Sand Dunes in Lithuania! - The Curonian Spit (20/7/06 - Day 6)

Have you ever imagine the Sahara Dessert in Lithuania? Impossible, isn't it? Well, but there is somewhere in Lithuania that looks quite close to being the Sahara, and that is the infamous Curonian Spit. The Curonian Spit is a narrow strip of peninsula that goes up from the Kaliningrad region of Russia into Lithuania, and around half of it is covered with sand dunes. It is about 50km long but only around 2km wide, and is one of the strangest phenomenon in the world. Nowadays, the Curonian Spit is one of the National Parks of Lithuania, popular with tourists from the Baltics, from Europe and beyond. The best way to see this region is to head to the town of Nida, about 50km away from Klaipeda, and from there one can easily walk to the sand dunes.

After a three hours train ride from Siauliai, I finally arrived in Klaipeda, and from the train station it was an easy walk to my hostel. After I checked in, I met a pair of old couples who came from Sweden, and like me, they were also travelling around the Baltics. Also, I met another friend who came from Los Angeles. He is originally from Hong Kong as well and he can speaks quite ok Cantonese. I headed out with the American-Chinese friend to a Lithuanian restaurant called the Chili Kaimas, which turned out to be a cheap, good restaurant throughout Lithuania. Later, this chain restaurant became my "canteen" as I almost eat in this chain restaurant everyday during my whole time in Lithuania.)

The next day, I headed off to Klaipeda city center, and after taking a few photos of this small Germanic city of Klaipeda, I headed to the ferry terminal and took a small ferry crossing the small strip of sea into the Curonian Spit. The first town of arrival at Curonian Spit is Smityne, which is nothing more than a stop to change a minibus or a bus southwards into the Curonian Spit area. There I board the next minibus south to Nida, the southernmost town in the Lithuanian Curonian Spit area, only 2km away from the Lithuanian - Kaliningrad Russia border. Unfortunately, the need of an expensive visa to Kaliningrad has diverted my plans to visit Kaliningrad, which I think is a wise choice since there are not too many things to see there and getting such an expensive visa is surely not worth it.

Nida is a small, nice resort, with many hotels and seaside restaurants, and there I had my lunch. I ordered a traditional Lithuanian dish called the Cepelinai, basically a huge potatoes dumpling with minced meat inside, to be eaten with sour cream and Dill. Talking about Lithuanian food, I have had more potatoes eaten in Lithuania than my entire year in Hong Kong. Nearly every kind of Lithuanian food is made up of potatoes, such as massed potatoes, potato chips, potatoes dumplings, potato sausages, and any kinds of potato products you can think of, and every dish comes with a huge serving of it. Truly, this is one of the things I missed the most during my Baltic trip.

After lunch I commenced the walk towards the Sand Dunes, and there I bumped into the Swedish couple I met in the hostel and together we walked towards the Sand Dunes. the scenery of the Sand Dunes are like, "wow," as endless area of sands can be seen from across the horizon. Truly, it really makes me think of the Sahara desert. I was curious enough of the Sand Dunes and I climbed out of the pathway and began to walk on the sand. To be honest, walking on sand dunes is really not easy, and I nearly got sunk into the sand or not being able to walk back to the pathway. It is impossible to walk all the way from one side of the Sand Dunes to the other, not even to say the sand dunes cross into another country! (into Kaliningrad, Russia) However, seeing this phnomenon in Lithuania is interesting enough as it is hard to imagine how Sand dunes exist right next to the Baltic sea coast.

After returning to the town of Nida, I continued north towards the town of Joudkrante, another sea-side resort town at the Curonian Spit. There are not that many things to do, but there located a famous trail through the Witches Hill, a small hiking trail displaying many Lithuanian traditional wood cravings. It is fun to see many of these cravings, as it is like going through a Lithuanian art lesson.

Forgotten to say, the Baltic states are famous for a mineral called the Amber, and Lithuania has loads of it. On the way back from the Witches Hill, I saw the many tables that sell pictures decorated with Amber bits. Suddenly, I remembered my piano students as I have promised to buy them some souvenirs from my trip. Quickly, those cheap and good Amber pictures became my target, and within a catch, I bought nearly 30 of them.

At the evening, I took the bus back to Klaipeda, and as the bus approach, it was packed to the gills. I quickly found my own pieces of space next to the driver, and guess whom I bumped into again? The Swedish couple. Upon arriving back to Klaipeda, we headed out for dinner, and I recommended them that Chili Kaimas restaurant. Surely, they liked it! We had an interesting talk during dinner and it is surely fun to meet people from around the world.

More photos of Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/9

(Pic Captions - Top: Me self-taking a picture at the Sand Dunes, Nida. Middle: Lithuanian traditional wood-carving along the Witches Hill Trail, Juodkrante. Bottom: A pavillion selling different products made of Amber, Juodkrante.)