestle surrounded by trees. 

Honestly, it's a bit scary on the Rodelbahn, and people are constantly braking. The sled grips the rail very securely - the design is similar to a rollercoaster, so you don't actually have to brake at all. But we all did, except for Alisa. She's completely unhinged - did the run, and says it's even too slow, needs to be faster.

These are the caves in Sigulda. Some of the inscriptions on the clay are really ancient, they're a couple of centuries old already.

Cave entrance in a red-yellow sandstone cliff, covered with numerous carved inscriptions, names, and drawings.

A small arched stone bridge spans a stream with stone-fortified banks in a green park. A large rounded stone lies in the clear water of the rocky-bottomed stream in the foreground. 

Nearby, on the road to Turaida, there's another campsite.

A dark brown campsite sign with a teepee logo, the words 'Dainas' and 'Camping KEMPINGS', a right arrow, and pictograms stands on the side of a dirt road. Surrounded by thick green trees and a bright green field. 

Here we've made it to the most famous castle in Latvia - Turaida Castle. I hadn't been there before. It's definitely worth a visit, but it's tiring. By the way, be careful - you used to be able to get in without a ticket if you climbed over the fence, but now ticket checkers in national costumes stand everywhere so no one can freeload. I don't mind spending the money, after all, it goes to development of some sort. It's just a shame it's not in Latgale, but in Sigulda, which already sees insane crowds of tourists anyway. (Although by European standards it's not even that many - there were even vacant rooms at the hotel that same day).

Two men standing in a green park on an overcast day. The man on the left in a bicycle helmet is looking at his phone, and the man on the right, standing on a paved path, is inspecting the contents of a plastic bag. 

There's a large park near Turaida Castle, you can walk around all day and look at all sorts of things. It's tiring, of course, riding a bike is easier, even though you have to pedal.

A small pond in a park with a circular cluster of water lilies with pink flowers on the water. By the shore, an old stone well overgrown with grass protrudes from the water, and a wooden fence runs along the grassy right bank.

 A metal information plaque in Latvian and English with a historical note about a bathhouse, mounted on a log wall made of darkened wood.

Auks in a punk helmet.

A young man in a gray bicycle helmet and an orange t-shirt sits on a gravel path, looking directly at the camera. In the background are green hills with trees and a small stone sculpture.

The sculpture park. It stood out to me because the grass was damp, and I got my feet wet.

A large, light-colored abstract sculpture resembling a human head stands on a wide green field surrounded by dense trees under an overcast sky. 

The castle itself.

View of an old red brick castle: on the left, a round ruined tower with a stone base, on the right, a tall tower with a conical roof. A sandy path leads to the complex, surrounded by thick greenery under an overcast sky.

Many buildings have been restored, the difference  between the old and new brick is clearly visible.

Fragment of a semi-circular wall made of old, uneven red brick with a partially restored section of new, neat, bright orange brick in the lower left part. In the upper old part of the wall, two small rectangular niches are visible. 

Top-down view of a medieval red brick castle with a tile-roofed tower and defensive walls. In the background, a winding river flows through a dense green forest in a hilly valley.

 Top-down view of stone and brick ruins of an old fortress with remnants of walls and foundations against a backdrop of green lawn with sparse visitors and dense forest.

On some of the castle bricks, they found animal and human footprints like these. It's unknown why this was done, but it's funny. I think our ancestors were just messing around.

IMG_0555 

The crazy storks of Latvia again. The sheer number of them is off the charts.

A green tractor plows a large field of dark brown earth, followed by white birds against a background of green hills and a blue sky with clouds. 

Here we're already back in Saulkrasti, going home soon.

A sunny day on a sandy beach where many people are relaxing by the water and swimming, with bright sunlight reflecting off it. In the foreground, a man in swim trunks walks on the sand, green branches are visible on the right.

A young man in glasses looks up against a bright blue sky and green trees. Two mountain bikes secured to a trunk rack of a green car, view from inside the cabin over the back of the car. Behind them on the road, several cars are visible, including a blue Mazda, and dense pine forest on the sides.

Next up are Auks' pics.

This is me charging my iPhone at the campsite.

On a gray metal box set in the grass on supports rests a black device charging from a white adapter plugged into a socket on the front panel. A white pole rises from the top of the box. A man in glasses, a blue sports tank top, dark shorts, and a bicycle helmet stands on a sandy lake shore, smiling and holding a blue cord in his hand. A wide, calm river flows between green forested banks under an overcast sky, reflecting trees in the water. A sandbar is visible on the right bank, and forested hills rise in the background.

The punk in the Rodelwagen.

A smiling young man in a helmet and blue tank top sits in a yellow cart on a rail coaster, looking into the camera. Part of another person's back is visible in the foreground, and a green grassy slope is in the background. 

Inside Turaida Castle there are all sorts of museums and exhibitions of ancient frying pans and spoons.

A mural imitating rock art with red-brown stylized figures of people and animals. The images are painted on a light, cracked background resembling stone.

Several ancient, heavily corroded metal artifacts, including spearheads and tools, are displayed in a museum showcase against a light background, some of them numbered.

All in all, the trip turned out pretty nice.

By the way, near the castle there's a Soviet-era cafeteria. It has pots and other utensils from those times, posters and photos, and the room's decor is in the same spirit. The prices are unbelievably reasonable - I had solyanka, grey peas, and kompot for 1.5 Ls ($3). I haven't seen prices like that in 5 years, since my dorm days. Back then I once had a set meal for 1.20 - but that was serious money for me, since my entire stipend was around 70 lats.

When we were driving back, all the way from Pļaviņas to Daugavpils there was a massive and terrifying thunderstorm front on our right, with lightning flashing every five minutes. Beautiful beyond words.

Ctrl + ←
Ctrl + →