Choose another map, showing:

• Scandinavia
• Europe
• Greenland
• Eurasia
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Liepāja

Jurmala, Kemeri, Kuldiga, Skrunda, Liepaja, Rucava

05-09-2006 TUE

It must have taken me over an hour to find the road out of Riga to the popular sea side town of Jurmala. Once on the road, it was a good journey to a lovely long white sandy beach with one person swimming. I didn't bother adding to the count at the risk of hypothermia.

Kemeri national park was just a few miles from Jurmala beach.

Another way out town I stopped at was Kemeri. The villagers were happy playing cards outside cafes on the main road. As I drove into town, everyone stopped what they were doing to look. It was like in a cowboy film when the outlaw stranger rides into town. I didn't hang around long enough to find out what they did to strangers.

The road building to these countryside farming communities is all but complete. These people will get more and more strangers like me coming to their towns in the near future.

The Kemeri railway station was deserted with a small station office that had seen better days. All that was missing were three out-laws to arrive and then the stage would be set for High Noon.

It was not uncommon to drive for 30 minutes without seeing another car. I carried on driving on the A10 towards Ventspils. The Kemeri national park was older with more mature trees and dense undergrowth. This kind of undergrowth was almost non existent in some of the new forests in Estonia.

At Talsi, I decided to drive cross country to Liepaja. Although the scenery on the minor roads is always a bonus, the lack of sings and arriving back at a place you passed through 30mins earlier as a result can be annoying. I picked up two hitch hikers to break my boredom but as luck would have it - they didn't speak English.

The town of Kuldiga which I found by accident was very picturesque. A river with a waterfall , a bridge , a church - well everything very pretty.

The town bypass is not a perfected art here and each big town proved to be a nightmare to pass through. The main road twisted and turned and narrowed making you wonder whether you were still on the correct path. You want to follow this path even less when the GPS is telling you that you are going in the opposite direction.

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Jurmala, Kemeri, Kuldiga, Skrunda, Liepaja, Rucava":