Day of arrival - if not without problems. It's the classical situation, almost ripe for a movie...you're almost there, but yet so far...anyways, let's start from the beginning. Waking up a last time, we go through the usual ritual: I make coffee, Hans takes down the tent, we have some breakfast, then get on our way. The road is good, but my rear tyre has lost pressure once again overnight and needs to be pumped up again. Not a good sign, but we're only about 50km from Lepel, surely it will last at least until we're there! Also, we're running pretty [View Full Entry]

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I wake up around 9 and the rain has finally stopped - no excuse to stay in bed any longer! Time to get up, make some coffee - and it starts raining again, fortunately before we start taking down the tent. So: back inside, play a round of cards, then another and another and another... As predicted by Hans' rule of thumb, the weather changes at 11 and we can take down the tent and get on the way. But the legs are tired (mine at least), the first 30kms a real torture. Around noon, we find a small shop and [View Full Entry]

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What a helpful bunch of people these Belarussians are! Some of the friendliest people I've met on our journey I met today, here in Belarus. But first, let's talk about what happened... Around 9am it seems that the rain finally stops and we crawl out of our tent that held up well against the storm. We use the last of our water for some coffee and continue along the M7 towards Ashmani. The first problem: we need money. I try a cash machine, but it turns out that Belarussian cash points don't accept debit cards. Fortunately, I have some Litas left [View Full Entry]

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Early morning I wake up - around 5:30 - probably because of my less than pleasant sleeping position: as we put the tent up on a slight slope, my head is actually about 10cm lower than my feet, which didn't make for a great night's sleep. Then I realise: it's 6:30! Forgot about the time difference again, I really must change my clock forward. As Hans is up as well, we decide to just get up, pack away our stuff and flee the still mosquito-infested meadow. In the next town on the way, Eliskes, we stop to get some cake for [View Full Entry]

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Day 11 of our journey, and the legs are starting to feel tired. A good thing that the road out of Druskininkai is absolutely perfect: sheltered from the wind, flat, and the sun is not too hot. On our way out of Druskininkai, we get lost once again (as we did on the way out of pretty much every single larger town). Two Lithuanian women, dressed up in their fancy car, offer to not only help us find the way, but drive with us to make sure we find it. Once they made sure we found the right junction, we have [View Full Entry]

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The last (half) day in Poland! Apparently, our tent was hidden well enough as nobody found us (or was bothered with us being where we were). As usual, we start the day off with some coffee, where I almost manage to set fire to the forest floor because I spill some cooking spirit. We get on our way towards Lithuania. As if someone was trying to keep us from reaching the border, the headwind picks up and makes cycling a real pain. Traffic is perfect though, not even the Nr. 16 route people warned me of manages to come up with [View Full Entry]

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For the first time in over a week we get rain. And, of course, it has to happen in the middle of the night. Quickly get out of the tent, pull the rain cover over the tent, and retreat back into the dry inside. Fortunately, the rain doesn't last and is gone by the time we get up in the morning. A coffee and some bread later, we're back on the road towards Lithuania. If everything goes according to plan, today should be our last day in Poland, we'll cross the border tomorrow. Just when I'm starting to get used to [View Full Entry]

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Great weather and a good road on the way to Mikolajki start the day off on the right note. After 31km on shady roads through the woods, we reach the tourist destination, full of German tourists once again. After some ice cream in a cafe, we take a stroll along the beach promenade, trying to find a boat that will take us across the Sniadrwy-lake. The only one we find is a private motorboat company, who would charge us zloty 400 (that's about €100), an offer we gladly decline. So we'll take the bike for a change. After a few wrong [View Full Entry]

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What a great campsite it was! After a good night's sleep and some breakfast and coffee, we continue along eastward. We don't get far though, as the Masurian lakes are tempting...calling us to take a break...campsites and hotels left and right, people kayaking around in the lakes, and our legs feeling as though they're made of lead, we soon give in to temptation and stop in Zgon, where we decide to spend the rest of the day and take a room in a hotel. The first B&B we find has no rooms left, so we move on to the next...an ex-Sowiet [View Full Entry]

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I wake up at 7am already, although it took me a while to fall asleep - Hans' snoring didn't make a good lullaby. Since I find myself in a bed, I decide to force myself back to sleep - enjoy it while you have it! I manage to sleep on to half past eight. Another shower and then off to breakfast: coffee, eggs...I'm in paradise! Around 9:30 we're on our way. The sun is hiding behind clouds, perfect weather for cycling. We follow the road into the woods and find the junction Christof (the son of the German family) showed me [View Full Entry]

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