0353 Riga to Gauja National Park

10^th Sept 2015

We head NE in search of castles and sunshine - And Adventure !

Another sunny morning and leisurely pack up, interspersed my several people coming over to us to say Hi and to have a chat, including Daniel from near Lubeck in Germany who invited us to come and stay if we are ever in the area.  While it didn’t rain overnight, there was an amazingly heavy dew for the 2^nd or 3^rd night running, so everything was pretty wet when we packed up.  By the time we had packed up, emptied our porta potty, and filled the water tank, it was 10.15 when we headed out.  But only 200 yards down the road to the supermarket as we were just about out of everything and had to do a big shop.  Very pleasant that it was about half the price of a medium shop in Norway !! 

After we had loaded everything in the car, we went back into Riga because we had decided overnight that there was something we needed to buy for a grand daughter !    So we headed into the old city, and I parked in a No Parking area while Janet went into the market area – Meanwhile I ended up with a couple coming up for a chat about our respective trips – It is so good chatting to people like this who have like minded views and ideas.

Once Janet returned, we set off to our next destination – but it wasn’t south toward Lithuania.  Another overnight decision was that we should head back up the road a bit, NE to the Gauja National Park, and the towns and castles of Sigulda, Ligatne, and Cesis.  So we headed back out of Riga on the road we had come in on a couple of days ago – And our first need was to find some cheap diesel to refill my now completely empty tank after my brief senior moment a couple of days ago !

Fuel in Latvia has two levels – The cheaper fuel (€0.90 / litre for diesel) comes from unmanned stations which only accept credit cards at an automatic machine, and then slightly more expensive (€1.03 / litre) fuel at stations that have an office and people where you can pay inside.  For some reason in Latvia my Aussie Visa card needs a signature – The PIN number is insufficient – so I cannot use the automatic fuel stations.  So today I had to pay a whole €1.03 for my fuel !  And my 90 litre tank which was supposedly completely empty after draining it only took 87.5 litres – So it is undersized !! Anyway, both tanks all now filled with diesel, and all good.

We stopped for lunch at a lay-by just before we got to Sigulda, and then went into the little town and found the Information Cemtre.  We do not have a guide book on the Baltic States, so need to get our info from Tourist Information offices as we go.  Fortunately there are frequent, and reasonably well signed. We found out about the local 1207 castle in Sigulda, and a few other things in the area including camp sites, collected some maps, and then headed off to the castle.

It was built in 1207 as a castellum type

fortress, and later on converted into a convent type building.  They have operas and other presentations there frequently, with a purpose built area in the centre of the old castle grounds.  The new castle was built in 1878 in Neo-Gothic style, as the living house for the owners of the manor, the Krapotkin family.  Since 1993 the Sigulda District Council has been located in the castle. It is certainly a really interesting museum that they have renovated very sympathetically given their limited time and money, and it was a pleasure to explore it. Given also that the entry fee was only €0.72 each, it was a real pleasure after some of the much more expensive entry fees we have had to pay recently !

After spending a while exploring the castle, we headed off across the valley towards the next village of Turaida, and their castle, which had been visible across the valley from Sigulda.  When we got there, shortly after 4 pm, we found that it needed at least 2-3 hours to explore properly, and as we were quite bushed (read “in need of a beer” !), we decided to go back to the little camp site beside the Gauja River, and return to this castle tomorrow morning.

We did pop into the Gutman Caves on the way back, but again the time required was more than we felt like at this time, so we went back to the camp site.  Next to the camp site is a ski area (in winter), and in summer an activity centre with zip lines, chair lifts, catapults, tube sliding, and all sorts of other attractions for the young at heart (!).  It is apparently the Baltic’s largest outdoor adventure park, and since the Gauja National Park where we are is also the biggest and the first NP in Latvia, it is all quite a special area for the Latvians.  It certainly is a very beautiful area through here, and we are really glad we made the decision to back track a little to see it.  Given that the weather is also continuing to be quite good makes it even better.  So tomorrow we will keep exploring this little area, and see what else we can find !!

Pics are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0353WeHeadNorthFromRiga?authkey=Gv1sRgCOW-4_aD0N2SmAE