Latvia - Part 1 - The Wet Wet Wetlands

It was only about 70 kms to the Latvian border. We'd been crossing railway lines which had no barriers or lights without really slowing down, but then noticed the locals all stopped to check for oncoming trains so we started to be a bit more observant. It was an overcast day with just the brilliant yellow of the oil seed rape fields providing some colour.

The first place we reached in Latvia was Daugavpils, Latvia's second city. Our guidebook hadn't really sung its praises saying it was once a Russian imperial town and the population is still largely Russian speaking, and it had been somewhat out on a limb for many years. However, funds have been ploughed into the city in the last few years to try to make it more attractive to visitors, so we thought it would at least make a good coffee stop if nothing else.

We drove into the centre of the town which did have a mix of old Soviet type buildings amongst some more historical ones. We had an excellent coffee which spurred us on into thinking we should visit the main attraction the town is known for - the Daugavpils Fortress. This is on the edge of the town and was originally built by the Russians to demonstrate their military power. It is now in the process of being transformed into a cultural hub.

We're pleased we visited. It is an interesting mix of partly restored areas, where art exhibitions are now housed, and the centre of the complex has some once grand imperial buildings with ugly Soviet apartment blocks in between.

There aren’t many tourist attractions north of here on this side of Latvia, so we continued on for a couple of hours to Lake Lubans, Latvias largest lake. and the largest dammed lake in the Baltics.

The shores of the lake have been made into a system of protective dams, canals and sluice systems, and more than 250 bird species have been recorded here including several endangered species - such as the great snipe, ospreys and the white-tailed eagle. The pike and carp fishing here are also considered some of the best. There is a 53km cycle path around the wetlands which we thought would be a perfect way to spend the afternoon after parking up for the night at the Wetlands Information Centre. The lady there was very friendly and confirmed that the weather was much wetter than it should be for May - in fact she'd never known it so wet at this time of year.

We parked in a great spot overlooking the water. There were two car loads on Latvians enjoying a picnic, but the rain started and they packed up and left very quickly. Little Mr Optimistic (aka Delusional) said 'it's going to stop raining soon - lets get out on the bikes'. Famous last words.....

The cycle route was largely on gravel and in dry warm weather would have been lovely, stopping to look at birds and go up the observation towers around the lake. However, when the rain soon got heavier, and we got wetter and cold, and the trail ended up on a gravel road which was now muddy and very slippy, it wasn't quite such fun. It was the longest 53km we've ever cycled taking us nearly 3 1/2 hours. We were caked in red mud from head to toe by the time we got back to Lo11y. The Germans in the camper now parked behind us looked highly amused.

The rain continued all night and our wet dirty cycle kit didn't get dry.

We continued on towards the Estonian border. The roads were trying to compete with the UK - potholes galore and it was still raining when we pulled up at our first port of call in Estonia - Tartu. We're looking forward to returning to the western side of Latvia in a few weeks with fingers crossed the weather will be better by then.