Riga & Vilnius

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Country Count: 35+2!

Rides: Parnu to Riga: One motorhome all the way to the centre of Riga.
Riga to Vilnius: Two cars, one truck and a Lexus!

Weather - Sun! We've had sun! At last!

You meet strange people on the road.
While we were standing on the road outside Parnu waving our "RIGA" sign at passing traffic, an older gentleman with long white hair came up to us, asked us where we were going, gave us a photocopy of an article about himself from a German newspaper, and then stood 15 metres behind us with a large "BERLIN" sign. We all ended up getting a lift in the same motorhome, and spent the next 2 or 3 hours discovering that we had the privelege of meeting Germany's most famous hitch hiker. He has been travelling by thumb, mostly within Germany, for the last 6 years, and has kept meticulous records of rides, people and distances. He has travelling the same distance in the time as 8 times around the world. He had some hitching advice. Amusing signs are apparently a good way to get a ride. So, somewhere between Riga and Vilnius we created a sign that says "ISTANBUL" which at least gets us noticed!

After a day wandering around the old town of Riga (not as old or as contained as Tallinn, but nice all the same, and with one of the least elegant tallest church towers I have ever seen) we caught a bus to the edge of town, and tried for a ride to Vilnius. After nearly 2 hours standing on the side of the highway, we decided to ask in a petrol station, and the very first person we asked gave us a ride far enough down the highway to at least get properly out of town, and it wasn't so hard from there.

Another car and a truck later, we found ourselves at dusk on the side of a beautiful new freeway in the middle of the north of Lithuania, waving our thumbs at passing cars while admiring the sunset and assessing the local area for possible places to discreetly put up a tent for the night. We weren't really expecting another lift, but while standing on the side of the road, you may as well put a thumb out! We were in luck. A Lexus pulled up, and a young man with excellent english offered to take us all the way to Vilnius. Turns out he was a professor in law at the local university, spoke English, Russian, Italian, French and Lithuanian, was well travelled and provided fascinating conversation all the way to Vilnius. When he heard we hadn't booked a hostel yet, he asked us to stay in his enormous flat (we had a choice of rooms) and to show us around Vilnius the next morning. He had a red baseball cap that said in large white letters "I *heart* JESUS". So it seems he was a Jesus freak, or rather, Jesus Geek, but apart from that, and the religious art around his house, it didn't show too much!

Having our own personal tour guide and chauffeur was a great introduction to the city. The next morning he rang the hostels we had mentioned we were going to try, arranged us two dorm beds, and drove us there. Then he drove us to the centre, through his university, pointed out some sights, and took us to the main cathedral square and the KGB prison museum, before having a light lunch in a cafe on the main street and then leaving us to finish exploring the town on our own. It was lovely.

Next: Poland

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