13 July: Jelgave, Estonia;-Zagare, Lithuania; Jelgave and Riga, Latvia (60 Miles; 829)

Our route today was a round trip ride to Lithuania, from Jelgave, Latvia, to Zagare, Lithuania, lunch, return to Jelgave and then train to Riga. We had perfect weather, light wind, and partly cloudy. The only unfortunate portion was the poor road surfaces, ranging from patches-on-patches to a few miles of gravel. Traffic on this Monday morning was light after leaving the Jelgave ring road, and with the poor surface, we could hear cars coming as we wove about seeking the least-rough surface.

Poppies. The gravel road proved to be as smooth as many paved portions. Seems the Latvians did not want to encourage citizens to drive to Lithuania, or Audi was conducting suspension tests. In general, Audi seemed to have the largest market share, Volvo fewer as we moved south, as well as Toyota, Subaru, Kia, and Suzuki.

Southern Latvia is predominantly flat farm country with a belt of forest about 5 miles from the border. We speculated on the placement of the border, likely related to prior land ownership rather than geographic features. We left the panniers and trailer at the hotel; riding without the load was a pleasant respite.

Welcome to Latvia

Dog of the Day. This basset was having a bad day. He looked friendly, then lunged three dog steps. Positively frightening for John and Stuart.

Barrows. The four mounds.

Grave Stone with Hebrew Inscription. Same location as the barrows. Just inside Lithuania.

Zagare was an interesting town, the first of it’s size organized around a large central square. Their Cherry Festival was celebrated the prior weekend, and many of the residents competed in a scarecrow contest. The red balls represented cherries, although no real cherries were available.

We paused for lunch at the local café and had a pleasant talk with the waitress, the only person with any English. In general, the ability to speak English is common but far from universal for those under 40.

Our Waitress with John

Owner with John. When John asked if the waitress and owner would pose for a photo, the owner disappeared, so we thought she was shy. We took the first photo, and as we were leaving, the owner appeared. She wanted to have time to comb her hair and apply makeup.

Guestbook. Apparently, few American bike travelers visit Zagare.

Zagare was the first town in which all of the older men seemed to be riding bikes, and they all wore orange or yellow reflective vests.

Wall Art in Latvian Hamlet

Typical Wood Frame Construction

 Zagare Street #1

 Zagare Store

 Zagare Street #2

Wall Detail, Zagare

Rooster of the Day

Mushroom Hut

Troll Hut. Located a few mile insist Latvia, the chimney was emitting smoke in the morning.

Grain Fields Predominate

Well-kept Barn

Jelgave Town Sign

TV Anyone? This apartment building on the southern edge of Jelgave is built in the Soviet-era style, with brick-clad walls, balconies that were probable added along with improved windows, and multiple antennas and satellite dishes. 

Enterprising Marijuana Farmer

I met a fascinating marijuana farmer on the return train from Jelgave to Riga. He was bound to catch the bus from Riga to Kiev, 10 hours, to visit his girlfriend. Sorry to admit I did not remember his name.  His story was similar to Monica’s in Estonia. Here are the key points:

• His grandfather was a land owner, so when the Soviets occupied Latvia, his grandfather was send to Siberia, better than being shot. While entire families were often sent, his grandmother was able to stay in Lithuania, but their land and buildings were seized.
• His grandfather described conditions on the trains to Siberia. People were confined in slatted cattle cars without food, water, or sanitation. The weakest died and were removed from the cars when the train stopped to refuel.
• Anyone with any education or who owned property of much significance was arrested and shot or sentenced to the camps in Siberia. The Soviet theory was that the uneducated could be persuaded to follow orders and support the Soviets; the educated were ungovernable and needed to be removed.
• Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania had similar experiences. Latvia's population declined approximately 550,000 during Soviet occupation. In turn, the Soviets supported the immigration of Soviet citizens from other USSR countries, approximately 500,000, and placed them in management and governing positions. Many of these Russian immigrants remain with varying loyalties to their former homeland. 
• His grandmother was evicted and local people moved into their home and other buildings. Occupants had no incentive to maintain anything, so if the roof leaked, they moved to another vacated home.
• Upon perestroika (literally, reordering), prior owners could reclaim property if they could prove ownership and present affidavits from others. He was born in 1982, independence was in 1990, so the worst occurred earlier. He was close to his grandfather and promised to care for the treasured family land. Upon finishing university, he returned to the farm, converting it from the usual grain to marijuana or hemp. Since the drug variety is illegal, he focuses on fiber and food/oil products. The fiber-producing variety reaches 10-ft before harvesting. The other variety reaches 3-4 ft and the focus in on seed, which is processed to extract oil, milk, protein, etc. His farm is entirely organic, and he markets the output himself, mostly in village and regional markets.

We exited the train station, aiming for the towers of Old Town, the site of our hotel. Rated 3 stars, it is quite plush, centrally located, and 100 euros per night for a triple room, including ample room to store our bikes in the room.

Old Town comprises nearly 100 percent cobblestone streets, not the best for bikes, and worse for a small-wheeled Bike Friday and trailer. The streets were filled with people on a Monday evening, as Riga is a popular vacation spot and quite affordable for in-the-know Europeans and wealthy Russians.

John was longing for some Asian cuisine, but we are in Latvia. So we opted for Latvian-Asian fusion, which proved to be excellent.

Latvian - Asian Fusion