Lina, Dainius, the dogs and I went to a lake about 70 km northwest of Vilnius for a few days. We found a nice place at the lake, went swimming, talked, relaxed and in the evening we made a fire and had some drinks.
We had a few very relaxing and nice days in the wild.
After we slept a few hours I went a little bit shopping in the vicinity.
I decided to change my plans in order to make it to Croatia till the end of September to go sailing with some of my friends. To gain some time I will take the bus to Vilnius and to Bialystock and then cycle through Ukraine, Romania and Hungary to Croatia. My rule not to use motorized vehicles will not be affected, because I already made it to Bialystock and now I will start from there again. So the trip to St. Petersburg was just like a little extra tour and will not count for the world trip.
I packt my stuff for the bus to Vilnius and at 6:30 pm we started to cycle to the bus station. The bus was leaving at 9 pm but I wanted to be there early to maybe have a chance to talk to the driver in order to get all my stuff and the bike in the bus.
First the drivers said the bus is full and you are only allowed one pice of luggage. After a while they showed me a extra compartment and offered it to me for an extra 30€. So what could I do but accept it?
At least I was on my way back to Vilnius.
At the border to Estonia we all had to get out of the bus and take all of our luggage and go through the baggage control. Crossing the border took about one hour and 30 minutes.
At 7 am we reached Riga and I had to change buses. The bus to Vilnius started at 10:30 am so I had to kill some time.
At the beginning the bus driver had the same problem with my luggage but then I could put everything in the cargo area with no extra charge.
In the early afternoon I reached Vilnius and Dainius my host from my first visit to Vilnius came and took my stuff to their apartment. I cycled the 3 km to their place.
Day 96: 14 km all: 3424 km
Everything took al little bit longer and so I started from the car repair shop at 12:30 pm.
The border to Latvia was only 16 km away and I left Lithuania after 40 min.
I noticed the street on the Lithuanian side was in very good shape. In Latvia the street had many holes and repaired parts.
The weather was getting better and the wind was still in my favor. I reached Riga at 6 pm, but needed an additional hour to get to Innas´s apartment.
After we had some spaghetti for dinner Marcin and I went to see old town.
We parked near old town and walked around. Before we went home we had a beer in the center of old town.
At Inna´s place we had some Metaxxa and finally at 2 am we went to bed.
The plan was to leave Riga the next day. But because I had almost no time to see Riga, we decided to stay an additional day in Riga.
Day 78: 96,22 km all: 2664 km
Today I tried to go all the way to Riga.
3 reasons why it did not worked:
1: We wanted to go to the hill of crosses. That was about an extra distance of 20-25km.
2: The road I took for about 20 km was not a paved road and had manny small bumps.
3. The wind. Probably the crucial reason. Strong wind from the west mad it impossible to go faster than 18km in one hour.
I started at 9 am and after a battle against wind and roads I was at the hill of crosses at 5pm.
Marcin was already their and made me a power drink.
To Riga it was still more than 120 km. So to far to reach today. But we had arrangement with a couchsurfing host to sleep in Riga.
We decided that Marcin drives to the next bigger town and finds a place to store the bike for the night. We would come back the next day and do the rest of the distance.
The next town was 20 km from the hill of crosses away and because the wind was now out of a favorable direction I mad the way in less than 45 min.
Marcin had found a small car repair shop where we could leave the bike till the next day.
We then drove to Riga and looked for the apartment of our host in Riga.
Inna came at about 10 pm as she told us.
We had a quick dinner and some talking, but she was very tired and so we went to bed early.
By the way I have a new record for the most Km a day: 137,19 km.
Day 77: 137,19 km all: 2568 km
In the morning Dainius and I went to a bike shop, bought 4 new tubes, replaced the on in the tire and were done in about 15 minutes.
After packing my bags we put it in Marcin´s car and started in direction to Riga.
The first few hours the road was a little bit hilly but in the afternoon the terrain was getting flat.
In the evening Marcin and I meet along the way and we looked for a place to set up our camp.
After 133 km we found a field beside the road with short grass and decided to stay for the night.
We both pitched up our tents and cooked some dinner.
Marcin had also bought some cole to make a campfire. So we sat at the fire and had some drinks.
Day 76: 133,71 km all: 2431 km
I woke up at 12:30 pm and we had some leftovers from yesterday as breakfast/lunch.
Lina had a free day so we walked to the center and did some sightseeing of vilnius. After we had enough we went to a cafe and had a drink. Later Dainius piked us up and we went home.
After dinner and some more wine we got to bed very early (3:30 am).
I had planed to leave on saturday but I was tiered and it was raining, so I decided to stay an additional night.
We drove to the old capital of Lithuania (some 500 years ago) about 40 minutes from Vilnius. There are many lakes around the village and a big ancient castle.
It was raining so we sat in a restaurant and drunk some beer.
After we got back from the trip, Dainius got a call from another couchsurfer who wanted to meet in the evening.
We arranged a meeting in a restaurant with Hasti and Arsham from Iran.
Arsham studied in Denmark and he is now in Helsinki and is getting his doctor in ” Safety in Naval Transport and Operation” (hope I got it right).
Hasti is a dentist in Teheran an is visiting Arsham in Helsinki for a few weeks.
They both speak perfect english and we all learned allot about the other country.
Maybe I see them again in Iran. So I don´t regret staying an extra day in Vilnius.
The next morning I first had to fix the flat tire of my bike. I just changed the tube in no time and went up to pack my bags.
When we came down to the bike it was flat again. So I fixed it again. The tube did not hold the air, so I tried it again. Still not good.
All my 3 tubes where unusable and we found one bike-shop witch open on sundays.
So we drove there, but unfortunately only this sunday they were closed.
I was out of options, so we bought some beer and had a nice afternoon on the balcony.
Marcin (my host from Warschau) was on the way to bring me my package and to support me a little bit. We wanted to meet along the way and then go together for a few days.
So he just came to Vilnius and also stayed one night with Dainius and Lina.
We had enough beer for all and the Vodka Marcin brought from Poland was also empty after some time.
I only had to go about 40 km to Vilnius today so I took my time and started to cycle at 10:30 am.
3 hours later I reached Vilnius.
I had to go through the city to reach the meeting point with my host from couchsurfing.
I could already see the meeting point when I noticed a flat tire on the back wheel. I still managed the go the last 300m and decided to deal with it later.
My host Dainius picked me up and we put all my stuff into his car and I followed him to his apartment.
After a shower and some talk we waited for his partner Lina.
I thought we would drive to town to eat something. But suddenly I was in their massage-praxis and was getting a back massage.
After the massage we went to eat at a old water-mill. We had some very good original Lithuanian food.
When we got back to their place we had some wine and talked till 5:30 am.
Day 72: 48,50 km all: 2297 km
I woke up at 7am and was on the road by 8:30 am.
The weather was very good and the terrain was flat again.
I was on the main road but the traffic was not to bad. I only once tried to use a smaller road but after two kilometers the road was getting sandy again. I did not want to push the bike like yesterday so I decided to go back to the main road.
Today I really needed a shower so after going about 100 km I asked where the next hotel would be and they told me I have to go about 20km more.
I just went on and after only 5 km I found a nice place besides the road. They had a very good restaurant and the room was also very nice. My bike was locked in the shed and I got my shower.
I meet Darius and his cousin while I was unloading my bike. They were very interested in my trip and after I had my shower I joind them for Dinner.
Darius works at big Truck spare parts provider and repair company and offered me to help to transport my package from Warschau.
Day 71: 104,94 km all: 2248 km
The border to Lithuania was only about 50 km away and at 9 am I started to enter an new country.
After a few kilometers there was a big wooded area in front of me. I decided to go through, because from the map and the GPS it looked as it would be a good street. But after only a short time the road was getting very sandy.
It was impossible to ride the bike so I had to push it. I always hoped the road would get better but after every corner it was the same picture.
It was very hard work to push the heavy bike thru the sand but after more than 3 hours I finally reached a paved road.
The rest of the distance to the border was good besides the fact that I was on a very busy main road with lots of Trucks and cars.
At 6 pm I reached the border to Lithuania. It is always nice to reach an new country.
After the border I just looked for a hotel in the next town. Because I could not find any I just had to go on and look for a place to set my tent up.
It was getting late and I was hungry so I put my tent on a field near the road. It was behind a small hill so the road did not bother me.
After a very long and hard day I was happy to get a warm meal and a good sleep.
Day 70: 90,10 km all: 2143 km
Alien´s trip around the world 