Lithuania - Part 2 - Chasing A Sauna

Back into Lithuania, our first destination was the Hill of Crosses. It sits 10km north of the Lithuania's 4th largest city Siauliai and is, as it says on the tin, a small hill (more of a mound) covered in thousands upon thousands of crosses. There are every type of cross you can imagine - large intricate iron or wooden carved ones, some with the Virgin Mary or Christ, many with personal images, some just plain. There is even said to be a Lego one but we didn't manage to spot it.

The first crosses went up in 1831 following the suppression of an uprising against the tsarist Russian rule and they have been added to ever since by pilgrims and visitors to the site. The Hill of Crosses has become a symbol to the endurance of the Lithuanian people, especially during periods of oppression, such as the Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1990. Despite attempts by the Soviet government to demolish the crosses, the site has persisted, symbolizing hope and faith. We have visited so many poignant sites on this trip, and it was a humbling experience wondering around the site listening to the crosses chinking in the breeze and thinking about the infinite reasons why the crosses have been placed here. A group of pilgrims started to sing near the hill adding to the atmosphere.

It didn't sound like there was much in Siauliai to see, but I spotted there is a small bicycle museum there which gave us a reason to call in. Siauliai is the only place in the Baltics where bikes are still manufactured today. The tiny museum traces the history of the company Baltik Vairas from 1948 to the present day, and also tells the story of Lithuanian cycling achievements and displayed one of their bikes that took part in the Great Millennium Peace Ride across 5 continents. Colin tested his pedaling power on a couple of static bikes while I struggled on a wooden bike.

From here we continued 100km on to Lake Plateliai in the Zemaitija National Park where there are lakes and cycle trails to explore.

We were amused to be over taken by a sauna on the route. Colin did his best to stay with it but it was too fast for us.

We found a lovely picnic and camping site by a lake. There were 3 other motorhomes parked up already and Lithuanian families camping in tents. The sunshine decided to make a welcome comeback the following morning, so we got out on the bikes to do a cycle path around the lake.

After about 6km we reached a Soviet Nuclear Missile Base - just what you'd expect to see in the middle of a beautiful National Park. It was built in secret in the 1960s and was the only Soviet nuclear base with enough firepower to flatten all of Europe. There are 4 low lying silos that had housed 4 medium range ballistic missiles between 1963 and 1978. Visitors can now descend into one of the underground bunkers where a mix of information boards and film footage takes you through the cold war events. Fascinating.

It was good to resume the bike ride taking in the fresh air and tranquil forest and lake scenery. We came across a restaurant with seats in the sun and enjoyed a delicious lunch. We were joined by a Swiss couple (Tatjana and Klaus) who were parked up at our picnic spot. They are taking a year out to travel around Europe in their campervan. They are a lovely couple and very much more chilled with life on the road than us, which is something we could maybe take on board - we do have a tendency to feel we should see and do as much as possible and maybe we do need to build in more 'rest days'. If only I could get Colin to agree.....

Back at the picnic site there were many more locals set up for camping. Colin braved a swim in the lake which was very refreshing (lets just say he wasn't in very long). A local guy kindly gave him a cold beer. An Austrian couple had parked up with us during the day (Barbara and Andreas) whom we'd seen a couple of times without realising it in parking spots in the recent days. Klaus got a fire going and we all enjoyed a lovely evening swapping stories and sampling the Swiss's expert barbecuing skills.

The following morning we delayed moving on for a few hours so I could get photos loaded on the blog and Colin did another lap of the lake cycle path. We finally set off around lunch time to the resort town of Palanga. As soon as we arrived we realised we'd made a mistake not staying at the Lake for another night. Palanga could pass for a British seaside resort with arcade machines and fun fairs and even a pier. We'd parked up in a packed car park by the sports stadium where many people do stay the night in motorhomes, but we certainly weren't feeling it. We jumped on the Bromptons which we had to push through the botanical gardens (which to be fair were quite nice) and came to the beach which is a beautiful stretch of soft white sand. The pier was being set up for a concert. Being a sunny Saturday everywhere was busy, so we decided we'd carry on to a small town between Palanga and Klaipeda called Karkle where there were several campsites listed. We ended up in a pleasant grassy site owned by an English guy (from Cambridge). He said he'd just been back to the UK and said the weather hadn't been as great as we're all reading about, but also said the weather we'd been experiencing in the Baltics was very unusual. Not only was the amount of rain unusual but the temperatures should be at least 10 degrees higher.

He said their normally cold and snowy winter hadn't happened either and it had been more of a British murky winter. We enjoyed the evening sun and the sites great WiFi, still feeling a bit melancholy about leaving the lake picnic site.

The following day we continued on the short distance to the much nicer looking port town of Klaipeda with Germanic style timber buildings and cobbled streets. We had a couple of hours mooching around and really liked what we saw. 

From here we caught a ferry across to the Coronian spit. The spit is the youngest part of Lithuania, formed around 5,000 years ago and is now covered in dense forests with endless walking and cycling trails, and has large wind sculptured sand dunes and unspoiled beaches. It is 98km long and is split almost evenly with Russia.

We drove down to the most southerly Lithuanian town of Nida where there is a large campsite where we had talked about meeting Barbara and Andreas. They were running a bit behind us, so we got the Bromptons out and cycled into central Nida which was just a couple of kms away. It had a lively harbour area and with the sunshine felt like we could have been in the Med. From the harbour we could see a strip of sand dunes which we assume are in no mans land before the Russian border. We cycled a bit closer, but the path ran out. There were lots of boats offering trips out to see the dunes, but we decided that could wait until the following day. We enjoyed a couple of drinks in a harbour bar and for the first time on this trip succumbed to the lure of pizza, finding a very good pizza bar.

By the time we got back to Lo11y we found Barbara and Andreas parked up near us. We arranged to hook up with them in the morning to cycle up the spit and back.

It was another bright sunny start to the day. Barbara and Andreas both travel with electric Bromptons and we could see they were disappointed we weren't riding ours this day, but while I love mine for shortish jaunts into towns, the thought of 40 miles was too painful. They are both very experienced cycle tourists having done many long trips around Europe, so they were zipping along with us on our gravel bikes looking very comfortable. The cycle route is just fabulous - starting in Nida along the waterfront, then finding ourselves in a beautiful pine forest. We came across some cyclists who had stopped ahead of us and saw they were watching a young elk in the trees. It calmly walked across the path in front of us. (See the latest photos on our homepage to view the Instagram clip). The path took us alongside some dunes where we walked up some steps to see a beautiful wild beach. The wildflowers were also stunning. Our furthest point was the village of Juodkrante which made a good point for lunch. We found a sheltered restaurant on the front and enjoyed a seafood lunch. Barbara and Andreas are such a lovely couple. They too are taking a short work break (her from being a primary school teacher and he as a Pastoral role in hospitals ) and had hired a motorhome in Germany for this trip. They were heading home to Austria in a couple of weeks. It had clouded over considerably by the time we set off on our return journey. The first section took us through some woodland that was full of nesting cormorants. The smell was pretty potent and we count ourselves lucky not to have had any poop on us after riding the gauntlet. There were a couple of dead chicks on the path and fish that had been dropped. Beyond here we had another close up wildlife encounter with a fox who looked quite unbothered at seeing us. With the wind picking up and rain in the air we upped the speed but didn't quite manage to out-cycle the rain. Back in Nida we headed to the harbour bar, but we were all in need of a hot chocolate rather than a cocktail. We did manage to squeeze in a Campari spritz and share a pizza as well before heading back to the campsite in the rain. It had been a superb day - lovely company and our most enjoyable cycle ride of the trip so far. Colin & I had to get ourselves ready for a Zoom call with our residents group which was a challenge with the poor WiFi signal.

The following morning we said fond farewells to Barbara and Andreas, and we drove back to the ferry terminal and back to Klaipeda. We parked up in town to get some laundry done which worked out well as the girl working in the launderette said she'd put the clothes in the drier and have it out and folded by the time we returned in 2 hours, so we were free to explore the town a bit more.

We had been contacted by an old work colleague of Colin's who was touring Scandinavia by motorbike and was on his way home through the Baltics. We had arranged to meet him the following day at a campsite near the Polish border, so we found a lovely tranquil campsite in a village called Siline to spend this night. The campsite is called Honey Valley and is owned by a beekeeper so we were happy to buy some. The owner put up a Union Jack flag on reception next to a German one and Lithuanian to show where she had guests from. She said we were the third British vehicle she'd had this year so far which equalled her previous record for the whole summer. We recognised the German vehicle nearest us having seen it a couple of times on our travels - in fact it was them we saw after the very wet bike ride in the Latvian wetlands a few weeks ago.

Before meeting up with Roger, we had Lithuania's second largest city to visit - Kaunas. It had originally been a Russian garrison town, but had grown into a European city during its two decades stint as capital of Lithuania during the inter-war period when Poland had annexed Vilnius. The city was European Capital of Culture in 2022 and has a lovely medieval old town as well as a new town area with art deco architecture and incredibly 44 new buildings were built in the new town in 2023 which gained the city UNESCO heritage status.

Having read other travellers reviews they didn't seem to rate the city highly, but we were thoroughly taken with the city - both the varied architecture and the feel of the place.

Here is a selection of the street art murals we passed as well.

We carried on to the town of Marijampole, picked up some provisions for the evening entertaining and headed to the campsite just out of the town. Roger had just arrived before us. It was a very nice campsite on a lake with lovely outdoor seating spaces. Unfortunately there was a stiff cold wind making it uncomfortable to sit out, so we all sheltered in Lo11y for the evening. We had a great evening catching up with 20 years of news with Roger. He had covered a staggering number of miles on his trip up through Norway and down through Finland. He too had suffered some bad weather along the way, and had been stopping in more accommodation than camping it. He was meeting his wife in Krakow the following weekend before heading back to the UK.

We waved Roger off the following morning - the weight of his bike was incredible too!

It was a slightly sad moment when we left Lithuania and found ourselves back in Poland, as it marked the end of our wonderful time in the Baltics and the start of our homeward journey.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have exceeded our expectations in spades. Three countries that look so small and unpopulated on the map, but have shed loads of history, an abundance of unspoiled nature and vibrant capitals. The people in all three countries have been so friendly and welcoming and we can only admire their care for their countryside and property - we've literally not seen any roadside litter for the month we have spent there. We pray that they can continue to flourish as independent states as they so deserve as the world sits in such a precarious position.