Two new comers arrived at the guest house at 2300ish last night, I vaguely stirred, then around 0300 up for a call of nature and could hear voices quietly chatting downstairs. Back to bed and finally got up just after 0700. The two folk couldn't have had more that three hours sleep and were now laying out breakfast and pouring me some tea!
Igor and Natalie had driven up from Riga for a weekend break, they had been chatting to the owner who had told them what I was up to and had decided to lay on a Latvian breakfast for me!! Much tea was consumed along with potato bread (much like a tattie scone) and thinly sliced raw trout. The red wine was a special, just to aid digestion!! Breakfast lasted a good two hours and when I finally had to leave the table to load up my bike Natalie insisted that I take some fish with me; I eventually rode away with three rounds of bread thickly loaded with trout packed away in my bag.
1033, a half hour after leaving the Krapi Guest House I was crossing into Latvia.
I was still on the old back road through Treimani close to where I'd stayed last night, then through Ikla on the Estonian side of the border and a few hundred metres on into Ainazi in Latvia.
Riding out of Ainazi I was met with the first of the Eurovelo 13 signs which is the designation for the Iron Curtain Trail.
This appeared to be where the old road petered out and the main highway took over. Two km of big trucks and fast cars and I was wanting to be anywhere else but there. There looked to be an off shoot over on the other side of the road and there in the trees was a 13 in a circle of stars! A clearing in the traffic and I was over the road; things were looking up. Another few km's and my quiet road swung right and stopped at the edge of the main road. Another look around, yep there was a blue bike sign fixed to a tree, the arrow pointing down an unlikely looking trail into the woods.
Fortunately more bike signs could be spotted as I sprachled along this damp, rooty trail.
Eventually the trail went past some houses, bits of asphalt began to appear and the 'Off Road' experience came to an end when the trail spat me out onto the main road and into Salacgriva.
A supermarket stop to stock up on a couple of items and off again heading south. Svelciems came and went; I'd negotiated two sets of roadwork traffic lights by riding down the newly surfaced side which was still coned off. Heartily fed up of 'main road' I pulled off at the next Camping and Bed sign. I even treated myself to dinner in the main hoose!
Some serious lumps of timber used to build this place! Get this posted, shower and bed.
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