a couple for Megan

These couple of photos go out to a mutual friend of Megan and mine.

Backtracking to Vilnius

I arrived in Riga with two weeks to kill before heading off back to oz. After a week or so I felt I needed to do something else before heading back so t square and I decided to backtrack to Lithuania to have a better look at the country I’d travelled through at night and spent five minutes in. Vilnius is a five hour trip from Riga on either a day or night bus. Die hard backpackers catch the 10 PM bus to avoid a nights accommodation fee but the idea of landing in a city at 3.00 AM didn’t have a lot of appeal so I headed out at 10 AM.

Again the bus trip was not too eventful. Sometimes you almost wish some crazy would get on just to break the trip up a little and provide a bit of humour. The bus was fairly hot. I seems drivers here are reluctant to switch on the AC. Maybe it’s because for a large part of the year these countries have below zero temperatures, like minus 20 or more. Apparently in winter you can walk from Finland to Estonia which is two hours by ship to give you some idea of how cold it gets here. Or, maybe as these countries are known for their fondness for saunas that sitting in a sealed bus sweating with a group of people is not such an unpleasant or foreign activity.

After an hour or so another passenger persuaded the driver to turn it on and the slightest of breeze could be felt coming through the system. After drinking a fair amount of liquid in the interim and now starting to feel the call of nature I noticed a Japanese backpacker head down to the toilet. After a few attempts at opening the door and realising it was locked he walked politely back to his seat and sat down resigned to the situation. After a few more minutes I realised I wasn’t quiet as accepting and decided to walk down and ask the driver for the key. With the universal visual queue of twisting two fingers and saying toilet at the same time I was sure I would not have too much trouble conveying my request whatever the drivers language which as a passenger you don’t necessarily know as these bus generally travel through a range of countries. ‘Aaaaahhh, too ilet! he exclaimed. Now I am not particularly good at Latvian, Estonian or Lithuanian. Indeed I can’t put two words together but I could tell from this drivers response that he considered the toilet on his bus as the bane of his life. Perhaps he was thinking if only there was an attendant on the bus charging a zloty every time someone wanted to use it you wouldn’t have so many people walking up and down the isle using the free toilet would you? ‘Free toilet’ who ever heard of such nonsense! You could tell that as far as this driver was concerned he’d weld the door shut permanently if he could. After watching the driver tap his pockets a few times which is another universal sign for, ‘hell, I don’t know where the keys are’ I thought for a couple of moments and realised I would have to take a different approach and a little mischievously turned to the stair well and indicated that I could always pull my fly down and do it there. He looked at me a moment considering the gesture and perhaps the incomprehensible nature of westerners that uttered, ‘something, something toilet!’ before pulling the bus over and unlocking the door. I braced myself well half expecting him to hit the brakes hard as I stood to relieve myself but no. Interestingly the Japanese man then a steady tide of people soon were heading to the convenience. As we headed towards Vilnius perhaps the bus driver was thinking, ‘this would be a good job except for the passengers!’.
Fun now over I put my seat back content to count cows, hay bails and watch the world go by and soon found myself in Vilnius.

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.

Qantas travel advice 16.08.06

Travelling through Heathrow Airport and constantly checking the Qantas Website to see how late the planes are departing and the current restrictions on handluggage. For the last few days a number of flights have departed 4 hours late yet yesterday they all seemed to get away fairly much on time. There has also been a slight relaxation on the hand luggage restrictions. The reality is that it is probably far safer to travel at the moment than anytime recently

UK Travel Advice
As changes to baggage restrictions are ongoing across the United Kingdom, for the most up to date information refer to the BAA website.

Immediate changes to carry-on baggage
With immediate effect, the following arrangements apply to all passengers starting their journey at a UK airport and those transferring between flights at a UK airport.

Cabin baggage is restricted to a single bag containing no liquids. The maximum overall dimensions of the bag is 45cm x 35 cm x 16 cm.

All carry on baggage will be x-rayed. Medications such as pills, asthma puffer and the like are permitted in flight. Prescription medicines in liquid form are limited to quantities that are sufficient and essential for the flight and will only be permitted where verified as authentic. Travelling infant baby food and milk (the contents of each bottle must be sampled by the accompanying passenger) is limited to quantities that are sufficient and essential for the flight.

All Laptops and large electrical items (eg hairdryer) are now permitted however they must be removed from the carry on, at screening, and placed in a provided tray.

Personal pushchairs, walking aids and wheelchairs are permitted through screening providing the item can be cleared by the screeners.

Passengers may be subjected to pat down searching and their footwear x-rayed.

In light of the current screening process passengers should allow additional time to proceed through screening.

This applies to all customers commencing their travel or making a direct connection through London-Heathrow airport.

Given the restrictions, passengers are requested to not purchase items such as for example, alcohol, perfume, and make-up, at retail outlets in the departure area as these items will not be permitted on the aircraft. Please also note also that fountain pens containing ink may not be carried on board.

Allow extra time
Due to these changes delays at the airport will occur. Allow yourself plenty of extra time to check-in and clear security at the airport.

To help minimise delays ensure that other than the items listed above that all items are placed in your checked baggage.

Travel Plans
If you wish to change your travel plans view our FAQ for more information.

Travel to and from other cities
These new security measures only apply to passengers travelling from London or making a direct connection through London-Heathrow airport. The normal carry-on baggage allowances apply for travel to and from all other cities (outside the UK, USA and from Singapore and Mumbai).

Last updated 15 August 2006 10.00am AEST

Train to Darzini

Being a small country it is easy to get to and back from most places in a day. Having spent my time in Poland in central Warsaw I decided I’d get out of Riga and check out the countryside in Latvia a little more.

The train out of Riga is much like most places here in the Baltic Nations with urban build up giving way quickly to pine forest and patches of birch and spruce. The train I am on is heading for Salaspils yet I’m getting off one stop before at Darzini. You conclude quickly as you stand on the platform with the train heading out of view that this is hardly a remarkable place. There is a small brick building looking more like a toilet block than a now disused station office. There is no one to be seen, no shops, roads, offices. It is one of those places you see from time to time with a place name and wander just what its significance or history might be. Australia is littered with such places and names. If you look hard on the Blue Mountains train line you might see a sign ‘Newness Junction’ once a significant branch line for steam locomotives pulling shale out of the Newness Valley which a newly federated nation had poured enormous resources and pinned their hopes on shale oil being its avenue into an industrialising world economy. Well everything was on track until the discovery of Texas Tea, oil that is, and the industry crashed overnight. The refinery was pulled down for scrap, the houses transported, train lines pulled up and Newnes Junction is nothing more than a small sign on a lonely bit of rail line near Bell.

So stepping off the train at Darzini with nothing but a forest of pines on both sides of the tracks and a shoebox shaped brick building standing abandoned on one side you might pause and wonder just why does this place without a postcard have a train station? The sound of the train slowly fades into the distance to be replaced by the sound of a lonely breeze through the pines. I had come here for a reason though. Beyond this sign lay not the hopes, if ill fated, of an ambitions nation but the brutal ambitions of ethnic cleansing and yet another Nazi concentration camp. My guide book instructs me to follow a path from the station to the piemineklis, (memorial). There are no signs giving directions and hardly a path but a number of unformed tracks leading off into the forest in various directions.

Standing on the platform considering the various paths seemly leading nowhere it is hard to contemplate that down the end of one of these paths over 100, 000 people where murdered by the Nazis. Even harder to contempt that by nazi standards 100,000 murdered is not considered a large camp.


I had contemplated going to Auschwitz, the epicentre of the holocaust, while in Poland but stories of masses of people descending on this cite during the summer months put me off a little. I am sure that most people that go there are profoundly affected by the experience, how could you not be, yet there was something telling me that I didn’t want to go there to tick it off my itinerary. Warsaw done tick, Krakow done tick, Auschwitz done tick. If I was going to experience a scene of nazi atrocities then I was going to do it on my terms and stand sit walk and ponder at my pace and not be part of a queue being jostled along to the next ‘point of interest’. For me being in a lonely forest where 100,000 had been murdered was just a poignant as anything I could have imagined and in a way being so lonely, isolated and forgotten I felt closer to the souls of those who perished yet few know of.. Those who perished in the forests here sadly become notable only as a statistic now and Darzini is just a place name, a sign affix to the side of a railway platform.

Check in.

Stepping off the bus and leaving my bags I had a few hours to kill before check in. Being in the old town I ambled out into the streets and found myself immediately in the bosom of Latvia. This country certainly has had a troubled past. The German Knights first conquered Latvia in 1210 and dominated for several hundred years. Next came the Poles in 1561 bringing with them Catholicism followed by the Swedes in 1561 until the Great Northern War (1700-21) where Latvia became part of Russia. The Nazis had a brief but bloody period here from 1941 to 1945 where an estimated 175,000 Latvians where killed or deported. Barely any Jews remain in Latvia today. Latvia’s history is one of being dominated but never defeated morally with a history of popular resistance with many thousands of partisans offering up there lives for independence and self determination. When you walk the streets of Latvia you might be mistaken in thinking that these troubled times occurred long ago in other generations yet the sounds of Russian tanks heading down cobbled streets to put down the Latvian Popular Front and troops storming the Interior Ministry building as recently as January 1991 is still very vivid in the minds of Latvians as is the image of over two million Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians who formed a 650 klm human chain through these three countries on 23rd August 1989 to mark the 50th anniversary of Soviet occupation which was the catalyst in forming the Latvian Popular Front. On May 1 2004 Latvia became part of the EU. I have seen photos here of the people celebrating in the streets at the formal inclusion of the EU and you can see etched on the faces of the crowd a the huge emotional outpouring that there destiny had finally arrived.

So this city being invaded by the Russians, Nazis, Swedes and others I was sure they wouldn’t be too worried about one tried Aussie fresh off the bus, or perhaps not so fresh, looking for a coffee. Unlike Poland which has little kiosks punctuating the footpath at regular intervals and an endless collection of food outlets and stalls the streets in the old town Riga contained only sit down restaurants and upmarket cafes. My experience with these places is that although they sell coffee on the menu they are generally not too thrilled to serve an unshaven, slightly dishevelled and unwashed new arrival who just wants to sit and read his guide book while having just one cup of coffee. On further inspection of the displayed menus I noticed that this is not a bargain basement backpacker destination. Then again there were no chickens and pigs walking down the street or open sewers containing a cocktail of diseases just waiting to march. I suppose you get what you pay for. Riga is certainly not some third world backwater and you get a sense that it has moved a long way in a very short time. Apparently it currently has an economic growth rate of 13.9% What industrialised country wouldn’t envy that? The city is abuzz with activity. Mainly tourism and building from what I can see. Old buildings that haven’t seen a lick of paint or repairs for decades are being transformed, new buildings constructed, infrastructure overhauled and the public transport system being replaced with shinny new buses and trams. You can tell there is big money being poured into this country so it is not just the Latvians who have confidence in Latvia’s future and easy to understand why most Latvians look to the future with an optimism perhaps unique in its history.

I made my way to the subway and found a cake shop with a great range of extremely inexpensive cakes, slices and other delightful goodies. I then saw another shop selling beer wines and spirits again after calculation back to the aussie dollars was extremely inexpensive. Great, I can live on cakes and beer I thought! Alcohol is available everywhere here in Latvia. You can buy it at the supermarket, at the newsagent, service station and just about anywhere and there doesn’t seem to be any restrictions on drinking in public places as there is in oz. If you are ever in Riga you might like to try the 3.3 litre plastic bottle of beer with a screw top lid! There is something about drink or pouring beer from a plastic screw top bottle that I just can’t get my head around. Anyway, public drinking is everywhere. If you are on a train there’ll be people sitting drinking a beer, if you are sitting at a bus stop there’ll be someone drinking a beer, in the park, on the street corner, bus stop wherever. They even have little barrows in the park, much like the one’s you might see in Oz selling ice cream, with a keg hooked up to a beer tap. An alcoholic would probably see this place as heaven. I believe the only rule is that alcohol can not be consumed in public places after 10 PM.

Riga has a population of 790,000 and Latvia 2.3 million. Hardly a huge population and perhaps why various forces have thought this country might as well be theirs. Apparently one third of the population are Russian which is not inconsiderable. Interestingly there is very little Russian signage anywhere and there is not a lot of dual language labelling in the way the Canadians label everything in both French and English. There is not actually fighting in the streets between those with Russian heritage and others but you do notice a degree of distain. You hear stories of the later getting second grade service at hotels, restaurants and other places, that type thing. Curiously when reading labels on food packaging, doesn’t everyone, being a European economy there is generally information in a range of languages and interestingly Russian is often way down at the bottom. Is this perhaps a subtle put down? Am I reading too much into food labels?

Apparently according to my guide book Riga was once dubbed the ‘Paris of the East’ and after finishing my cake, and passing on the beer, I heading down to ‘Pilsetas Kanals’, a name I think sounds much better in Latvian than its English translation of ‘City Canal’, to investigate this bold claim. Now having never been to Paris and to give it a southern hemisphere slant, dam it the Piksetas Kanals is the Christchurch of the north! Or at least walking through the parkland I felt I could have been on the Mersey River in downtown Christchurch, NZ. I will put a couple of photos together one day to prove my point. Now, the second thing I noticed which was a real novelty, green grass. Yes, I know all grass is green but I am talking about thick lush juicy grass. The kind of grass we once had in certain parts of oz until about ten years ago. The kind of grass sheep and cows dream of. I was almost tempted to get down on all fours and roll in the stuff just to go back to my childhood where your mother would scold you for putting grass stains on your new cloths. I know most people go on holidays and bring back stories of mountains, churches, monuments and that kind of stuff but hell after years , dam it, decades of an unbreakable drought at home allow me one brief moment to get exited about lovely, fat, soft, juicy, succulent, deep green healthy grass. Ok, I’m over it now. I walked a few kilometres along the canal to the River proper crossed and came back on the other side . I was tempted to have a beer on my way back to the hostel yet there is something about drinking on a park bench alone which, regardless of the local custom, I couldn’t quiet come at and headed for some much needed sleep.

Bussing it.

Click on map for larger image.

Not too sure how to describe Riga. It is the kind of city that from the moment you arrive you know that it has charm like a woman with a smile that holds your attention yet keeps you intrigued by its obscurity. Unlike Poland the bus terminal in Riga is in the centre of town and the city greets you the minute you step off the bus. My accommodation was just four minutes walk from the bus terminal in the heart of Riga’s old town.

The bus trip from Warsaw was fairly eventless and nowhere near as gruelling as the London Warsaw trip. I did however feel I was heading further into the back blocks of Europe on this leg. The freeways/motorways/autobahns in Germany just out of France are mind boggling with a maze of flyovers as the traffic of Europe is sent in its different directions. Germany is a bit of a focal point for traffic to the far corners of Europe and you get a sense of the pure volumes of traffic with flyovers and overpasses extending for kilometres with nothing but pillions and exit signs to punctuation the journey. Finally the navigation through this maze is complete and the driver settles back for mind numbing hours down a freeway where you keep perfect time as the kilometres go click click click with nothing to distract, engage or compel the driver to do anything other than keep the bus between the lines and on course. Sitting on a bus travelling effortlessly down the best roads on this planet with the quiet murmur of the engine it is fairly easy to feel relaxed and catch some sleep.

Travelling from Warsaw to Riga was somewhat different. It certainly wasn’t like the bus journeys I have loathed when travelling in Asia , Africa and Latin America where you can smell the brakes cooking as the driver hammers the bus down a ravine or dodges in and out of heavy traffic leaving a tobacco papers width between the vehicle you are in an oncoming traffic and perhaps peril. I have seen a few too many buses on their sides or half way down the side of a hill to anticipate travelling by bus other than as total last resort in these countries. The drive east out of Warsaw wasn’t anywhere as nerve racking as in the so called third world countries where there seems to be only two speeds, stopped and flat out, yet it did have me reach for the seat belt for the first time.

The highways of Germany don’t stop at the Polish border and it is quiet evident that huge money had been poured into the brand new freeway the takes you all the way to Warsaw. With a second grade two lane highway heading east to Latvia I saw the new freeways heading west as a clear symbol of where Poland sees its future and priority. Back on the road heading east out of Warsaw after passing the soviet style apartments and other no descript buildings the city soon gives way to greenfield areas of new estate developments, shopping centres and fast food outlets. Hey, welcome to anywhere! Thankfully we were soon heading out through farming country, more wheat I think, and I took my position watching the world go by through the window.

With the nights here only about five hours long at this time of year, a couple of border crossing to punctuate the night and with a few drinking partners at the back of the bus it seemed that we had only finished last drinks before it was dawn. With one small hiccup of the bus breaking down and an hour and a half sitting on the roadside. I could here the clunks of the drivers trying to do some mechanical repair at the rear of the bus and thought the last thing I want to do is get off the bus and offer my two Zlotys worth or was that Litas worth. Yes, in fact I was in Lithuania not Poland now or Latvia yet. So there you are, I have been to Lithuania after all because the drivers finally gave up trying to fix the bus and a new bus was bought in the transfer passengers. So, if anyone asks have I been to Lithuania I’ll be able to say, oh yes briefly, spent about five minutes by a cow paddock not far from the Latvian border back in 2006. Loved the country, great cows! Must go back one day.

So now ensconced in old town Riga. Big news is that my next destination is Sydney Australia. Yes, just a little out of Riga. Yes, it is a bit of a shock for me but I have to put my responsibilities as a parent above having a good time just at the moment. I do intend to head back out to China just as soon as possible and pick up my journey in Beijing. I did however buy a return ticket to London coming back June 1 next year so the Trans Siberian leg will have to wait ten months. This isn’t so bad as I will then be able to accomplish another goal of attending the ‘White Nights’ festival in St. Petersburg and do the Trans Siberian in one trip. I still have some time here in Riga an a few blogs before I leave. The major news here at the moment is the turmoil at London Heathrow and other airports with many flight cancellations. I am not alone in having some concerns with both getting to London then onto a connecting flight in London with the constant news of flight cancellations. I do have travel insurance but I’ll need to read the fine print because a lot of insurers have covered their backside by exempting themselves out of troubles arising out of terrorism. Whether flight cancellations could be deemed a result of an act or planned act of terrorism or rather due to a simple inability and lack of logistical planning to deal with foreseeable congestion when a security level is increased to critical is probably being considered by many right at this moment. Further, I am not sure just who holds legal liability if items such as laptops and cameras now have to be put in the hold of the aircraft which get to below zero temperature become damaged? I am starting to understand the attraction of Noosa, Cairns and other domestic locations as a great place to have a holiday!