Vodka
Had my first shot of vodka on this trip at twelve when I arrived in Chelm - to celebrate the FIRST 1000 km. Must admit that I had a few beers over the days. Evenings can be a bit lonely honestly and to meditate over the meaning of life in the fermented juice of barley is not the worst alternative. I don't really make contact with people. I mean I can spend 14 hours on a long haul flight without addressing the the person next to me.....So it doesn't come so easily for me. Anyway, Chelm seems to be a pleasant town with some nice bars, so I will go out now.
Sobibor
On my way from Wlodawa to Chelm, I realised that Sobibor was not far away, so I made a detour thereto.
http://www.deathcamps.org/sobibor/sobibor.html
Of course I am well aware of the genocide of the Jews and Gypsies by the Nazis, still it was a very strong experience to visit this place where approximately 250 000 people were murdered (I think that is the correct word to use). There is a museum there but it was closed for the season (there is apparently also a death camp-visiting-season!), but there was a path in the area with information boards. All buildings are erased to you have to use your fantacy a bit. I was heavily touched by the Remembrance Lane, where resently they have started to put small black stones with the names of people identified as killed there. The goal is to have all of the 250 000 identified. I don't easily cry, but here tears came flooding.
Obviously one can't avoid thinking about how these things can happen, both how such sick policies can be developed and how the individuals that actually executed the policies could do it? I have, as most of you I guess, read all kind of explanations. We hear that our civilized behaviour is just a thin varnish that easily can be broken under the right kind of conditions. Still, when you don't believe in EVIL it is hard to comprehend this. Of course similar things are going on also today - thinking about Darfur and Kongo, and Rwanda and Bosnia not so long ago.
My last thoughts were about the people living in that little village next to the camp. There were two thoughts: First what did they,or rather their parents do when this happened or are they all new people (the Polish border was adjusted heavily after the WW II and the population living there at the time of the camp were perhaps moved. Secondly, how is it to live in a place like this. I mean even without the camp in the vicinity it is a poor desolated area, adding the camp.....?????? I don't think I could live there. But perhaps that is what we have to do - reinstate and insist on normality instead of despairing from the abnormal.
http://www.deathcamps.org/sobibor/sobibor.html
Of course I am well aware of the genocide of the Jews and Gypsies by the Nazis, still it was a very strong experience to visit this place where approximately 250 000 people were murdered (I think that is the correct word to use). There is a museum there but it was closed for the season (there is apparently also a death camp-visiting-season!), but there was a path in the area with information boards. All buildings are erased to you have to use your fantacy a bit. I was heavily touched by the Remembrance Lane, where resently they have started to put small black stones with the names of people identified as killed there. The goal is to have all of the 250 000 identified. I don't easily cry, but here tears came flooding.
Obviously one can't avoid thinking about how these things can happen, both how such sick policies can be developed and how the individuals that actually executed the policies could do it? I have, as most of you I guess, read all kind of explanations. We hear that our civilized behaviour is just a thin varnish that easily can be broken under the right kind of conditions. Still, when you don't believe in EVIL it is hard to comprehend this. Of course similar things are going on also today - thinking about Darfur and Kongo, and Rwanda and Bosnia not so long ago.
My last thoughts were about the people living in that little village next to the camp. There were two thoughts: First what did they,or rather their parents do when this happened or are they all new people (the Polish border was adjusted heavily after the WW II and the population living there at the time of the camp were perhaps moved. Secondly, how is it to live in a place like this. I mean even without the camp in the vicinity it is a poor desolated area, adding the camp.....?????? I don't think I could live there. But perhaps that is what we have to do - reinstate and insist on normality instead of despairing from the abnormal.
1000 km vallen ar passerad
I passed 1000 km today and am now in Chelm. I followed the Ukrainian border for some 70 km today.
Chelm is a nice town with a lot of atmosphere and nice buildings. I now plan a three day break in cycling and will go by train to Krakow and to Katowice. I always wanted to see Krakow and we have friends - our farm workers - in Katowice. After coming back to Chelm I will enter Ukraine.
Idag passerade jag 1000 km. De dagar jag cyklat sa har jag cyklat i genomsnitt 75 km och hallt igang knappt 5 timmar, dvs 16 kjm i timmen. Nu nar jag kommit igang sa verkar det som om dagsetapperna snarare blir mellan 80 och 110 km (tva dagar har jag gjort 109 km). Nar vadret ar neutralt sa verkar 17-19 km i timmen vara den basta marsch hastigheten, med upp till 21-23 nar det ar medvind. Jag drar inte pa i nedforsbackarna eftersom jag ar lite orolig for att tappa kontroll over cykeln, sa antingen gar jag pa frihjul eller tom bromsar om det borjar ga over de trettio. Ganska ofta sa leder jag cykeln uppfor backarna. Cyklen gar battre sedan jag bytte kedja. Vad galler kroppen sa ar det bara hoger kna som spokar varje morgon i ungefar en timme, sen gar det bra igen.
Chelm is a nice town with a lot of atmosphere and nice buildings. I now plan a three day break in cycling and will go by train to Krakow and to Katowice. I always wanted to see Krakow and we have friends - our farm workers - in Katowice. After coming back to Chelm I will enter Ukraine.
Idag passerade jag 1000 km. De dagar jag cyklat sa har jag cyklat i genomsnitt 75 km och hallt igang knappt 5 timmar, dvs 16 kjm i timmen. Nu nar jag kommit igang sa verkar det som om dagsetapperna snarare blir mellan 80 och 110 km (tva dagar har jag gjort 109 km). Nar vadret ar neutralt sa verkar 17-19 km i timmen vara den basta marsch hastigheten, med upp till 21-23 nar det ar medvind. Jag drar inte pa i nedforsbackarna eftersom jag ar lite orolig for att tappa kontroll over cykeln, sa antingen gar jag pa frihjul eller tom bromsar om det borjar ga over de trettio. Ganska ofta sa leder jag cykeln uppfor backarna. Cyklen gar battre sedan jag bytte kedja. Vad galler kroppen sa ar det bara hoger kna som spokar varje morgon i ungefar en timme, sen gar det bra igen.
Travel in East Poland
Perhaps time to summarize some impressions from the roads of Eastern Poland (as Poland is quite big I would not dare to extrapolate these experiences to the whole of Poland.
Roads are OK, quite narrow most of the time and really no sides for the cyclists to use. The lorry drivers are very correct when they overtake you and they keep a big distance which is good as there is quite a sucking force from a big lorry swishing past you. Most car drivers are also ok, but the exceptions are in particular young males with fancy cars. These guys tend to overtake anybody in tight situations and they also have the annoying habit to blow their horn when they are ten meters behind you, which is quite dangerous as the cyclist almost inevitably start to wobble.
Dogs are almost as bad as in Lithuania (not to speak about the gods.....).
In the places developed for tourism there are plenty of hotels and restaurants, but outside of those areas it is really something that can be quite limiting. Especiall when the weather is bad it is nice to get a cup of tea now and then, but often I had to cycle for hours with absolutely no place to eat. Shops are there, so you can always by beer, cheese, bread and crackers. Like on the picture (I was cold there I can tell)
There are many signs to places to stay, but unfortunately people don't cover them or take them down when they close for the season. After a while I got tired to driving half an hour on a side road just to find the places closed. Otherwise there are plenty of signs to AgroTourism places. The two I tried, I had no success with. They just looked at me as if I was an idiot and shook their heads. In addition I wonder how you can except to get any visitors when you have loose dogs attacking.......
Laundry has been problematic. Only the place in Vilnius had any laundry service. Not even the very helpful Tourist Information offices have had any idea of how to get any laundry done. In the end I can do most of the laundry by hand, but the problem is that when you move almost every day, and they have no heating in the houses and it is very damp, the stuff just don't get dry. The other problem is the clothes that get oily from bike maintenance. The hand washing doesn't really beat the oil.
Enghlish is a lot more useful in Poland than in Lithuania. German is also quite popular. In general the people in Poland are quicker to speak and take contact than the Lithuanians. Partly a language issue, but I think the Lithuanians are just more reserved (like Swedes or Fins). In Lithuania nobody greeted me when I passed them, and when I greeted them, they looked into the ground. In Poland people have greeted me quite often. Having said that, few people know more than a very basic vocabulary.
Apparently I can go for a local as at least five people have stopped me and asked for the way. Even in shops it happened twice that I was asked for where the dog food was (of course I have no idea what they actually asked for, but I found it safest to point to the dog food as both were old alcoholics).
I wrote about shops. In the country side and the small towns most shops are independents, but in the bigger towns you see more and more of the chain shops in particular for food, Carrefour, Tesco, LIdl. And the massive galleria in Krakow beats most places when it comes to offer of stylish expensive brands.....
To change money in Poland is easy (compared to Lithuania where it was hard except for in big cities). You see the sign "Kantor" and that is where you can change. Often they have some other business in the same place, selling coffee, betting or god knows what.
To go by train and bus: Busses are everywhere and with fairly good schedule. In the end I never went by bus, the only time I tried he refused to take my bicycle. (I can understand him asd he had no good space for it). I did take the bicycle on some local trains and that was quite ok. The longer trip to Krakow and Katowice was nice by train. the standard varied a lot, from very basic train with hard board seats to nice seats with 220 volt sockets for each seat. It is very cheap. Katowice - Chelm costed only 53 Zloty (around 15 Euro) and that for a trip of 450 km (which took almost eight hours). The biggest challenge is to find out where the trains go, and they have the same silly system like they have in some other countries, that there are some guys selling tickets but they don't know when the trains go etc. And sometimes you need to know the route of the train before they can issue the ticket as the price may be different depending on the route. Then there are the other guys who give information - but not about the price. It is of course particularly hard when you don't speak the langauge.
Sometimes you do wonder....
Not only dogs are there, but also gods......
Things like this are everywhere both in Poland and Lithuania.
In addition there are smaller crosses where people have died in traffic accidents, quite a good reminder.....
Roads are OK, quite narrow most of the time and really no sides for the cyclists to use. The lorry drivers are very correct when they overtake you and they keep a big distance which is good as there is quite a sucking force from a big lorry swishing past you. Most car drivers are also ok, but the exceptions are in particular young males with fancy cars. These guys tend to overtake anybody in tight situations and they also have the annoying habit to blow their horn when they are ten meters behind you, which is quite dangerous as the cyclist almost inevitably start to wobble.
Dogs are almost as bad as in Lithuania (not to speak about the gods.....).
In the places developed for tourism there are plenty of hotels and restaurants, but outside of those areas it is really something that can be quite limiting. Especiall when the weather is bad it is nice to get a cup of tea now and then, but often I had to cycle for hours with absolutely no place to eat. Shops are there, so you can always by beer, cheese, bread and crackers. Like on the picture (I was cold there I can tell)
There are many signs to places to stay, but unfortunately people don't cover them or take them down when they close for the season. After a while I got tired to driving half an hour on a side road just to find the places closed. Otherwise there are plenty of signs to AgroTourism places. The two I tried, I had no success with. They just looked at me as if I was an idiot and shook their heads. In addition I wonder how you can except to get any visitors when you have loose dogs attacking.......
Laundry has been problematic. Only the place in Vilnius had any laundry service. Not even the very helpful Tourist Information offices have had any idea of how to get any laundry done. In the end I can do most of the laundry by hand, but the problem is that when you move almost every day, and they have no heating in the houses and it is very damp, the stuff just don't get dry. The other problem is the clothes that get oily from bike maintenance. The hand washing doesn't really beat the oil.
Enghlish is a lot more useful in Poland than in Lithuania. German is also quite popular. In general the people in Poland are quicker to speak and take contact than the Lithuanians. Partly a language issue, but I think the Lithuanians are just more reserved (like Swedes or Fins). In Lithuania nobody greeted me when I passed them, and when I greeted them, they looked into the ground. In Poland people have greeted me quite often. Having said that, few people know more than a very basic vocabulary.
Apparently I can go for a local as at least five people have stopped me and asked for the way. Even in shops it happened twice that I was asked for where the dog food was (of course I have no idea what they actually asked for, but I found it safest to point to the dog food as both were old alcoholics).
I wrote about shops. In the country side and the small towns most shops are independents, but in the bigger towns you see more and more of the chain shops in particular for food, Carrefour, Tesco, LIdl. And the massive galleria in Krakow beats most places when it comes to offer of stylish expensive brands.....
To change money in Poland is easy (compared to Lithuania where it was hard except for in big cities). You see the sign "Kantor" and that is where you can change. Often they have some other business in the same place, selling coffee, betting or god knows what.
To go by train and bus: Busses are everywhere and with fairly good schedule. In the end I never went by bus, the only time I tried he refused to take my bicycle. (I can understand him asd he had no good space for it). I did take the bicycle on some local trains and that was quite ok. The longer trip to Krakow and Katowice was nice by train. the standard varied a lot, from very basic train with hard board seats to nice seats with 220 volt sockets for each seat. It is very cheap. Katowice - Chelm costed only 53 Zloty (around 15 Euro) and that for a trip of 450 km (which took almost eight hours). The biggest challenge is to find out where the trains go, and they have the same silly system like they have in some other countries, that there are some guys selling tickets but they don't know when the trains go etc. And sometimes you need to know the route of the train before they can issue the ticket as the price may be different depending on the route. Then there are the other guys who give information - but not about the price. It is of course particularly hard when you don't speak the langauge.
Sometimes you do wonder....
Not only dogs are there, but also gods......
Things like this are everywhere both in Poland and Lithuania.
In addition there are smaller crosses where people have died in traffic accidents, quite a good reminder.....
Smoke in my eyes
NO - I have not started to smoke. I am still keeping away from the snus and I haven't started with any other viscious drugs either (It means I stick to women and vodka....).
My comment on smoke is instead that the smoke from the coal burning is really irritating for my eyes. Some mornings tears are just coming into my eyes all the time. Apart from the global warming and all other macro effects of this coal burning, the local effects are really awful......Where they use firewood, the smoke is much better actually.
My comment on smoke is instead that the smoke from the coal burning is really irritating for my eyes. Some mornings tears are just coming into my eyes all the time. Apart from the global warming and all other macro effects of this coal burning, the local effects are really awful......Where they use firewood, the smoke is much better actually.
Leafs and mushrooms
self-portait in leafs
All the way from drive from Torfolk to Uppsala until now, the autumn colours and the leaves have followed me. Chauvinist as I am I think the autumn colours were the brightest and most beautiful in Sweden, and gradually they have become paler the more South I have come.
A visitor from another continent or planet would get a quite strange idea of what keeps people busy if he did the same trip as I have done. Basically human activity seems to consist of raking leafs or picking mushrooms. The Poles seem to be even more fanatic about mushrooms than the Lithuanians....
Taking care of Margareta
I have not been really happy with the feel of the chain and/or the back bearings or cogwheels. But I needed somebody to help me. I went to a bike shop in Augsutow, but the guy in charge gave me no confidence. This morning I found a couple running a bike repair shop that was really good and we went through the things and changed the chain. Now it feels very good. I also bought the third rest as two have already crashed, my load is a bit too heavy I guess. This one is sturdy and I hope it will last. Now I will eat lunch and then I will try the train for a change - feel lazy today. In total I have done 825 km, which is perhaps a bit less than a third of the planned trip. Ciao.
Lite laag
Var trott i morse, kande mig lite nere. Sov daligt. Kanske jag har hemlangtan, eller ar lite uttrakad eller ensam. Eller sa ar det bara sadana fluktuationer man gar igenom. Detta kombinerat med att jag har lite ont i knat gor att jag skall prova att aka tag en bit idag. Sen far vi se.
Hajnowka 27 Oktober
Hi, have now made quite some progress in Poland and also seen quite a lot.
I went from Augustow on small roads through the Bierbzanski marshlands, one of the biggest wet lands in Europe. It was very nice and there was also the Augustow channel and all its locks. The main draw back was that there was nowhere to eat. Absolutely nothing open. It was not until Monki I could find a place to eat, but then I was out on the bigger roads again. In the end I wanted to make abit more progress rather than staying in Monki, so after a cup of tea there I progressed towards Bialystok, assuming that I would find a hotel along that way. But in the end I found nothing, and had to go all the way to Bialystok, which resulted in the longest daytrip so far - 109 km.
Augustow Channel
Bierbzanski marshlands
Actually the most limiting factor now for the length of the trip for the day is the day length followed by the limitations on food and accommodation. If you know you have food and somewhere to sleep you can gladly go on for an hour more, but if you risk finding occupied hotels and spent half an hour to find food, then you rather save some energy for that.
Bialystok itslef might be a nice city, but I didn't see it. Next morning I crossed through it and saw nothing of particular interst. I was heading for the Bialowiesa Forest and National park. One of the biggest "primeval" forests in Europe. Of course it is never true that there are pieces of nature that haven't been touched by humans. If you look carefully enough humans have been everywhere and made their mark, sometimes only by hunting like in this case. Anyway this forest is well known fro having the largest population of European Bison in the world as well as wolves etc.
I made a 88 km ride to the village Budy and found a pleasant pension, Siolo Budy. where I stayed 2 nights. That gave me the opportunity to do some washing of clothes and of course to see the National Park. So the 26th I spent in the area, rode around on my bike for a total of 44 km and walked some three hours in the forest, of which two was in the Strictly Protected Area with a guide. Quite a difference between this national park and the ones I have been to in Africa. In Africa there is a constant rally and seemingly no limitations on the number of people (except for the gorillas), so even if you marvel over the wild life of the savannah there is a bit of a zoo feeling in places like Ngorogoro and Masai Mara. Here you can only enter by foot and with a park ranger. That day, a Sunday, there had been one group in the morning and then me and the ranger in the afternoon, that was it. So there is a lot of silence. That Park is not particularly rich in number of animals even though the number of species are high (few individuals of each spieces). It is the forest that is the attraction!!!!
Really nice forest. Of course like all "natural" forests it is messy, with trees lying all around in various stages of decomposition. A big oak take more than 40 years to decompose, and after it is gone there is still a big elevation where it fell. The forest is composed of quite a lot of spieces. Spruces reach 53 meter, Oak, lime and Ash trees go up over 40, there are a few pines, lots of beech trees, maples, alders etc. Basically no birch or aspen as they are both pioneer trees. There is no stability in such a forest even if it is not touched by humans. The composition of species change over time, with climate change but also with change in the soil. Didn't see any animals apart from wood peckers in the park. In the surroundings of the part there are more protected areas where I saw lots of wild boars and some deer. The Bison? yeah, in the end I had to go to an "observation park" (read big zoo) to see them. There were also the crossing between the bison and the cow - the Zubron as well as the "reconstructed" wild horses, the Tarpans. All in all the landscape is beuatiful - if you like trees that is.
The hunting palace of the Czar
Typical village house - note that the entries never face the road. One can wonder why that is so, in Sweden the main entrance is normally facing the main road.
local bee-hives
In the evening I had the opportunity to try a local speciality - warm beer. They add a bit of spices and some grenadine to a normal beer and warm it. It was not very tasty. Otherwise I kind of enjoy the Lithuanian and Polish foods, they are a bit heavy, yesterday I was eating lard and pickled cucumbers as a main dish, but when it is cold that is quite nice.
The smallish breakfast they organised for me.
I went from Augustow on small roads through the Bierbzanski marshlands, one of the biggest wet lands in Europe. It was very nice and there was also the Augustow channel and all its locks. The main draw back was that there was nowhere to eat. Absolutely nothing open. It was not until Monki I could find a place to eat, but then I was out on the bigger roads again. In the end I wanted to make abit more progress rather than staying in Monki, so after a cup of tea there I progressed towards Bialystok, assuming that I would find a hotel along that way. But in the end I found nothing, and had to go all the way to Bialystok, which resulted in the longest daytrip so far - 109 km.
Augustow Channel
Bierbzanski marshlands
Actually the most limiting factor now for the length of the trip for the day is the day length followed by the limitations on food and accommodation. If you know you have food and somewhere to sleep you can gladly go on for an hour more, but if you risk finding occupied hotels and spent half an hour to find food, then you rather save some energy for that.
Bialystok itslef might be a nice city, but I didn't see it. Next morning I crossed through it and saw nothing of particular interst. I was heading for the Bialowiesa Forest and National park. One of the biggest "primeval" forests in Europe. Of course it is never true that there are pieces of nature that haven't been touched by humans. If you look carefully enough humans have been everywhere and made their mark, sometimes only by hunting like in this case. Anyway this forest is well known fro having the largest population of European Bison in the world as well as wolves etc.
I made a 88 km ride to the village Budy and found a pleasant pension, Siolo Budy. where I stayed 2 nights. That gave me the opportunity to do some washing of clothes and of course to see the National Park. So the 26th I spent in the area, rode around on my bike for a total of 44 km and walked some three hours in the forest, of which two was in the Strictly Protected Area with a guide. Quite a difference between this national park and the ones I have been to in Africa. In Africa there is a constant rally and seemingly no limitations on the number of people (except for the gorillas), so even if you marvel over the wild life of the savannah there is a bit of a zoo feeling in places like Ngorogoro and Masai Mara. Here you can only enter by foot and with a park ranger. That day, a Sunday, there had been one group in the morning and then me and the ranger in the afternoon, that was it. So there is a lot of silence. That Park is not particularly rich in number of animals even though the number of species are high (few individuals of each spieces). It is the forest that is the attraction!!!!
Really nice forest. Of course like all "natural" forests it is messy, with trees lying all around in various stages of decomposition. A big oak take more than 40 years to decompose, and after it is gone there is still a big elevation where it fell. The forest is composed of quite a lot of spieces. Spruces reach 53 meter, Oak, lime and Ash trees go up over 40, there are a few pines, lots of beech trees, maples, alders etc. Basically no birch or aspen as they are both pioneer trees. There is no stability in such a forest even if it is not touched by humans. The composition of species change over time, with climate change but also with change in the soil. Didn't see any animals apart from wood peckers in the park. In the surroundings of the part there are more protected areas where I saw lots of wild boars and some deer. The Bison? yeah, in the end I had to go to an "observation park" (read big zoo) to see them. There were also the crossing between the bison and the cow - the Zubron as well as the "reconstructed" wild horses, the Tarpans. All in all the landscape is beuatiful - if you like trees that is.
The hunting palace of the Czar
Typical village house - note that the entries never face the road. One can wonder why that is so, in Sweden the main entrance is normally facing the main road.
local bee-hives
In the evening I had the opportunity to try a local speciality - warm beer. They add a bit of spices and some grenadine to a normal beer and warm it. It was not very tasty. Otherwise I kind of enjoy the Lithuanian and Polish foods, they are a bit heavy, yesterday I was eating lard and pickled cucumbers as a main dish, but when it is cold that is quite nice.
The smallish breakfast they organised for me.
Bialystok 24 October
Cyklade langt idag, 109 km ungefar. Var egentligen inte planerat men jag kunde inte hitta nagot hotell.
Made the longest ride sofar, 109 km, from Augustow to Bialystok on small roads, some of them dirt roads, quite a stretch over a vast wet land. Interesting. Unfortunately there was no restaurant for a very long stretch. And in the end I had to bike 40 km more than planned to find a place to sleep - didn't feel like camping tonight. Now I stay in a not so nice hotel in Bialystok. Tomorrow I proceed to Hanowka for a bit of wild life spotting.
Ciao
Made the longest ride sofar, 109 km, from Augustow to Bialystok on small roads, some of them dirt roads, quite a stretch over a vast wet land. Interesting. Unfortunately there was no restaurant for a very long stretch. And in the end I had to bike 40 km more than planned to find a place to sleep - didn't feel like camping tonight. Now I stay in a not so nice hotel in Bialystok. Tomorrow I proceed to Hanowka for a bit of wild life spotting.
Ciao
Augustow 23 October
English follows,
Har nu kommit till Polen och ar i staden Augustow, som ar en trevlig turistisk stad. Campade for andra gangen forra natten, korde vilse och cyklande 83 km idag. Ar nu uppe i 564 km. Utrustningen borjar slitas. Ett par regnbyxor pajade idag och ena sidan av cykelvaskan ar inte riktigit bra.
Kari var och halsade pa i Druskininkai, en kurort. Det var sa mycket att gora innan jag akte att vi knappt hade nagon tid att prata med varandra. NU hade vi tva dagar for oss sjalva, vi at, badade massage bad, pratade promenerade, alskade och sov - pa ett mycket trevligt hotel for 70 Euro natten.
We also visited the museum in Grutos, where one person has collected statues and other memorablia of Stalin, Lenin and Lithuanian counterparts. Quit an amazing place honestly. Worth a visit.
Am now in Poland, more precisely in Augustow, which is a nature tourist, resort town in the North East of Poland. It is a pleasant place and has a lot of bars and shops. All bars seem to be in cellars, don't ask me why. I came here at three and spent some time washing clothes and also hanging my tent and sleeping bag for drying. The night before I camped, still on the Lithuanian side. It was wonderful weather when I left Druskinininkai at two when Kari left. it was really warm and no rain. I found a nice - perfect - spot for my tent just close to the Polish border. At night it started to rain and that continued up to lunch. So I had to pack in rain and set out on the road in the rain. The raod was sand/gravel and had become very soft by all the rain. It was hard to bike and also sand was sprayed into the chain and the cog wheels. I thought I could cross over to Poland somewhere, but I was wrong so in the end I had to go back to the main road to Lizdaiai and cross over to Senjy there. Senjy is also a nice town and I had a good meal there. After that I want to a petrol station to clean up the chain and oil it as it was making cracking sounds. From Senjy I continued the 43 k to Augustow,and that went very well, took only 2.5 hours. Guess I had wind in my back.
the 20th in the morning, while waiting for Kari, I went to the Belarussian border to see if I could get a one day visa to cross over to Poland that way, which would save about 90 km on my trip. Njet. But it was a nice ride, on the main road going there but on the way back on a bicycle road through a lovely pine forest.
Kari came at noon the 20th and left at noon the 22nd. We stayed at Hotel Violeta, a four star smaller hotel for 70 Euros per night. They had a very nice massage pool and saunas and a gym. We had good food, took walks, talked, bathed in the massage bath and made what you do when you are in a romantic place all relaxed.
After such pampering I was fit for hitting the road again.
The landscape on both sides of the border is pleasant. Forests and lakes, windling roads with reasonable traffic. On the Polish side there were more bars and hotels than on the Lithuanian side.
Tomorrow, I contiunue more or less straight South in Poland. Up to 564 km now and start to feel good biking. It didn't take more than three days and I completely stopped thinking about work things. The first week I still thought quite a lot about pain in the bottom, or knee, or that I was cold or some other nuicance. Gradually I spend less and less energy on those things, and hopefully my brain will be filled by something usefull - but I guess it is good to empty it first. I am still tobacco free which I already see as a great achievment.
Har nu kommit till Polen och ar i staden Augustow, som ar en trevlig turistisk stad. Campade for andra gangen forra natten, korde vilse och cyklande 83 km idag. Ar nu uppe i 564 km. Utrustningen borjar slitas. Ett par regnbyxor pajade idag och ena sidan av cykelvaskan ar inte riktigit bra.
Kari var och halsade pa i Druskininkai, en kurort. Det var sa mycket att gora innan jag akte att vi knappt hade nagon tid att prata med varandra. NU hade vi tva dagar for oss sjalva, vi at, badade massage bad, pratade promenerade, alskade och sov - pa ett mycket trevligt hotel for 70 Euro natten.
We also visited the museum in Grutos, where one person has collected statues and other memorablia of Stalin, Lenin and Lithuanian counterparts. Quit an amazing place honestly. Worth a visit.
Am now in Poland, more precisely in Augustow, which is a nature tourist, resort town in the North East of Poland. It is a pleasant place and has a lot of bars and shops. All bars seem to be in cellars, don't ask me why. I came here at three and spent some time washing clothes and also hanging my tent and sleeping bag for drying. The night before I camped, still on the Lithuanian side. It was wonderful weather when I left Druskinininkai at two when Kari left. it was really warm and no rain. I found a nice - perfect - spot for my tent just close to the Polish border. At night it started to rain and that continued up to lunch. So I had to pack in rain and set out on the road in the rain. The raod was sand/gravel and had become very soft by all the rain. It was hard to bike and also sand was sprayed into the chain and the cog wheels. I thought I could cross over to Poland somewhere, but I was wrong so in the end I had to go back to the main road to Lizdaiai and cross over to Senjy there. Senjy is also a nice town and I had a good meal there. After that I want to a petrol station to clean up the chain and oil it as it was making cracking sounds. From Senjy I continued the 43 k to Augustow,and that went very well, took only 2.5 hours. Guess I had wind in my back.
the 20th in the morning, while waiting for Kari, I went to the Belarussian border to see if I could get a one day visa to cross over to Poland that way, which would save about 90 km on my trip. Njet. But it was a nice ride, on the main road going there but on the way back on a bicycle road through a lovely pine forest.
Kari came at noon the 20th and left at noon the 22nd. We stayed at Hotel Violeta, a four star smaller hotel for 70 Euros per night. They had a very nice massage pool and saunas and a gym. We had good food, took walks, talked, bathed in the massage bath and made what you do when you are in a romantic place all relaxed.
After such pampering I was fit for hitting the road again.
The landscape on both sides of the border is pleasant. Forests and lakes, windling roads with reasonable traffic. On the Polish side there were more bars and hotels than on the Lithuanian side.
Tomorrow, I contiunue more or less straight South in Poland. Up to 564 km now and start to feel good biking. It didn't take more than three days and I completely stopped thinking about work things. The first week I still thought quite a lot about pain in the bottom, or knee, or that I was cold or some other nuicance. Gradually I spend less and less energy on those things, and hopefully my brain will be filled by something usefull - but I guess it is good to empty it first. I am still tobacco free which I already see as a great achievment.
Pictures - Bilder
I have had a problem to download pictures from my camera. Kari took my pictures and mailed some to me, so now youca see more pictures in some of the old entries.
Jag har uppdaterat en del gamla inlagg med bilder!
Jag har uppdaterat en del gamla inlagg med bilder!
Ekologiskt - organic
Sag inte sa mycket ekologiskt i Litauen, Inter heller manga gardar med skyltar om att de ar ekologiska - men det ser man inte tillrackligt ofta i Sverige heller. Borde skyltas mer tycker jag.
Didn't see a lot of organic in Lithuania.
Snusläge - gott
Mer an 250 timmar utan snus. I morse glomde jag tom att byuta nikotinplaster! Och Kari var med mig tva dagar i Druskinininkai och kedjesnusade ochg drallde sina dosor overallt, utan att jag tog nagot. Min dosa Ettan som ar halffylld far fortsatta vara med - jag har dopt den till halvan. Det varsta borde val vara over nu - snalla?
Med min snuskonsumtion, min lon och de skatter som laggs pa snus sa arbetar jag ungefar tre veckor om aret bara for att betala mitt snus. Lagg till att jag snusat i 35 ar sa har jag agnat nastan tva och ett halvts arbetsar at snus, sa i det perspektivet kan det ju vara vart att ta ledigt nagon manad for att sluta snusa.......
Med min snuskonsumtion, min lon och de skatter som laggs pa snus sa arbetar jag ungefar tre veckor om aret bara for att betala mitt snus. Lagg till att jag snusat i 35 ar sa har jag agnat nastan tva och ett halvts arbetsar at snus, sa i det perspektivet kan det ju vara vart att ta ledigt nagon manad for att sluta snusa.......
The Bike!
To travel by bike is nice. To travel with a 50+ old bike is even nicer. For me, those bikes stands for a highlight of human technological development. The bike is still just amplifying our body's movement. One turn with the pedals bring me five meters instead of just 80 cm. And that with a very limited input of materials, energy etc. I would say that there are few other human innovations that are as good as the bike, it serves billions all over the planet, without causing major environmental problems or resource over use. Compare that with the car.......Ivan Illich calculated some forty years agot that the actual speed for a car driver is about 7 km, which is more or less walking speed and half or one third of a bicyclist. That is if you count all work that is accumulated in the making of the car, the infrastructure, the petrol etc. And the awkward thing is that the more people have cars the slower they will move, so it is only when used by an elite that they are "really" effecient. Still almost no politicians have the courage to question the holy automobile (and we ridicule hinduism for holy cows, isn't it worse to worship a Mazda?). With increase petrol price there will be a correction of course, and all the alternative fuels will only be a marginal contribution and too expensive to allow most people to drive cars, and they become even more elitist than today (some people seem to believe that mosty people on this planet have a car already.....I am happy they are wrong.
Sorry for ranting here. Coming back to my fifty year old bike: I did buy a bike computer for 7 Euros in Sweden. I knew it was stupid, but it was so little money anyway so who cares?...? And of course it lasted only a week. I throw it away. I think the bike and that computer represents they high of industrialism and the low of consumerism. Some fifty years ago, most industrial companies produced stuff that lasted. And at that time they were managed by engineers and NOT by economists or their cousins marketing people. It is hard to know who to blame. Since then we have had the consumer revolution (which meant that the old idea that you could get any Ford as long as it was black has been transformed into the idea that you can get it in two million versions - if Ford still exist of course, I am a bit off-line from the news flow here), and supposedly consumers are driving this development for cheaper, louysy stuff. Clearly there are unfortunately an inherenent consumer behaviour to look for bargains, for cheaper price etc..... But who is really to blame for this development. Why should our societies which are just getting richer and richer make worse and worse products? More to come on this I believe, but I also welcome any comments on this. Where has quality gone?
Sorry for ranting here. Coming back to my fifty year old bike: I did buy a bike computer for 7 Euros in Sweden. I knew it was stupid, but it was so little money anyway so who cares?...? And of course it lasted only a week. I throw it away. I think the bike and that computer represents they high of industrialism and the low of consumerism. Some fifty years ago, most industrial companies produced stuff that lasted. And at that time they were managed by engineers and NOT by economists or their cousins marketing people. It is hard to know who to blame. Since then we have had the consumer revolution (which meant that the old idea that you could get any Ford as long as it was black has been transformed into the idea that you can get it in two million versions - if Ford still exist of course, I am a bit off-line from the news flow here), and supposedly consumers are driving this development for cheaper, louysy stuff. Clearly there are unfortunately an inherenent consumer behaviour to look for bargains, for cheaper price etc..... But who is really to blame for this development. Why should our societies which are just getting richer and richer make worse and worse products? More to come on this I believe, but I also welcome any comments on this. Where has quality gone?
Some final remarks on Lithuanian travel and country side
I have written about the good signs and informative maps. All that is good.
Dogs
Disclaimer!!!!! Kolbjorn pointed out that there were some typos in this para. I see them and find them a bit amusing so I haven't corrected them. I hope I will not be stoned, crucified or burnt on a stick by any fundamentalists of any creed for this blasphemous statement about the gods.....
Now that I left Lithuania, I conclude that the biggest nuicanse without competition is the dogs. Far too many people have gods that run loose and seem to have nothing else to do than chasing Swedish bicyclists. I am actually a bit scared for dogs, especially these energetic small ones (was never bitten by a big dog but a few times by small ones), and far too many times I had to measure a kick against the god (always missed of course) or biking like a mad man to get away. If I knew where to get it I would get some pepper spray (yes, I do like animals but their are limits, and if they attack me I believe I should have the right of self-defense, and any other person with another opinion can gladly take my bites).
Cows and horses
As people are not very talkative I guess I should be grateful to all the cows and horses that have greeted me along the road. They are great. almost without exception they are teathred also the horses.
Mushrooms
This is high mushroom season. As you can see from the picture, there are many people selling mushrooms along the road, mainly elderly ladies (with that I mean my age). It is of course pitoresque to look at. But it does show that they don't have a lot of alternatives. I don't think they earn more than a few Euros per day from this trade, so they are actually very poor.
But many others pick mushrooms as well. Along the road from Vilnius to Druskinininkai, there were people everywhere, also in BMW:s, picking mushrooms for themselves. And the menus are full of mushroom dishes. Good for Gunnar who loves mushrooms.
Food and accomodation
Generally it has been quite difficult to find places to stay and eat. When coming close to Druskininkai it was apparent that this is not the case in the more touristic areas, where there are plenty of places. A simpler pension place cost around 25/30 Euros per night. I don't know if camping in nature is allowed but I did it twice. There are also camping sites, but most of them appeared to be closed this time of the year, when no person in their full senses are camping......
Heating is a bit of a problem. Many places seem to still run calendar heating, i.e. they put on the heating at a certain time of the year. I remember this from previous trips to Lithuania, where I once stayed wamr by putting my lap top on virus scanning in the bed just to get the warmth from the computer. It was a bit better in the forested areas in ther South-West, which of course has something to do with the abundance of fire wood....
Farms and buildings
Wood is the predominant building material in the country side and also in the smaller towns.
house in Birzai
Kind of typical farm house.
Dogs
Disclaimer!!!!! Kolbjorn pointed out that there were some typos in this para. I see them and find them a bit amusing so I haven't corrected them. I hope I will not be stoned, crucified or burnt on a stick by any fundamentalists of any creed for this blasphemous statement about the gods.....
Now that I left Lithuania, I conclude that the biggest nuicanse without competition is the dogs. Far too many people have gods that run loose and seem to have nothing else to do than chasing Swedish bicyclists. I am actually a bit scared for dogs, especially these energetic small ones (was never bitten by a big dog but a few times by small ones), and far too many times I had to measure a kick against the god (always missed of course) or biking like a mad man to get away. If I knew where to get it I would get some pepper spray (yes, I do like animals but their are limits, and if they attack me I believe I should have the right of self-defense, and any other person with another opinion can gladly take my bites).
Cows and horses
As people are not very talkative I guess I should be grateful to all the cows and horses that have greeted me along the road. They are great. almost without exception they are teathred also the horses.
Mushrooms
This is high mushroom season. As you can see from the picture, there are many people selling mushrooms along the road, mainly elderly ladies (with that I mean my age). It is of course pitoresque to look at. But it does show that they don't have a lot of alternatives. I don't think they earn more than a few Euros per day from this trade, so they are actually very poor.
But many others pick mushrooms as well. Along the road from Vilnius to Druskinininkai, there were people everywhere, also in BMW:s, picking mushrooms for themselves. And the menus are full of mushroom dishes. Good for Gunnar who loves mushrooms.
Food and accomodation
Generally it has been quite difficult to find places to stay and eat. When coming close to Druskininkai it was apparent that this is not the case in the more touristic areas, where there are plenty of places. A simpler pension place cost around 25/30 Euros per night. I don't know if camping in nature is allowed but I did it twice. There are also camping sites, but most of them appeared to be closed this time of the year, when no person in their full senses are camping......
Heating is a bit of a problem. Many places seem to still run calendar heating, i.e. they put on the heating at a certain time of the year. I remember this from previous trips to Lithuania, where I once stayed wamr by putting my lap top on virus scanning in the bed just to get the warmth from the computer. It was a bit better in the forested areas in ther South-West, which of course has something to do with the abundance of fire wood....
Farms and buildings
Wood is the predominant building material in the country side and also in the smaller towns.
house in Birzai
Kind of typical farm house.
Druskininkai 19 Okotober
Jag hade skrivit ett jattelangt inlagg om de senaste tva dagarna, men nar jag skulle posta det sa skrek datorn nagot pa ryska och allt forsvann. Eftersom jag hatar att upprepa mig sa far nu bara en riktigt kort version.
Den 18:e cyklade jag 91 km, langst hitills, taltade. Idag har jag cyklat 53 km och har kommit till Druskininikai, en kurort, dar jag amnar belona mig for en forsta vecka utan snus. Kari kommer i morgon och da skall vi fa honungsmassage
www.druskininkai.lt
I had written a really long piece when the computer jammed and all was lost. Hate to repeat. I made now 417 km, the 18th I did 91 - the longest trip so far, and the 19th, today, I made 53 km (reached here at one already). Landscape is nice, mainly pine forest. Here I will celebrate the first week and reward myself for not using snus. From self-flaggelation to luxury. Kari joins tomorrow, for honey massage and mud baths and whatever you do in places like this.
Ciao, time to eat
Den 18:e cyklade jag 91 km, langst hitills, taltade. Idag har jag cyklat 53 km och har kommit till Druskininikai, en kurort, dar jag amnar belona mig for en forsta vecka utan snus. Kari kommer i morgon och da skall vi fa honungsmassage
www.druskininkai.lt
I had written a really long piece when the computer jammed and all was lost. Hate to repeat. I made now 417 km, the 18th I did 91 - the longest trip so far, and the 19th, today, I made 53 km (reached here at one already). Landscape is nice, mainly pine forest. Here I will celebrate the first week and reward myself for not using snus. From self-flaggelation to luxury. Kari joins tomorrow, for honey massage and mud baths and whatever you do in places like this.
Ciao, time to eat
Organic shea cream
Have to take this opportunity to promote the organic shea cream from the Northern Ugandan Shea Project and KFP Ltd. It has litterally saved my ass! Apart from using it on that noble part of mine I use it also for my hands and in my face. Yoday I also used it for the key to the lock of the bike as it was jamming all the time. I asked Kari to bring me another jar. The locals also think it is bullet proof, so I smeared my hair with it instead of that helmet that everybaody think you should carry when biking.
Friår, sabbatical year
Jag tycker det atr visset att regeringen tog bort friaret. Pa nagot satt ar det sjukt att vi alla skall arbeta mer och mer. Vad var meningen med alla maskiner och all teknik. Var det inte for att spara arbete (eller var det mer cyniskt for att tjana mer pengar). Om man nu tycker det ar for dyrt med friar sa kunde det val vara som en forskottspension, dvs tar du ut ett friar nu sa far du ga i pension ett ar senare. Jag tycker nog att vi borde se mindre till ekonomisk tillvaxt och standigt okad konsumtion och mer till valbefinnandet av folk och av planeten.
I think governments should make sabbatical years (or halgf years or two years) part of the social packages. Today there are just few people in privliged postions that can take that. But I can't see why those people in particular would deserve it more than others, and even if they did they can take leave and pay it out of their own pocket (which I have to do) Why not making it part of the pension system, so those who want a year free just get their pension a year later? Anyway, the underlying problem I think is that the modern human has created so many things and such an enormous productivity and still people are not more happy, rather the opposite. And the planet is not so happy with us. If we worked less we would create less problems, we would consume less resources. Think about that.
I think governments should make sabbatical years (or halgf years or two years) part of the social packages. Today there are just few people in privliged postions that can take that. But I can't see why those people in particular would deserve it more than others, and even if they did they can take leave and pay it out of their own pocket (which I have to do) Why not making it part of the pension system, so those who want a year free just get their pension a year later? Anyway, the underlying problem I think is that the modern human has created so many things and such an enormous productivity and still people are not more happy, rather the opposite. And the planet is not so happy with us. If we worked less we would create less problems, we would consume less resources. Think about that.
Camping
Last night the weather was fine and the muscle and bottom pain has kind of subsided, so I decided to try camping. I took off from Vilnius early in the mornign and the weather was fine, and I made the longest leg so far on my trip, 91 km. Came to Varena and at a good meal at an rustic restaurant, then I bought some food in the supermarket. Then it was getting a bit darkish, so I cycled soem five km before turning off on a small path into the forest where I found a nice spot for my tent. Erection was easy (I had trained) and at six it was all set. I realised that I could have gone a bit further as the light was enough for another half hour. As my tent is for two persons (midgets I suppose) I managed to get all my stuff into the tent (no-not the bike silly!). Then of course the question arises, what the hell should I do in the tent for thirteen hours before it gets light enough to get going. I made an arrangement with the front light from the bike and a string to get some light that was actually enough to write but not to read, so I wrote the second chapter of a novel I started (no you will most likely never read it, if I don't trash it myself any publisher with a bit of sense will do it). But in the end the position to write was not very comfortable and the light was faint. At eight i at some sandwhich with smoked ham and cheese - must think about the proteins here shouldn't I? and then I "went to bed" (I was of course already in bed as there is no other place to be in the tent)' Some dogs were barking far away, the wind made noise in the pine trees, the traffic on the road made a distant sound. I fell asleep and just woke up when it started to rain and then slept again until seven.
Last year I have problems with my sleep, but I must say that is now a distant memory.
In the morning I realised I made a planning miss. I have this good waterproof bag, where I had packed the tent, the sleeping bag and a few other things. But what to do now, when the tent is soaking wet. I have no intention to sit and wait for my tent to dry up everytime I will use it. So I had to change packing procedures and put most of my clothes in that bag and the tent in the backpack. That worked. Of course I got quite wet from packing even if it didn't rain much any longer.
Another planning miss was that if you want to get a cup of tea in the morning, you should not camp 25 k away from the next cafe, and even less on a Sunday morning, which seems to be the only time the cafes are closed - out of respect of the church I guess, but the drunks buy there 2 liter bottles of beer and drink outside the shop instead - shops are open. So in the end I had to make the whole ride this day without getting anywhere warm to sit before I arrived my final destination. A bit hard, but at least it wasn't raining.
So now I know I can do camping as well.....,
Last year I have problems with my sleep, but I must say that is now a distant memory.
In the morning I realised I made a planning miss. I have this good waterproof bag, where I had packed the tent, the sleeping bag and a few other things. But what to do now, when the tent is soaking wet. I have no intention to sit and wait for my tent to dry up everytime I will use it. So I had to change packing procedures and put most of my clothes in that bag and the tent in the backpack. That worked. Of course I got quite wet from packing even if it didn't rain much any longer.
Another planning miss was that if you want to get a cup of tea in the morning, you should not camp 25 k away from the next cafe, and even less on a Sunday morning, which seems to be the only time the cafes are closed - out of respect of the church I guess, but the drunks buy there 2 liter bottles of beer and drink outside the shop instead - shops are open. So in the end I had to make the whole ride this day without getting anywhere warm to sit before I arrived my final destination. A bit hard, but at least it wasn't raining.
So now I know I can do camping as well.....,
Snusstatus:fri
Nu har jag varit utan snus i en hel vecka. Och jag tanker inte langre pa snus HELA tiden. Kanner mig ganska duktig av det. Ja, ja, de som aldrig varit missbrukare tror att det ar sa latt, det ar bara att ta sig i kragen och bestamma sig. Sa ar det kanske for en del, men for andra ar det svart. Det ar inte forran jag borjat tycka illa om det som jag verkligen vill sluta. Och utan den viljan sa hjalper inte mycket. Jag ar medveten om att jag fuskar lite med nikotinplastren. Jag skall borja klippa dem halva i morgon far vi se om det gar.
Still snus free - and no smoking either! Am I not good?
Lithuanian roads
There are many positive things to say about travelling on the Lithuanian road.
The quality of the tarmac is decent, even if it is often a bit uneven towards the edges.
Roads have very good signs and in addition there are information charts posted in all major towns where hotels, restaurants (if any!) and sites are indicated.
There are plenty of country roads with a good top that are ideal for cycling. The traffic is decent. Drivers are particularly considerate to pedestrians. Going by bike you can chose if you want to be a vehicle or a pedestrian, in the most viscious crossings I normally convert myself to a pedestrian.
The bigger towns also have toursit information offices, where they mostly have a basic English knowledge. They give you information about where there are places to stay, and even call on your behalf if you ask them. Most of the time you get a tourist map of the area.
Parking habits are not so good, and what is really frustrating is how cars drives though pools of water in full speed with no consideration of the splash they make. It can easily be a 10-15 meter spray, and for me on the bike that is certainly not pleasant, as it has been raining for two days.
Food and accommodation have been a lot more problematic than I had expected. I guess it is partly because I travel the smaller roads, but even there it is surprising how big distances there are between the caf'es and in the end the cafes only have beer to drink and nothing at all to eat. There are plenty of small shops though where you can buy some stuff to eat. However under these conditions you appreciate to sit inside and eat and not at the road side. Accommodation is also problematic and you see no signs for "room" or "zimmer" anywhere.
I am in Vilnius now as explained in the Swedish posting. Got soaking wet and exhasusted yesterday from strong head wind and quite some rain. So today I "cheat" and loaded me and the bike on a bus to Vilnius as the rain pours down. So in total I have only done 270 km, but I am in no direct hurry. I am awfully proud of keeping off the tobacco, the biggest achievment of this trip so far. Of course it is still early to say I did it, but five days, is not bad. Those who never were addicts can probably not understand it, but others will.
Vilnius is considerably more expensive than the country side. Here the same beer that cost 50 Euro cents in the small bars up country costs 2-3 Euros. You might get the impression that I only consume beers from this, but it is a standardised products for which it is easy to compare prices. For food there are so many things to consider......
The quality of the tarmac is decent, even if it is often a bit uneven towards the edges.
Roads have very good signs and in addition there are information charts posted in all major towns where hotels, restaurants (if any!) and sites are indicated.
There are plenty of country roads with a good top that are ideal for cycling. The traffic is decent. Drivers are particularly considerate to pedestrians. Going by bike you can chose if you want to be a vehicle or a pedestrian, in the most viscious crossings I normally convert myself to a pedestrian.
The bigger towns also have toursit information offices, where they mostly have a basic English knowledge. They give you information about where there are places to stay, and even call on your behalf if you ask them. Most of the time you get a tourist map of the area.
Parking habits are not so good, and what is really frustrating is how cars drives though pools of water in full speed with no consideration of the splash they make. It can easily be a 10-15 meter spray, and for me on the bike that is certainly not pleasant, as it has been raining for two days.
Food and accommodation have been a lot more problematic than I had expected. I guess it is partly because I travel the smaller roads, but even there it is surprising how big distances there are between the caf'es and in the end the cafes only have beer to drink and nothing at all to eat. There are plenty of small shops though where you can buy some stuff to eat. However under these conditions you appreciate to sit inside and eat and not at the road side. Accommodation is also problematic and you see no signs for "room" or "zimmer" anywhere.
I am in Vilnius now as explained in the Swedish posting. Got soaking wet and exhasusted yesterday from strong head wind and quite some rain. So today I "cheat" and loaded me and the bike on a bus to Vilnius as the rain pours down. So in total I have only done 270 km, but I am in no direct hurry. I am awfully proud of keeping off the tobacco, the biggest achievment of this trip so far. Of course it is still early to say I did it, but five days, is not bad. Those who never were addicts can probably not understand it, but others will.
Vilnius is considerably more expensive than the country side. Here the same beer that cost 50 Euro cents in the small bars up country costs 2-3 Euros. You might get the impression that I only consume beers from this, but it is a standardised products for which it is easy to compare prices. For food there are so many things to consider......
Vilnius 17 Oktober
Hej, i går så cyklade jag från Panevezys till Ukmerge. Ukmerge var en trevlig liten stad. Trippen borjade bra, men efter nagra timmar så blev det tilltagande start motvind. Som tidigare var det också mycket svårt att hitta någon stans att äta. Det blev matsäck. Jag åt nagra russin och mandlar som jag kopt och efter nagra minuter brande det i munne och efter ett tag blev ena halvan mer eller mindre lam. Otrevligt, jag antar att det var bekampningsmedel. Kolbjorn larde mig hur jag skall skriva
å
ö
ä
men jag maste erkanna att det tar alldeles for lang tid for en skribent som mig att halla pa att trycka fem ovana knappar for att fa tilldet.
Hursomhelst sen borjade det regan rejalt, sa jag fick prova regnponchon. Jag skulle ha tagit pa mig regnbyxorna ocksa, men nar jag val var dyngsur var det ju lite sent. Regnponchon fungerar bra, men i motvind tar det en hel del kraft att kryssa mot vinden, seglare vet.......Till raga pa allt sa fick jag trampa den sista strackan pa motorvagen, vilket faktiskt ar helt lagligt i Litauen. Men motorvag, halv storm i ansiktet och regn ar inte precis dromlaget. Men det kunde ju ha snoat eller varit is pa vagen, eller cykeln kunde ju ha brakat ihop. Apropa cykeln, den verkar knalla pa. Jag har fatt justera spelet i baknavet tva ganger, men i ovrigt har inga ingrepp behovts. Den ovriga utrustingen verkade hall for regnet. Christina och Daniel tack sa mycket for den oranga regnsacken, den haller bra tatt.
Jag kopte en cykeldator for 69 kronor pa biltema. Den verkar funka nagorlunda, men dess forsta batteri rackte bara forsta dagen, vilken kvalitet. Det irriterande ar att den inte kan spara varden, sa nar jag bytte batteri sa startade resan pa noll igen. Det blev 75 km den 16:e.
Pa morgonen den 17:e regnade fortfarande, da bestamde jag mig for att "fuska" och ta bussen till Vilnius. Det gjorde jag nog ratt i for det har fortsatt regna hela tiden. Far se om jag stannar en dag till. Har fortfarande problem med att fa upp bilder pa nagon dator. Sa ni far klara er utan.
I Vilnius har jag varit ett par ganger, forsta gangen 1993 och darefter ett flertal ganger i perdioden 96-99. En trevlig stad.
Prisnivan i Vilnius ar mer som i Sverige. Hittade ett pensionat for 250 kr natten. med toa och dusch i korridoren.
Vilnius old town
å
ö
ä
men jag maste erkanna att det tar alldeles for lang tid for en skribent som mig att halla pa att trycka fem ovana knappar for att fa tilldet.
Hursomhelst sen borjade det regan rejalt, sa jag fick prova regnponchon. Jag skulle ha tagit pa mig regnbyxorna ocksa, men nar jag val var dyngsur var det ju lite sent. Regnponchon fungerar bra, men i motvind tar det en hel del kraft att kryssa mot vinden, seglare vet.......Till raga pa allt sa fick jag trampa den sista strackan pa motorvagen, vilket faktiskt ar helt lagligt i Litauen. Men motorvag, halv storm i ansiktet och regn ar inte precis dromlaget. Men det kunde ju ha snoat eller varit is pa vagen, eller cykeln kunde ju ha brakat ihop. Apropa cykeln, den verkar knalla pa. Jag har fatt justera spelet i baknavet tva ganger, men i ovrigt har inga ingrepp behovts. Den ovriga utrustingen verkade hall for regnet. Christina och Daniel tack sa mycket for den oranga regnsacken, den haller bra tatt.
Jag kopte en cykeldator for 69 kronor pa biltema. Den verkar funka nagorlunda, men dess forsta batteri rackte bara forsta dagen, vilken kvalitet. Det irriterande ar att den inte kan spara varden, sa nar jag bytte batteri sa startade resan pa noll igen. Det blev 75 km den 16:e.
Pa morgonen den 17:e regnade fortfarande, da bestamde jag mig for att "fuska" och ta bussen till Vilnius. Det gjorde jag nog ratt i for det har fortsatt regna hela tiden. Far se om jag stannar en dag till. Har fortfarande problem med att fa upp bilder pa nagon dator. Sa ni far klara er utan.
I Vilnius har jag varit ett par ganger, forsta gangen 1993 och darefter ett flertal ganger i perdioden 96-99. En trevlig stad.
Prisnivan i Vilnius ar mer som i Sverige. Hittade ett pensionat for 250 kr natten. med toa och dusch i korridoren.
Vilnius old town
Cold
I ahd feared cols, and I must say that it is what bothers me the most. For me, nightmares have always been about cold, snow and ice. I guess that is why the idea of Hell never impressed me - sounds nice and cozy. I guess that if the Jews had settled in Scandinaia, hell would have been a cold place instead. Anyway, it is actually colder at home than in the Baltic states, but we keep houses dry and heated. Here even most restaurants are without heating. When you bike, you get very sweaty, and as soon as you stop you feel cold, but there is not much relief to find indoors. Also the bed rooms are cold. Last night I at least had hot water, in addition they had a tea boiler and a hair dryer that I kept going now and then to get a bit of warmth. The night before they had only cold water - and I mean COLD water. So, I hesitate a bit regarding the camping.....Will see.
Folk
Folk ar minst lika reserverade som svenskar, dvs de pratar inte i onodan. Det ar klart at det bidrar att man inte kan spraket....Fyllona ar lika pratglada som i Sverige - och de ar annu fler. Sa hittills ar mina konversationer ytterst begransade.......
Poverty
On the country side in Latvia and Lithuania it is hard to see any trace of the exceptional growth rates that the Baltic countries have shown for the last decade. Riga is of course a busy city with a lot of construction. One third of Latvias population is there and I would guess that most of the growth is there as well. For the rest it really looks very poor. Houses are often in a deplorable shape. Agriculture machinery is mostly very old, save for the few farmers that sports a fancy tractor (most of the time pulling some very old machinery)....
What is nice is that there are stork nests everywhere. For some reason I can't remember the storks did very well East of the iron curtain but almost disppeared on the West side. Perpahs somebody can explain that (Eva?).
What is nice is that there are stork nests everywhere. For some reason I can't remember the storks did very well East of the iron curtain but almost disppeared on the West side. Perpahs somebody can explain that (Eva?).
Resa med Margareta / travel with Margareta
I do need female company.
In this case it comes as a bike. The bicycle I am using is older than me and was my mothers until I took it over from her some years ago. It is a black beauty and I named it Margareta (which is the name of my mother, who also was black until she got kids and turned silvery grey - I mean the hair of course). Some people think I am an idiot to treavle with such an old heavy bike without gears, but I have my reasons.
In Lithuania people still think I will get my bike stolen. In Birtzai they told me to take the bike into the reception. In Ukmerge I put it in their basement and in Panevezys they insisted I put it in my room!
In this case it comes as a bike. The bicycle I am using is older than me and was my mothers until I took it over from her some years ago. It is a black beauty and I named it Margareta (which is the name of my mother, who also was black until she got kids and turned silvery grey - I mean the hair of course). Some people think I am an idiot to treavle with such an old heavy bike without gears, but I have my reasons.
- I don't think anybody will steal an old bike like this (as a matter of fact it is parked outside here without even being locked)
- Old bikes are of extraordinary quaity and they don't break easily. Most new bikes are crap and can't do a trip like this.
- When (IF) it breaks down there chance that you can repair it somewhere is much higher than with bikes made of aluminium and plastic.
- Finally, I am in no hurry, it doesn''t really matter if I do 80 or 160 km per day. It is not the distance that is the objective. it is the trip itself.
In Lithuania people still think I will get my bike stolen. In Birtzai they told me to take the bike into the reception. In Ukmerge I put it in their basement and in Panevezys they insisted I put it in my room!
Att sluta snusa.....
Pa baten den 12 vid tio-tiden tog jag en sista snus. Det betyder att jag nu varit utan snus i tre dagar. For en som snusat MYCKET (mer an en dosa om dagen) i hela 37 ar sa ar det ett STORT steg att ta. Men jag tyckte det var dags att prova. Jag far erkanna att jag fuskar lite da jag har nikitinplaster, men tanken ar ju att stegvis minska den doses. Jag har faktiskt en halv dosa snus liggande i vaskan, och i gar tog jag upp den och luktade.....Har inte rokt heller. Det har faktiskt gatt battre an vad jag raknat med - peppar peppar, men det ar val plastren kan jag tanka. Det ar mest nar jag atit som jag kanner det dar suget, jag kopplar inte alltid vad det ar direkt, utan tror jag glomt nagot eller att jag fortfarande ar hungrig.
Jag har ju aldrig matt illa av snuset, men med tiden kanns det mer och mer som en otrevlig borda, onodig och begransande.
This little piece is about quitting snus / which I seem to do, touch wood!
Jag har ju aldrig matt illa av snuset, men med tiden kanns det mer och mer som en otrevlig borda, onodig och begransande.
This little piece is about quitting snus / which I seem to do, touch wood!
First report 15 October, Panevezys, Lituania
Har far svenskarna ursakta, men det ar ocksa ganska frustrerande att skriva utan de dar tre bokstaverna....
Kari drove me and the bike to Uppsala the 12th, where we had lunch at my brother Anders's place, with his family, brother Pelle and our mother and Kolbjorn and his girl friend Kajsa. At three Kolbjorn drove me to the port in Stockholm where the ferry departed. It left at 17.00 for Riga.
The trip went fine, I stayed on a four bed compartment with two Russians. The ferry was OK, and the only mishap was that I forgot my little bag with all my money, credit cards and passport in a bathroom, where I had changed clothes. When I realised that half an hour later I must admit that I cursed myself. Running down four decks just to find it where I left it- and all valuables left.
Riga old town.
We arrived Riga 11 Monday morning, and I took a quicker round in the old town. I also visited a bookshop to ask for the book the Prophet by Khalil Gilbrain. She shone up and told me to follow. She happily produced it - in Latvian! I bought with me to read Zen and the art of Motrocycle maintainence, by Robert Pirzig. I have read it many times before. It is still one of the best books I ever read, and he is thinking about the same things as I do (and yes he went crazy from it). The book is also about a trip with his son. Anyway, I thought I also should bring the Prophet, and I couldn.t find it at home.
Anyway, leaving Riga at one on the big highway heading south. Soon I managed to come on a somwhat smaller road, but still verty busy. Gradually I choose other routes and wasd finally on the kinds of roads I like. I had plan to do a 40-50 k the first day, but I couldn't find any hotel or hostel, and I really didn't fancy to stay in the tent the first day. Ended up cycling 88 km to find a place to sleep. And that corresponds to the total distance I made by bike for a whole year before. I think you can guess how my bottom was next morning..The place was nice, but cold, they haven's starting the "heating season" yet which means all rooms are damp and cold/. Got nice home made deet sausage and other local delicacies on the farm where I stayed.
Next morning was awful. I had such a pain both outside on the skin of my buttocks and in the muscles into the bone. I wasn't helped by a very strong headwind and generally lousy weather. Anyway I made another 33 km, passed the border to Lithuania and ended up in the town Birzai, which I visited some ten years ago. It was the centre of the early organic farming in Lithuania as the area is nature protected. Town has four breweries. Beer is so important that after the Swedes (YES, the Swedes) looted and burnt down the whole city, the brewery was re-erected before both the town hall and the fortress. Typically enough I went to three supermarkets and none of them stored three of the local beers and stocked only 2l bottles of the fourth branc. However, in a bar I could taste two of them. Good stuff. Stayedin a gues house in town. Was quite curious to see how I would feel the morning of the thrird day. The pain was still there, but after half an hour of biking I was feeling better. The weather was also nice to start with I am now in Panevezys, which is a major industrial town in the North of Lituania after 71 km of cycling. I decided to look for internet, which prooved to be a challenge. I was guided here to the cinema (!) by a 16 year old girl that was heading in this direction. But she was like the 20th person I asked (and I targeted people between 15 and 25). I will probably stay overnight here. The outskirts of Panevezys are like a horro movie, all ran down industries, but the centre is pleasant.
Farming on the Latvian side lookedf pretty dead, large tracts of unused land. On the Lithuanian side it looks a bit better. Much better than when I worked here in the late nineties / trying to help the organic sector to get going (and it has).
Forget English! In Riga it works well but for the rest almost nobody speaks English. Russian is much better and some speakl a bit German, but the level of English is almost on par with the Swedish.
It is cheap here. In one small caf'e I visited this morning they were selling beer for 50 Eurocent for 50 cl. There were ten guys drinking when I came in. You should have seen their faces, and even the waitress' face when I ordered a tea!. You eat a decent meal for 3-4 Euros and a simple meal for 2. A bigger problem is to find somewhere to eat!!!!!I biked 71 km this day on a fairly big raod and therewas simply no place to eat. A bit hard for Gunnar. There are plenty of small (and I mean really small) shops that sell the most essential stuff - which translates to cigarrettes, liquour and beer, but mostly you can at least get some crackers and a sausage there.
No photos here / the computer refuses to read my cameras files.
Kari drove me and the bike to Uppsala the 12th, where we had lunch at my brother Anders's place, with his family, brother Pelle and our mother and Kolbjorn and his girl friend Kajsa. At three Kolbjorn drove me to the port in Stockholm where the ferry departed. It left at 17.00 for Riga.
The trip went fine, I stayed on a four bed compartment with two Russians. The ferry was OK, and the only mishap was that I forgot my little bag with all my money, credit cards and passport in a bathroom, where I had changed clothes. When I realised that half an hour later I must admit that I cursed myself. Running down four decks just to find it where I left it- and all valuables left.
Riga old town.
We arrived Riga 11 Monday morning, and I took a quicker round in the old town. I also visited a bookshop to ask for the book the Prophet by Khalil Gilbrain. She shone up and told me to follow. She happily produced it - in Latvian! I bought with me to read Zen and the art of Motrocycle maintainence, by Robert Pirzig. I have read it many times before. It is still one of the best books I ever read, and he is thinking about the same things as I do (and yes he went crazy from it). The book is also about a trip with his son. Anyway, I thought I also should bring the Prophet, and I couldn.t find it at home.
Anyway, leaving Riga at one on the big highway heading south. Soon I managed to come on a somwhat smaller road, but still verty busy. Gradually I choose other routes and wasd finally on the kinds of roads I like. I had plan to do a 40-50 k the first day, but I couldn't find any hotel or hostel, and I really didn't fancy to stay in the tent the first day. Ended up cycling 88 km to find a place to sleep. And that corresponds to the total distance I made by bike for a whole year before. I think you can guess how my bottom was next morning..The place was nice, but cold, they haven's starting the "heating season" yet which means all rooms are damp and cold/. Got nice home made deet sausage and other local delicacies on the farm where I stayed.
Next morning was awful. I had such a pain both outside on the skin of my buttocks and in the muscles into the bone. I wasn't helped by a very strong headwind and generally lousy weather. Anyway I made another 33 km, passed the border to Lithuania and ended up in the town Birzai, which I visited some ten years ago. It was the centre of the early organic farming in Lithuania as the area is nature protected. Town has four breweries. Beer is so important that after the Swedes (YES, the Swedes) looted and burnt down the whole city, the brewery was re-erected before both the town hall and the fortress. Typically enough I went to three supermarkets and none of them stored three of the local beers and stocked only 2l bottles of the fourth branc. However, in a bar I could taste two of them. Good stuff. Stayedin a gues house in town. Was quite curious to see how I would feel the morning of the thrird day. The pain was still there, but after half an hour of biking I was feeling better. The weather was also nice to start with I am now in Panevezys, which is a major industrial town in the North of Lituania after 71 km of cycling. I decided to look for internet, which prooved to be a challenge. I was guided here to the cinema (!) by a 16 year old girl that was heading in this direction. But she was like the 20th person I asked (and I targeted people between 15 and 25). I will probably stay overnight here. The outskirts of Panevezys are like a horro movie, all ran down industries, but the centre is pleasant.
Farming on the Latvian side lookedf pretty dead, large tracts of unused land. On the Lithuanian side it looks a bit better. Much better than when I worked here in the late nineties / trying to help the organic sector to get going (and it has).
Forget English! In Riga it works well but for the rest almost nobody speaks English. Russian is much better and some speakl a bit German, but the level of English is almost on par with the Swedish.
It is cheap here. In one small caf'e I visited this morning they were selling beer for 50 Eurocent for 50 cl. There were ten guys drinking when I came in. You should have seen their faces, and even the waitress' face when I ordered a tea!. You eat a decent meal for 3-4 Euros and a simple meal for 2. A bigger problem is to find somewhere to eat!!!!!I biked 71 km this day on a fairly big raod and therewas simply no place to eat. A bit hard for Gunnar. There are plenty of small (and I mean really small) shops that sell the most essential stuff - which translates to cigarrettes, liquour and beer, but mostly you can at least get some crackers and a sausage there.
No photos here / the computer refuses to read my cameras files.
Jag kommer sakna....
Torfolk som är ett underbart ställe. Titta på höstfärgerna.
Kari som är en fantastisk livskamrat och maka.
Kolbjörn som flyttar till Uppsala
Olle, Marica, Valdemar och Lena
Mamma och mina bröder
Samt alla andra goda vänner. Ingen nämnd -ingen glömd!
....men jag kommer ju tillbaks snart igen.Över jul och nyår skall jag vara hemma, sen åker jag ut igen. Tillbaks i april är tanken.
Kari som är en fantastisk livskamrat och maka.
Kolbjörn som flyttar till Uppsala
Olle, Marica, Valdemar och Lena
Mamma och mina bröder
Samt alla andra goda vänner. Ingen nämnd -ingen glömd!
....men jag kommer ju tillbaks snart igen.Över jul och nyår skall jag vara hemma, sen åker jag ut igen. Tillbaks i april är tanken.
Vinterträdgården börjar bli färdig! The wintergarden is almost done
The last year I have been making this extension to the house. I thought I could have it ready when I leave, but I failed. However it is a warm shell and most work is done, just the final touches and some painting missing.
Now we will have the neighbours here for a drink, and then I will check my packing once more. Tomorrow at 7:30 we leave for Stockholm.
Kari inspekterar.
vy från sidan
Now we will have the neighbours here for a drink, and then I will check my packing once more. Tomorrow at 7:30 we leave for Stockholm.
Kari inspekterar.
vy från sidan
Karta / Map
En länk går nu till en Google map med min rutt, ungefär. Den finns under "länkar"
Ther is now a link to a Google map, with my route, approximately. The map doesn't seem to have many roads in Ukaraine....My final destination is Yalta, but Google couldn't manage that. You find it under "länkar" (which is Swedish for links).
Ther is now a link to a Google map, with my route, approximately. The map doesn't seem to have many roads in Ukaraine....My final destination is Yalta, but Google couldn't manage that. You find it under "länkar" (which is Swedish for links).
Packlista - så mycket prylar det behövs!
| CV= cykelväskor, FV = framväska, PH=pakethållare och på GR är det jag skall ha på mig! Packlista GR cykeltur 2008 | 18kg | |||
| CV | FV | PH | på GR | |
| Regnbyxa | 1 | |||
| Mössa | 1 | |||
| Handskar | 1 | |||
| halsduk | 1 | |||
| regnponcho | 1 | |||
| reflexväst | ||||
| Jumpaskor | 1 | |||
| Kängor | 1 | |||
| Kalsonger | 4 | 1 | ||
| strumpor | 4 | 1 | ||
| Bruna byxor | 1 | |||
| Cykelbyxor | 1 | |||
| svarta byxor | 1 | |||
| reslakan | 1 | |||
| liggunderlag | 1 | |||
| Tält | 1 | |||
| Sovsäck | 1 | |||
| reshanduk | 1 | |||
| thsirts | 3 | 1 | ||
| Skjortor | 2 | 1 | ||
| EL väst | 1 | |||
| Fleeze jacka | 1 | |||
| Långkalsong | 3 | |||
| Näsduk | 1 | 1 | ||
| Bälte | 1 | |||
| Necessär | ||||
| Rakhyvel | 1 | |||
| Tandborste | 1 | |||
| Magnecyl | 1 | |||
| Sheasalva | 1 | |||
| Plåster | 1 | |||
| Sårtape | 1 | |||
| Kompresser | 1 | |||
| Antibiotika | 1 | |||
| Tvål | 1 | |||
| Topapper | 1 | |||
| Intimsavetter | 1 | |||
| nagelklippare | 1 | |||
| tvättmedel | 3 | |||
| nikotinplåster | 14 | |||
| Skrivböcker | 2 | |||
| Pennor | 2 | |||
| Profeten | 1 | |||
| Zen och konsten | 1 | |||
| adresser | 1 | |||
| Pass | 1 | |||
| pengar | 1 | |||
| Försäkringsbrev | 1 | |||
| Försäkringskassekort | 1 | |||
| kreditkort | 1 | |||
| Cykelnyckel | 2 | |||
| Glasögon | 1 | |||
| visitkort | 20 | |||
| Kabellås med nyckel | runt cykeln | |||
| Cykelpump | 1 | |||
| Karta | 1 | |||
| kompass | 1 | |||
| vattenflaska | 1 | |||
| russin | 1 | |||
| choklad | 1 | |||
| Mobiltelefon | 1 | |||
| Laddare | 1 | |||
| Datorkabel | 1 | |||
| USB minne | 1 | |||
| Slang | 1 | |||
| Lagningssats | 1 | |||
| Silvertape | 1 | |||
| Ståltråd | 1 | |||
| Snöre / rep 3 m | 1 | |||
| skiftnyckel liten | 1 | |||
| Multiverktyg | 1 | |||
| Kniv | 1 | |||
| Packstroppar | 2 | |||
Trial packing
Packed all my stuff on the bike today-18 kgs. Took a quick tour on the road, up and down some hills, and it felt stable and fine. Quite busy to finalise all things than need to be done before taking off Sunday morning. 