Jamarla and Sigulada
Unlike the train to Darzini the train to Jamarla delivered me to a place of colour and vibrancy. I don’t know what I expected to find at Jamala, which I suppose is part of the fun of arriving at new locations, but my imagine of a beach town half an hour out of Riga was something rather more humble than I found. I expected to find a few shops and a couple of tracks leading down to a rather murky beach. I often suspect many aussies only go to beaches in Europe and elsewhere so they can walk upon the shore and proclaim, ‘crap’ or ‘that’s not a real beach’ and leave. OK Jamala is not Noosa or Bondi Beach and there aren’t too many waves but it is still not too bad but it was the township and surrounds that impressed me. Back home in oz pine plantations are a necessary industry to preserve old growth forests yet I don’t find them an interesting environment. Perhaps because I consider what was there before it. When I travel in European and North American Countries I have to keep reminding myself that these pine forests are not a mono species forced upon a diverse environment but are an indigenous species here. It is a hard one to get over. Perhaps I am a speci-ist? Perhaps I am the worlds first person to have a prejudice to a species of trees. Perhaps I’ll be hauled before an anti-discrimination tribunal to account for my prejudice against pine trees.
Well, I don’t really hate pine trees, I mean a lot of my best friends have pine trees and you know I even had a pine tree in my back yard once that I didn’t reeeeeally mind. Ok, it used to drop cones all the time and shed those stupid long brown things it calls leaves but really I didn’t mind it tooooo much. I just don’t want anymore in my neighbourhood thanks. Anyway, back to Jamala, once I got over my prejudice against pine trees I began to really appreciate this town. Lots of lovely houses tucked away amongst groves of trees and a really picturesque township which has a mall running for a couple of kilometres with a strip of cafes, shops and restaurants. In summer this place is a post card location but in winter I imagine everyone bunkers down with barely a tourist to be seen. I might not be European but I know beaches and snow never go well together.
My other great day trip out of Riga is to Sigulda. This is about an hour out of town and again I take the train rather than the bus. It is interesting reading my guide book on local transport which states, ‘Train services are generally slow and cumbersome. Local trains are generally dirty, not know for their safety and basic in the extreme. Women travelling solo may prefer to travel by a different method as making a trip on a train means you will be the centre of attention. It is interesting reading appraisals like this when your experience is somewhat to the contrary. They certainly were not new trains, probably soviet built, yet I found them always clean and on time and much like any other suburban or intra urban train I have been on. Conversely the intra urban mini buses might be new but they poke passengers in like sardines and it takes half an hour at the other end to find your legs after being crammed the back of a sauna like environment. Give me a train with leg room and an open window any day!
So, I am now heading into the mountains. Ha! The Australian barman and his Latvian assistant had a bit of a laugh when I said this. Even an aussie whose home country is not know for its rising peaks could laugh at mountains in Latvia with is basically all coastal plain. Sigulda is only about 300 and something metres above sea level.. and the ranges don’t really start until you near the Russian border. However the guide book describes some beautiful castles and an interesting cable car ride across a gorge so that is enough to find me heading north on the 11.58 out of Riga to Sigulda some hour away.
Sigulda township is not that remarkable and I make my way out towards the National Park. I soon come upon a sign pointing to the cable car that takes you across the gorge where you can make your way to the Krimulda Castle. Great I thought, a quick trip across the gorge, perhaps a few good photos on the way then a quick walk to the castle. Trouble is I hadn’t factored on one thing, the ‘Russian way’. Poland it seemed had erased much of the influence of the Russian occupation of their country yet Latvia having one third its population having Russian descendcy that wasn’t so easy. Physically Latvia is also much closer to Russia than Poland and shares a border with Russia to the north east. Russian trains come in and out of Latvia daily and newspapers and televisions programs cater for Russians within this country. So this country is not so removed as other eastern block countries might be. Nevertheless I was still a little surprised when I came up against the Russian mentality at the cable car at Sigulda. I had seen it four years ago in St Petersburg and Moscow but in Latvia I was left a little off guard.
I don’t want to sound like I enjoy being anti Russian or have an anti Russian agenda. Russians have contributed an enormous amount to literate, science, medicine, the arts and many other spheres yet I must say that my experience is that they have some particularly anti social behaviour. Even the sound of the language itself I find seems to taper off to a discontented murmur and has little intonation. Truly. Look at the Italian, Spanish or French and observe the rhythm, rhyme and a passion that sees the speaker express almost every second word with the waiving of arm or hand. For me the language is just an aspect of the Russian psyche that I find isolated, remote, emotionless and at times down right anti social. I am not one given to quickly or easily stereotyping people and I am sure there are exceptions and of course there is a history but my experience is that Russians people are hard to warm to as they allows seem to view others with contempt and lack any spontaneity of character. Big call I know but there you are. One huge caveat to this; what the hell do I know about Russian people really? Not much. I am drawing from surface observations only and would like to get pass this but that is where the problems seems to begin. It would be interesting to know what their view is of people from the west? Heaven knows they could perhaps think we live in a fairly frivolous self abscessed, self absorbed society with little more concerns than how much we can put down or throat and how much we can shove in our wallets and that we are a fairly mindless lot who are manipulated not by propaganda and doctrine so much as jingles and advertising campaigns but then I am only guessing again.
The cable car incident just reminded me of having windows slammed in my face all over Russia in 2002. I managed to get to the cable car around 1230 and found myself standing in line about a dozen back from the ticket window. The queue was moving slowly but that is not uncommon over here. I have never quiet worked out why ticket sellers take three or four times more to sell a ticket in some places than others. Nevertheless I stood in line patiently as I progressed towards the ticket window. The line moved slowly forward and I was soon three back from the front. Then slam. The window had been closed. I found myself standing there thinking, had the ticket seller just gone to get a new roll of tickets, had she gone to the toilet for a few minutes or perhaps she had gone for lunch? Ten minutes later, twenty minutes later everyone is still standing there in fairly blistering sun. The cable car takes about a half hour to reach the other side and return and takes about 30 people at a time. As there was at least 60 people in the second queue, the boarding cue, I did some quick maths and realised even if I get a ticket my ride is about three turns away which is about an hour and a half away! Get real I thought and started walking in another direction with the intent of coming back later when perhaps the cues may have thinned. Well two hours later I couldn’t believe my luck. There I was first in line, how could I miss this time. I then notice the sign on the window which states tickets go on sale five minutes to the ride. Great I thought, it’s ten to three so any minute now the window will open and I’ll have that prized ticket in my hand. Quarter past three came and the window still hadn’t opened. Arrrrrrrhhhh!!!!!
I think I worked the system out.
1. Slam the window in the face of your clients at any time when you have sold enough tickets. (sell at lest two ride loads as that commits the second group to hang around) Do not offer any explanation, or apology to those in line. (apologies are a sign of weakness and besides you’re the one that wants the *service )
2. Place a sign up that tells clients that you will open at five minutes to the ride but ignore that whenever it suits and have your clients stand around not knowing what is happening. (you’re the one that wants the *service, right)
*Service. Russians seem to look at service in reverse to the way I understand it. You know I am not a big fan of the over the top McDonald’s ‘have a nice day’ brand of service where your mother might be about to die of cancer, your about to be divorced and you just ran over the dog that morning and some fifteen year old is telling you to have a nice day. Hell, perhaps sometimes I just want to have one hell of a lousy day and just happen to want a hamburger as well! No I can generally do without a politeness that has been drilled into staff at an induction training course yet has about the same depth as wallpaper. I don’t particularly like it when good old fashioned Australian customer service which we have always been renowned for is replaced by a packaged formulae for politeness. Sorry Chuck. Anyway, having said that I do like living in a service driven economy where the customer is seen to have the position of power. The Russian model takes a position of, ‘I am providing a service to you and you can take it or leave it, I don’t care, there are plenty of other people cueing who do’. Now, I don’t want to sound like I am trumpeting the virtues of the free market economy, I can be just as critical there, but I do like the power competition gives the consumer and if I don’t like someone’s business practices or attitude I simply vote with my feet. At times it is just the little things. In Russian owned accommodation as an example you will always be the one going to reception and asking to replace a light bulb, to bring extra toilet paper and fill the sugar bowl because you’re the one that requires the service from them so you have the onus to seek rather than the onus of a good business to anticipate and factor.
So there I was second time around waiting for a ticket not knowing if or when the privilege of riding on their cable car would be bestowed upon me. After some time I decided the only action was to resort to a bit of old aussie slang and mumbled to myself, ‘bugger this!’ and I was off. I would have been quiet happy to purchase a ticket for later in the day gone away and done a few thing then come back but the only option was to stand in line in the hot sun for an hour and a half, perhaps two. Sorry, patience might be a virtue but mine had run out that day and I headed back to Riga with only a view of the castle from the distance and a few thoughts on costumer service.
Well, I don’t really hate pine trees, I mean a lot of my best friends have pine trees and you know I even had a pine tree in my back yard once that I didn’t reeeeeally mind. Ok, it used to drop cones all the time and shed those stupid long brown things it calls leaves but really I didn’t mind it tooooo much. I just don’t want anymore in my neighbourhood thanks. Anyway, back to Jamala, once I got over my prejudice against pine trees I began to really appreciate this town. Lots of lovely houses tucked away amongst groves of trees and a really picturesque township which has a mall running for a couple of kilometres with a strip of cafes, shops and restaurants. In summer this place is a post card location but in winter I imagine everyone bunkers down with barely a tourist to be seen. I might not be European but I know beaches and snow never go well together.
My other great day trip out of Riga is to Sigulda. This is about an hour out of town and again I take the train rather than the bus. It is interesting reading my guide book on local transport which states, ‘Train services are generally slow and cumbersome. Local trains are generally dirty, not know for their safety and basic in the extreme. Women travelling solo may prefer to travel by a different method as making a trip on a train means you will be the centre of attention. It is interesting reading appraisals like this when your experience is somewhat to the contrary. They certainly were not new trains, probably soviet built, yet I found them always clean and on time and much like any other suburban or intra urban train I have been on. Conversely the intra urban mini buses might be new but they poke passengers in like sardines and it takes half an hour at the other end to find your legs after being crammed the back of a sauna like environment. Give me a train with leg room and an open window any day!
So, I am now heading into the mountains. Ha! The Australian barman and his Latvian assistant had a bit of a laugh when I said this. Even an aussie whose home country is not know for its rising peaks could laugh at mountains in Latvia with is basically all coastal plain. Sigulda is only about 300 and something metres above sea level.. and the ranges don’t really start until you near the Russian border. However the guide book describes some beautiful castles and an interesting cable car ride across a gorge so that is enough to find me heading north on the 11.58 out of Riga to Sigulda some hour away.
Sigulda township is not that remarkable and I make my way out towards the National Park. I soon come upon a sign pointing to the cable car that takes you across the gorge where you can make your way to the Krimulda Castle. Great I thought, a quick trip across the gorge, perhaps a few good photos on the way then a quick walk to the castle. Trouble is I hadn’t factored on one thing, the ‘Russian way’. Poland it seemed had erased much of the influence of the Russian occupation of their country yet Latvia having one third its population having Russian descendcy that wasn’t so easy. Physically Latvia is also much closer to Russia than Poland and shares a border with Russia to the north east. Russian trains come in and out of Latvia daily and newspapers and televisions programs cater for Russians within this country. So this country is not so removed as other eastern block countries might be. Nevertheless I was still a little surprised when I came up against the Russian mentality at the cable car at Sigulda. I had seen it four years ago in St Petersburg and Moscow but in Latvia I was left a little off guard.
I don’t want to sound like I enjoy being anti Russian or have an anti Russian agenda. Russians have contributed an enormous amount to literate, science, medicine, the arts and many other spheres yet I must say that my experience is that they have some particularly anti social behaviour. Even the sound of the language itself I find seems to taper off to a discontented murmur and has little intonation. Truly. Look at the Italian, Spanish or French and observe the rhythm, rhyme and a passion that sees the speaker express almost every second word with the waiving of arm or hand. For me the language is just an aspect of the Russian psyche that I find isolated, remote, emotionless and at times down right anti social. I am not one given to quickly or easily stereotyping people and I am sure there are exceptions and of course there is a history but my experience is that Russians people are hard to warm to as they allows seem to view others with contempt and lack any spontaneity of character. Big call I know but there you are. One huge caveat to this; what the hell do I know about Russian people really? Not much. I am drawing from surface observations only and would like to get pass this but that is where the problems seems to begin. It would be interesting to know what their view is of people from the west? Heaven knows they could perhaps think we live in a fairly frivolous self abscessed, self absorbed society with little more concerns than how much we can put down or throat and how much we can shove in our wallets and that we are a fairly mindless lot who are manipulated not by propaganda and doctrine so much as jingles and advertising campaigns but then I am only guessing again.
The cable car incident just reminded me of having windows slammed in my face all over Russia in 2002. I managed to get to the cable car around 1230 and found myself standing in line about a dozen back from the ticket window. The queue was moving slowly but that is not uncommon over here. I have never quiet worked out why ticket sellers take three or four times more to sell a ticket in some places than others. Nevertheless I stood in line patiently as I progressed towards the ticket window. The line moved slowly forward and I was soon three back from the front. Then slam. The window had been closed. I found myself standing there thinking, had the ticket seller just gone to get a new roll of tickets, had she gone to the toilet for a few minutes or perhaps she had gone for lunch? Ten minutes later, twenty minutes later everyone is still standing there in fairly blistering sun. The cable car takes about a half hour to reach the other side and return and takes about 30 people at a time. As there was at least 60 people in the second queue, the boarding cue, I did some quick maths and realised even if I get a ticket my ride is about three turns away which is about an hour and a half away! Get real I thought and started walking in another direction with the intent of coming back later when perhaps the cues may have thinned. Well two hours later I couldn’t believe my luck. There I was first in line, how could I miss this time. I then notice the sign on the window which states tickets go on sale five minutes to the ride. Great I thought, it’s ten to three so any minute now the window will open and I’ll have that prized ticket in my hand. Quarter past three came and the window still hadn’t opened. Arrrrrrrhhhh!!!!!
I think I worked the system out.
1. Slam the window in the face of your clients at any time when you have sold enough tickets. (sell at lest two ride loads as that commits the second group to hang around) Do not offer any explanation, or apology to those in line. (apologies are a sign of weakness and besides you’re the one that wants the *service )
2. Place a sign up that tells clients that you will open at five minutes to the ride but ignore that whenever it suits and have your clients stand around not knowing what is happening. (you’re the one that wants the *service, right)
*Service. Russians seem to look at service in reverse to the way I understand it. You know I am not a big fan of the over the top McDonald’s ‘have a nice day’ brand of service where your mother might be about to die of cancer, your about to be divorced and you just ran over the dog that morning and some fifteen year old is telling you to have a nice day. Hell, perhaps sometimes I just want to have one hell of a lousy day and just happen to want a hamburger as well! No I can generally do without a politeness that has been drilled into staff at an induction training course yet has about the same depth as wallpaper. I don’t particularly like it when good old fashioned Australian customer service which we have always been renowned for is replaced by a packaged formulae for politeness. Sorry Chuck. Anyway, having said that I do like living in a service driven economy where the customer is seen to have the position of power. The Russian model takes a position of, ‘I am providing a service to you and you can take it or leave it, I don’t care, there are plenty of other people cueing who do’. Now, I don’t want to sound like I am trumpeting the virtues of the free market economy, I can be just as critical there, but I do like the power competition gives the consumer and if I don’t like someone’s business practices or attitude I simply vote with my feet. At times it is just the little things. In Russian owned accommodation as an example you will always be the one going to reception and asking to replace a light bulb, to bring extra toilet paper and fill the sugar bowl because you’re the one that requires the service from them so you have the onus to seek rather than the onus of a good business to anticipate and factor.
So there I was second time around waiting for a ticket not knowing if or when the privilege of riding on their cable car would be bestowed upon me. After some time I decided the only action was to resort to a bit of old aussie slang and mumbled to myself, ‘bugger this!’ and I was off. I would have been quiet happy to purchase a ticket for later in the day gone away and done a few thing then come back but the only option was to stand in line in the hot sun for an hour and a half, perhaps two. Sorry, patience might be a virtue but mine had run out that day and I headed back to Riga with only a view of the castle from the distance and a few thoughts on costumer service.
posted by transavante | 9:16 pm
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