Stephen Mak's Travel Blogspot

Epilogue

2008-04-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a year or so after the trip to the Baltic, and actually it took me a while to finish up this blog. Indeed I had thought of giving it up due to laziness, but after half a year allowing the blog to stand idle, it suddenly aroused my motivation to continue with the blog and to make it complete. Nevertheless, it really reminded me back to my days that I spent in the Baltic, the incredibly long sunshine and the tremendously friendly people I have met along the way.

As my flight landed at Gatwick airport in London, I went busily across southern England to visit friends, and everywhere I go, people asked me about my trip. It was really great just to share the many moments of the time with them. I truly believe how travellers can make a difference to the world, be it a contribution to more peace and understanding or simply to contribute economically to the countries by spending our hard-earn dollars onto their economy.

What I really enjoy the most in the Baltic is its pristine nature and countryside, which is becoming more in scarcity due to continuing globalisation and industrialisation of the world, which only creates more pollution and destruction to the nature. A bicycle ride through Aukstaitijos National Park in Lithuania, or simply a hike across the Gauja National Park in Latvia reminds me how the world was suppose to be before us, human being comes. Indeed, that is how tourism board in all the three Baltic States promote themselves: nature, transquilty, country side tours, and the like. However, does nature exist only for the tourist's pleasure?

Well, partly true, I believe. But more importantly, it is also for educational purpose. Eco-tourists like us, when travelling to any natural places, always commit to an objectives of minimal destruction to the natural environment: do not leave anything behind but footprints, for example. Ecotourists, after visited a place, go home and talk to folks in our home not just about how beautiful the place is, but more about how we can contribute a part in preserving our world. This serves the educational purpose, I believe. Ecotourists, besides visiting nature, also serves to bridging cultural gaps. When we go into other places, we try to merge ourselves into their culture as much as possible, encouraging maximum interaction, both in terms of human conversation as well as participating in their lives, eating the local food, taking the local transportations, or if possible, learning their languages. This "culturally ecofriendly" way of travelling, I believe, also contribute positively to our world.

Nevertheless, after the two days visiting the UK and on my way back to Hong Kong, I once again had the chance to pass over Helsinki airport. As I was sitting down in a small cafe eating the delicious smoke-salmon salad, it recalled my memories of the trip and the many moments I had spent in their country. While glaring in awe at the environmentally friendly way of how the airport was built, I murmured to myself, "That is how the world should suppose to be..."

And indeed, that is perfectly true.

More photos of London and Oxford:

http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/14/

More photos of Helsinki Vantaa Airport:

http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/15/

(Picture caption: 1. Me taking a picture of London skyline around the Thames river area. 2. A view of Helsinki Vantaa Airport, bright and sunny... resembles how the world should suppose to be.)

Last day in Vilnius (26 - 27/7/2006)

2008-04-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

There aren't many things to do in Vilnius during the last day there. However, there were also a few points of interest that is worth to see before my final departure out of the country. In that, the three cross hill is an interesting site, resembling three crosses on top of a small hill.

I walked up the hill through a small trail, and soon I reached the top. Such a nice vista of the city of Vilnius! I thought, with many nice red-roofed houses packing together, resembling many old cities of Lithuania. Just as I was about to take out my camera and tried to take photos of the nice city, I nearly shouted in horror! Guess what's happened? As I was holding my camera, it suddenly slipped off from my hand and start flying into the air, finally laid at rest at some of the grassy area about 1 feet away from me. And, if I didn't remember wrong, that slop was downhill. If it was not because of a tree or something, the camera might have rolled downhill and will be lost in the horizon.

Thanks God! I exclaimed. If the camera really had rolled downhill, it will resembles another incident of my Vietnamese trip in May, having all my photos of my trip lost! Quickly, I climbed over the fence and snatched the camera back into my hands. I promise I will never be so careless.

After the visit to the three-crossed hill, I went back down and walk around the nice little town a bit, trying to breathe in the final air of the Baltic. Because in the next day, I will be flying out of Vilnius early towards London, where I will be spending the next 3 days there, visiting friends from church as well as and my brothers. It was sad to leave all these beautiful sceneries, the friendly people I have met, and most importantly some of the best food I have had.

As Vilnius rolled into the night, I realised I have had the best time ever, now waiting for the next day to come where I took a taxi to the airport and broaded on my flight towards London Gatwick airport. This, I called the end of my Baltic trip.

(Picture caption: 1. The three-crosses at the three-crossed hill at Vilnius. 2. A photo taken from up the three-crosses hill. 3. Me taking my last photo at the Vilnius backpacker youth hostel, Vilnius.)

2 Days Embracing Nature - Aukstaitija National Park, Lithuania (24 - 25/7/2006)

2007-08-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Before this trip, I have already heard of the infamous countryside of the Baltics. Its unspoiled and transquilent nature is world renown. Namely the famous Gauja National Park in Latvia, the Curonian Spit National Park in the western coast of Lithuania, and now the Aukstaitija National Park, located in North-east Lithuania. This time, I decided to head up there for 2 days, in order to find my own solitude, soaking up the natural beauty of what Lithuania can offer.

During the morning, I headed up to the train station, and got the next train to the town of Ignalina, the gateway town to the Aukstaitija National Park. This 2 hours train ride passing through unspoiled nature is really a breathtaking experience. Within moments I arrived in Ignalina and this was followed by a short taxi ride towards the town of Paluse, the first village inside Aukstaitija.

Paluse is an attractive village and there I booked a small wooden cottage house for my accomodation there, but the toilet and the bathrooms are all outdoors in another house. Nevertheless, this enable me to get a feel of the countryside in a traditional Lithuanian setting. Next to my accommodation is the beautiful Lake Lusiai, and there, like that of Kaunas Lake and Trakai, one can also rent small boats and row around the lake. I figured that is the best way to tour the area and so I jumped onto one and start rowing around. In fact, it is possible to row across the National Park through a network of lakes in 2 days, but I figure that would be a bit too exhausting for me. After an hour, I returned the boat and start doing something else.

Besides boating, another good way to explore the countryside is to rent a bicycle and cycle around. There is a road that go around the National Park and one should be able can complete the 40km circle in around 5 hours, while enjoying the beautiful nature along the way. By going south, I soon reached the area called Ladakalnis, about a 2 hours ride by bicycle from Paluse, where one climb up a 100m small hill in order to have a good view of all the surrounding hills and lakes. After this place, I continued the northern loop, while passing through other small villages until I get back to Paluse, through the road that leads up from Ignalina. I arrived back to Paluse in the evening, totally exhausted only to find out that all restaurants are closed for the night. I headed to the only supermarket in the village and bought myself some bread and salami meat in order to fill up my hungry stomach, and this I called it the night.

The next day was pretty much walking around the Paluse area, taking more photos until noon. There I hired a taxi to take me back to Ignalina train station for the next train back to Vilnius.

More photos of Aukstaitija National Park:

http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/13

(Picture caption: Top - Tourist playing games at Lake Lusiai, Middle - Me taking a picture at Ladakalnis, the highest point of Aukstaitija, Bottom - Me on a bicycle next to Lake Lusiai.)

Vilnius - KGB museum and Kaunas, central Lithuania (23/7/07 - Day 9)

2007-08-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Before my arrival to Lithuania, I never thought of visiting Kaunas, as I thought it was just a provincial town in the center of Lithuania, nothing special about it. However, surprisingly, I have get to know of this town for more than 10 years, due to the fact that a long time Canadian friend from high school has did some mission work there with an orphanage. Knowing that I am now in Lithuania, better visit this place than never again...

On my way from Klaipeda (in the west Baltic coast) to Vilnius, I already passed through Kaunas on the motorway, and this time, going back to Kaunas from Vilnius is like backtracking the route. Despite the fact, it is worth the trip.

Before I took the bus northwest to Kaunas, I first visited the infamous KGB museum of Vilnius. Basically this was the former KGB prison back in the old Soviet times, when political prisoners are being held and interrogated here. A visit to this place is like going into the horror movies, where one can see live prison cells, interrogation rooms, torture rooms, etc... Seeing all these historical facts right in display was like going through a Lithuanian history lesson, and one can imagine how life is like under the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Nevertheless, Lithuania, like its neighbouring countries of Latvia and Estonia, successfully declared independent and now enjoying its own freedom, and are even full members of the European Union. This awesome fact is definitely worth to celebrate and to be proud of.

After the visit to this former KGB museum, I headed off to the bus station and took the next bus to Kaunas. Both Vilnius and Kaunas are some of the biggest cities in Lithuania, as a result, bus transportation between these two cities are frequent and soon I arrived in Kaunas. Upon my arrival, I opened my tour guidebook and headed to a famous monastery there, called the Pazaislis Monastery, located in the outskirt of Kaunas, next to the smelly Kaunas lake. Unfortunately, there was a conference being held there at the time and my request to tour the monastery was uprightly rejected, but fortunately they let me take a picture of the place, at least...

Next to the monastery is the Kaunas Lake, and alike Trakai castle, one can also rent a boat and do the same row-row-row-a-boat kind of activities there. Having enjoyed so much in Trakai the day before, I once again indulged myself for another boat ride in this Kaunas lake.

Unfortunately, Kaunas Lake was not even a third as beautiful as Trakai. First of all, I constantly smell the flavour of Sulphur in the lake. Secondly, the surrounding atmosphere was a bit boring, without any castle or green trees. Thirdly, the lake appears dark instead of blue. Within half an hour, I got bored of rowing the boat and I returned the boat and headed away. Quickly, I got onto a minibus and headed back into downtown.

Due to the fact that it was a Sunday, the town appears surprisingly quiet, with the old town square area so deserted that I can hardly see anyone walking around. Most shops are closed with only a few open. After taking a few pictures of the town hall, including the ruin of the Kaunas Castle as well as the white St. Michael Church, I took a bus back to the station for the next coach back to Vilnius.

Kaunas is supposingly a beautiful city, although maybe I was there in the wrong time. Nevertheless, I did take some beautiful pictures that is worth the memory.

More photos of Kaunas: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/12/

(Picture caption: Top - Pazaislis Monastery - next to Kaunas Lake. Bottom - St. Michael Church in the old town of Kaunas)

Row, Row, Row a Boat.... - A Day in Trakai (22/7/06 - Day 8)

2007-07-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

Before arrival, I have already noticed this beautiful castle from the long time Canadian friend who has sent me photos of this place back in high-school. Basically, if you go to any tourist information office across Lithuania, you will notice pictures of this beautiful castle proudly displaying in their office. And truly, when I arrived at the hostel, everybody told me this same thing, "Go to Trakai, go to Trakai, it is a beautiful place."

"Sure, that is certainly in my schedule." I murmured.

Early in the morning, I headed to the bus station and board on the next bus to Trakai. Trakai isn't far away from Vilnius, only a merely 1.5 hours away by bus, and within moments I arrived at Trakai. The bus station isn't exactly located right at the center, and it requires a 15 to 30 minutes walk towards the castle. However, as the castle draws near, the beautiful scenery already appears and I was deeply drawn into its transquilty.

What make Trakai so attractive is, besides its beautiful orange coloured castle, is its surrounding lakes and the availability of boats to rent. Besides, Trakai plays an important role to Lithuania's history. It was the capital of Lithaunia back in the 1300s, and the castle was built over in 100 years in order to fend itself off from the Germans.

The way to visit this place, besides walking through the castle and exploring every single floor of it, is to rent a small boat and row around the castle island. It suddenly reminds me of my childhood time, when I was murmuring this little song:

"Row, row, row a boat, gently down the stream.... "

As I row over the lake, under the bridges, over to the island, etc... I felt so relaxing, as if I was totally soaked into the scene, standing right in the middle of a perfect picture. This can't be real, I thought.

After a late lunch, a routinely diet of potatoes again, I walked back to the bus station and started my return journey back to Vilnius. Instead of taking the big slow bus, I hop onto a small matshrutka minibus instead, and within an hour, I arrived back to Vilnius, and this concluded my beautiful journey to the Trakai castle.

More photos of Trakai: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/11

(Picture caption: 1. The beautiful Orange castle of Trakai. 2. The beautiful surrounding lake, Trakai. 3. Me posting myself in front of the Trakai castle, before crossing the bridge.)

Klaipeda to Vilnius - The Romantic capital of the Baltics (21/7/06 - Day 7)

2007-07-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

Had enough of the Klaipeda, I thought, as I was ready to embrace the coming adventures. The bus station was nearby where I live, and after checking a few emails from the hostel, I head off to the bus station and board the next bus for Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The road between Klaipeda and Vilnius is a four-lane freeway, and after passing through Kaunas, I finally arrived at Vilnius in the late afternoon.

My first impression of Vilnius was that, it was huge. Much bigger than the other two Baltic capitals, Riga and Tallinn. After dropping off my luggage at a hostel nearby the downtown area, I head off for some fun. Within a short walk north is the Gediminas castle, and by going up the hill I can see the whole view of Vilnius, quite a pretty view indeed.

Before I reached up there, I bumped into a bunch of American high-school kids who are there on a mission trip and was singing gospel song. Arousing my curiosity, I bumped into them and they started talking to me.

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"From the US." A girl answered. "We are on a mission trip here."

"Oh I see." I replied.

"So do you live in Vilnius? What do you do here?" She replied.

"No, I am a tourist, I just arrived, and I am from Hong Kong." I answered. "You know, I am a Christian as well."

"Oh that's good." She replied. "Our next destination is Minsk, Belarus."

"Oh, that should be fun." I said. "However, to get there you need a visa, and I think it is way too much hassle."

"Yes, we already have a visa." She replied.

Good for you. I thought. I really hope to visit Belarus, but fear of border hassle, I just forget about it. Plus, being Chinese looking really doesn't help, and I hate borders. It just isn't fun when a bunch of border guards try to torn out my luggage with a suspicious eyes looking at me, fear that I am an illegal immigrant trying to smuggle into their country using a fake British passport. To be honest, who want to smuggle into such a poor country like Belarus? I thought.

Anyway, after a few songs from them, I continued the walk up the castle. The scenery from there was absolutely gorgeous, as one can see the skyline of Vilnius from nearly every direction. It was amazing to overlook the skyline of Vilnius, as red-roofed houses appears over your horizon.

Walking back down the castle, I headed for more sightseeing across Vilnius. Surprisingly, in Vilnius there is a catholic church in nearly every corner of the road, the most beautiful scene is when three different churches merges together that form an absolutely beautiful picture. The best way to take such a nice picture is to find a good corner, where the three churches emerges perfectly.

Vilnius old center is big, much bigger than that of Riga and Tallinn, and nearly all buildings are baroque style, colourful and gothic. But yet, Vilnius is just as capitalistic as the other capital. The Chili Kaimas restaurant has several branches, and I ate at their restaurant for dinner.

After returning to the hostel, guess who I saw? That Italian men I met at the bus from Tallinn to Riga. "Hey, remember who I am?" He asked.

"Em... I think I have met you somewhere..." I replied... but realised that I did met him before.

"Remember, that bus from Tallinn to Riga?" He replied.

"Oh yes, I do. So, how long have you stayed in this hostel?"

"For a few days already." He replied.

"You come straight here from Riga?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"For me, I travelled to many places before heading here, including Sigulda in Latvia, Klaipeda in Lithuania, the Hill of Crosses, etc..." I replied. "There are simply so many things to see, especially Lithuania."

As I headed up to my bed, I was like dead tired. I met a few more friends in the hostel, including a British guy, some German women and also a girl from Japan. Hostel life should be fun.

More photos of Vilnius: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/10

(Pic Caption: 1. Three churches with many crosses, Vilnius. 2. A street in old town Vilnius. 3. The Gediminas castle, Vilnius.)

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

2007-06-12T06:16:00.001-07:00

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.)

A Hundred Million Crosses! Siauliai - Lithuania (19/7/06 - Day 5)

2007-06-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

After Riga, I continued south towards the country of Lithuania, supposively the most beautiful country and the country famous for its "Weapons of Mass Attractions", as according to the Lonely Planet Eastern Europe guide. True that, Lithuania really has so much to see.

During the morning, after waving goodbye to the Aussie friend I met in the hostel (while he was still half-asleeped), I headed to the Riga bus station and caught the next bus towards Siauliai, which is just 30km from the Lithuania/Latvia border. The bus that I took destined for the Kaliningrad region of Russia, and most of the bus passengers are mostly Russians heading home to Kaliningrad. Again, I was the only Asian looking character in the whole bus.

Within 1 hours or so, the bus arrived at the Latvia/Lithuania border, and passport checks are routine. Again, holding a EU passport I was pretty much waved through. About an hour later, the bus make a brief stop at Siauliai and here I got off the bus.

From Siauliai to the Hills of Crosses, one has to take another bus back north for about 10km, and then it was another 2km walk towards the site. The buses weren't very frequent and as a result, in order for me to catch the next bus, I had to grab a fast sandwich at the cafe shop, which also leaves me enough time to dash to the bank across the road to change some of my euros into Lithuanian Litas.

The signage to the Hill of Crosses weren't very obvious, but by asking the driver I knew where to get off. After getting off the bus, I had this long walk through a lonely countryside road that eventually leads to the site. My first impression was like, "Wow!" It was really an unusual site when you see crosses, all of different sizes, all stood up in a really small hill. It was close to impossible to count all the crosses, but could estimates at least a hundred thousand, or even a million crosses in the site. Just estimate how many tourists visit the Hill of Crosses a day, and count on every tourist putting up a small crosses there and you can understand how many crosses are added onto the hill per day, per month or per year.

It is amazing to think how this phenomenon starts, but it would be interesting to know more about the history of the site, at least to make this phenomenon make sense. During the 19th century when Lithuanian were gathered to rebell against the Russians, many families could not locate the bodies of those who are dead. As a result, they started to put up crosses onto this small hill so to commemorate for the death. After all these years, Lithuania had been independence and had been under Soviet rules, and during those times, the Hill of Crosses became a place for people to pray for peace, for the country as well as for those who has lost their loved ones during the wars. Despite many times during the centuries the Hill of Crosses were being bulldozed, it was built up again and more crosses were being put there.

Nowadays, the Hill of Crosses is under no one's jurisdiction, and people are free to visit and to plant their own crosses there. Before I left the site, I also bought a small cross, wrote my own name (as well as a Bible verse in Chinese) and plant it on the site, contributing one of the million more crosses on the hill.

I stayed for around 2 hours there and walked the whole way back to the main road and caught the bus back to Siauliai. There I had two hours to spare before my next train towards the next destination, Klaipeda.

More photos of Siauliai and the Hill of Crosses: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/8

(Pic Caption: Top: Me at the Hill of Crosses. Middle: Crosses of various sizes hanging in the site. Bottom: My cross being planted at the midst of the crosses.)

Embracing Nature - Gauja National Park, Latvia (18/7/06 - Day 4)

2007-06-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Latvia's countryside is world renowned for its pristine and unspoiled nature. As a result, a trip to Latvia without visiting the countryside is like missing out a great treasure. Therefore, a trip to Latvia should definitely include visiting one of its four National Park.

Gauja National Park is the closest national park to Riga, only an hour by train away to Sigulda, the gateway town to the Gauja National Park. In the morning, I met together with the Aussie friend I met in the hostel and went to the train station to board the next train to Sigulda. It was a local train which run every hour to Sigulda and onward continuing to Cesis and Valmiera. Within an hour we arrived at Sigulda train station and ready to head off to the nature. Sigulda is called the "Switzerland of Latvia," in that its small hills and river around is so beautiful and pure.

The best way to experience Sigulda is to take its short cable car across the Gauja river, which runs throughout the National Park. There, one feels like totally emerging into the thick forest, without any pollution from civilization at all. Within five minutes we arrived at the other side of the river. Besides its pristine nature, Sigulda and the Gauja National Park is also famous for its many caves, and the biggest cave, the Gutmanis cave, is 19 metres deep, 10 metres high and and 12 metres wide.

Many hiking trails connects the national park, and cycling around the park is possible. However, due to the insufficient amount of time, I decided to walk back and visit the castles instead. Due to insufficient of time I did not make it to the Turaida castle, which supposes to be very gigantic and worth a visit. However, I did make it to the Sigulda castle ruins, which is located on the way back to the train station.

Sigulda castle was built in the 13th century. However, what you saw is only ruins of it, but with the new Sigulda castle located nearby. Nowadays, the new Sigulda castle was turned into a restaurant and there I had my delicious Latvian style lunch.

The good thing of having someone to travel with me is that I can ask him to take pictures of myself. After having him taking the picture for me the tenth time, he began to say:

"I think I should begin charging you for the service, pal!"

"Oh well, whatever, but if you don't mind, could you take this last picture of me? I really enjoy the scenery of this Sigulda castle. Thanks a lot." I asked in a friendly gesture.

After lunch, I headed back to the train station. Together we took the next train to the town of Cesis, located another 40km east of Sigulda, more inward into the Gauja National Park.

Cesis is known for being the most "Latvian" town of Latvia, in that unlike many other towns, Cesis has more cobblestone winded streets, rustic old houses as well as a medieval "middle-aged" type castle which makes it looks more historical than Eastern European. It was fun to walk around the town, visiting the market place, the many old houses as well as touring around the castle, as I feel like stepping back in Latvian's history trying to make sense of everything I have seen so far in Latvia. Later in the day, we set at a cafe shop and ordered a few drinks, and there we also met another Australian couple. Surprisingly that other Australian couple has also been to Hong Kong! What a small world, I think.

As the evening came, we got back on the train and headed back to Riga. By the time we arrived Riga, it was almost 8:00pm and I arrived back in my hostel, being dead tired. What a Latvia, I thought. I really fall in love with this country and hope I will have a chance to come back and visit again.

More photos of Sigulda: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/6

More photos of Cesis: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/7

(Pic caption: 1. Scenery across the Gauja River, 2. Me at Gutmanis Cave, 3. Me having a nice Latvian meal at Sigulda new castle. 4. View of Sigulda new castle)

More on Latvia - Riga (17-18/7/06 - Day 3-4)

2007-06-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

You know which are the strongest currencies in the world? The British pound? The Euro? Well, I would say, the British pound is still the strongest, but have you ever thought that, Latvia, being just a small new EU country in Eastern Europe, can has a currency that is as strong as the Pound? Just checked it on xe.com, and guess what the conversion rate is: 1 British Pound = 1.03 Latvian Lats.

That may come as a surprise to travellers. After coming from Estonia where the currency is slightly lower than the Hong Kong dollar, now I have to think everything equivalent to the British pound, as I changed my euros into Latvian Lats. When you think about it, you can guess how expensive things can be here in Latvia. After changing around 50 euros into Lats, (this gives me around 35 Lats, definitely not enough for my three days stay in Latvia.) I headed to the hostel. This time, I have booked a hostel which is managed by an Australian, I am excited about it. Well, what is so special about an Australian owned hostel? Not only because I enjoy being friends with Aussies, but Aussie owned hostels mean English speaking staff, good customer service and efficient facilities. However, most importantly, having owners who understand travellers need, I will be sure to have a wonderful stay and a much better experience than the previous hostel I stayed in Tallinn.

Inside the hostel, I met a friend from Australia who is travelling around Europe. His intention is to watch the Australian team playing the world cup 2006. After his tour, he just flew around Europe and go to different places, and here he ended up in Riga. We talked about it and decided to head to Sigulda National Park the next day.

Riga is similar, but yet many differences than Tallinn. First of all, it is much more cosmopolitan, a little bit like comparing Munich to Augsburg. Yet, its old town area still have some old world charm like Tallinn, especially the big Catholic cathedral in the town square. However, unlike Tallinn, Riga does not have a medieval city wall.

I walked along the river as well as the old town area. Unfortunately, due to the late arrival of the bus, I did not get to see Riga in details. The musuem of occupation were also closed by the time I went there. However, I did take a few pictures of the city center and some interesting architectures.

The night was coming and I headed back to the hostel, after a huge plate of Russian Pelmeni (dumplings) and a huge bowl of Latvian spring soup for dinner. Here I called it the night.

More pictures: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/5

(Pic Caption: Top - City Square in Riga. Bottom - Along a side road in downtown Riga.)

Heading South towards Riga (17/7/06 - Day 3)

2007-06-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up pretty late, in order to catch up some sleep, as the day before I had booked the onward bus ticket to Riga, this left me enough time to relax a little bit. To reach the bus station from my hostel, I had to take a tram towards the new town area, and then change another bus to reach there, as most bus stations in Europe are located out of the city center area.

The bus to Riga was late, but surprisingly I met a small group of Hong Kong travellers who are heading to the same place.

"You are from Hong Kong?" I asked.

"Yes" They replied. "Oh I see, me too. When did you arrived in Tallinn?"

"Oh, two days ago." He replied.

"Really? I guess we must be on the same Finnair flight, right? Did you also fly that 20 minutes Helsinki - Tallinn flight as well?" I asked.

"Er... no, actually, we took the ferry instead." He replied.

"Oh I see. You know, what I did is I took the latest Helsinki - Tallinn flight of the day, so it still counts as a stopover. This allow me to have a whole day to tour Helsinki. As a result, that flight is basically free." I answered. "Anyway, how long are you planning to stay in the Baltic, and what are you travel plans?"

"After Tallinn, we plan to go down to Riga, and then to Vilnius, and then fly back to Helsinki and back to HK." He replied.

"Oh, I see. For me, I plan to stay a few days in Riga, afterwards, get a tour of Sigulda National Park. Then, I will head to Siauliai to see the Hills of Crosses, and then to Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit. After that then I head to Vilnius. You know, there are lots to see in Lithuania, should be a very beautiful country." I replied. "After the trip, I will continue to the UK to visit friends before heading back to Hong Kong. Anyway, is this your first time to Europe?"

"For me, no, but for my friends, they are." He replied.

By the time, the bus finally arrived, and commenced the six hours journey south towards Riga, Latvia. Inside the coach, there sit besides me an old Italian man who was also travelling by himself. Surprisingly, I got to know that he had been to China and Hong Kong many years ago and we had a brief talk about his trip. Amazingly he also knew some friends in Hong Kong as well!

"How did you like China and Hong Kong?" I asked.

"Really good experience. In China, I had travelled to Beijing, Xian, Sichaun, Guilin, etc... but yet it was very difficult to travel in a place where nobody speaks English. It was extremely difficult to get around. But yet, Hong Kong is different. People speaks good English there." He replied. "You know, when I was in Hong Kong, I stayed with a friend in Repulse Bay."

"Oh really?" I answered. "A really rich area!"

As the bus travel south, it passes through the town of Parnu, a small student town located in southern Estonia. It looks really nice with many young Estonians enjoying the sunshine beneath the river. However, for me I began to feel hungry and thirsty. Actually, very hungry and thirsty to a point that I nearly go fainted.

"Hey friend, you know, I was really hungry. I have forgotten to buy snacks and drinks on the bus and it will be a six hours bus ride in bright sunlight." I begged, and felt angry at myself that I didn't buy any food or drinks for the bus ride.

"I have a sandwich, you want to have half of it?" The Italian friend asked. "Are you sure?" I replied. "Yes, sure. Have it. You are hungry, right?"

Indeed I took half of the sandwich and ate it. After that I felt much better. (though it was without drinks.) However, I vowed to myself that whenever I travel long-distance on a bus or a train, I will make sure I have enough drinks and food with me. As the bus continues south, we finally arrived at the border and within minutes we entered Latvia. The passport checks were very brief, and with EU passport, we were pretty much waived through, while holder of non-EU passport had to get an entrance stamp.

Latvia looked very much different than Estonia, in that it felt much more rustic. While Estonia had more well-painted houses and well-managed countryside, Latvia seemed to be more dull in colour, with more abandoned houses and more yellowish apartment blocks, a little bit like stepped back in time. The bus made a brief stop at a gas-station and quickly I walked out and bought a drink.

Towards the last 100km to Riga, the road suddenly encounted roadwork, and then another one came, and then another 30 more. "Damn!" I shouted. "All these horrible stops and roadworks! With that, when will we arrived in Riga?" However, there was nothing I can do but to sit quietly and continue to enjoy the heat and the sunshine inside the bus. As the bus crawed slowly into Riga, more and more apartment blocks emerged, and after a six hours bus ride I finally arrived in Riga.

Riga, compared to Tallinn, has a big city feel. It was great to be able to get off this hot, stuffy bus. As I say goodbye to my Italian friend as well as the small group of Hong Kong tourist, I walked off quietly to the hostel.

(Pic Caption: 1. Gothic apartment buildings in Riga, Latvia. 2. A suspension bridge crossing the Daugava River in Riga. 3. Communist carving at a monument in Riga.)

Tallinn - Love at "Second" Sight (16/7/06 - Day 2)

2007-06-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

Believe me, whenever you want to go to the Baltics, go in the summer. This is the time when you can embrace 16+ hours of sunlight in a day. The weather is the warmest and the sceneries are the greenest. On the other hand, when you go in the winter, you will only have around 6 hours of sunlight, and the rest of the time you will be around the dark. That is very true. This is exactly how I feel when I arrived in Helsinki and Tallinn. The weather was so good, so bright, so clear, so clean...

The next morning (Day 2), I couldn't wait to get up and run straight into the old city center. You know, among the three capitals of the Baltic states, (Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania) Tallinn is the most beautiful, Riga is the most cosmopolitan and Vilnius is the most romantic. As a result, I couldn't wait to see this "most beautiful" city of the Baltic.

Breakfast was at the old market, fearing that everything around the old town would be expensive. Afterwards, I set off my journey and walked to the old town. Walking along the "Nunne" road and soon I arrived at the old city square (Raekoja Plats). My first feeling of Tallinn old town was that it looks very much like a small town in Germany, with the many medieval houses surrounding an old town square. Walking alongside small pebble streets was interesting as I feel like emerging back 500 years ago. In order to know more about this old town, I quickly dashed into the nearby Tourist Information Center and tried to get more information.

"Where are you from?" a blond girl from the tourist information asked me.

"I am from Hong Kong. Would you please tell me how to get to the Toompea area?" Even though I kind of know how to get there, I still asked them just in order to get a conversation. I enjoy meeting people from different nationality and talking to people in the tourist information center is the best way. "Also, are there many Hong Kong people who visit Tallinn?"

"Oh, from Hong Kong." she replied. "Welcome to Estonia! Yes, there are a few, but there seems to be more Japanese though. Ok, to reach Toompea, just walk up this path here up the hill and you will be there, around 10 minutes walk." Yes, sure, I thought. Japan has a population of nearly 100 million and Hong Kong only has around 7 million. By proportion there should be more Japanese tourists than Hong Kong tourists. Anyway, I really enjoyed their good customer service and it once again changed the way how I feel about Estonia after that hostel hunt nightmare.

Tallinn old town can be divided into two parts, the lower town and the upper town on top of a small hill. The lower town is around the Raekoja Plats area and the upper part is called Toompea. However, the most interesting thing that distinct Tallinn from other European capitals is its medieval city walls that goes around the old city area. While at the lower town one can easily glimpse the Gothic old town hall, the upper town locates a very beautiful Russian Orthodox church, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

The best place to take a photo of Tallinn is up the Lutheran church (Toomkirik), where one can glimpse the whole overview of Tallinn old town. Indeed it is an interesting place for photo-shooting as one can glimpse the red-roofed medieval houses alongside with the medieval city walls. From the top, Tallinn reminds me of a fairy tale castle out from a cartoon, awaiting for a beautiful princess to come out. "It can't be real," I thought. "But this place is really so beautiful!" I took a few pictures, walked around the top while soaking the atmosphere, and came back down.

Tallinn old town weren't big, and one day is pretty much enough. With the 18+ hours of sunshine, it gives me enough time even to see the area around it. Walking out of the old town, I quickly found myself in the newly developed area, with lots of bright new office buildings and shopping malls. Without many things to do, I walked in and out of shopping malls while enjoying my presence in this city.

Suddenly I remembered one thing I needed to do: plan for my onward journey. My next destination after Tallinn would be Riga, Latvia, and I needed to book my bus journey ahead. Quickly I dashed to the bus station and got my ticket. Funny to say, there aren't many train connections within the Baltics, and most railway networks only run to the east. That is, towards Russia. While there are trains between Tallinn and Riga to Moscow, but there aren't any train services going north or south. You can guess the reason. During the time when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were both under the Soviet Union, every transportation network was built around Moscow. As a result, all the train service from the Baltic states only headed east, but not south. I am sure when Stalin built the railway network, he would has never thought that in the year of 1991, these three "rebellious" Baltic states would break away from their motherland and formed their own republics. While they built strong relationship between each others, they have never had a good relationship with Russia. That might be the underlying reason for these train networks.

Towards the east of Tallinn lies the Pirata beach, a weekend getaway hotspot for the Tallinnians. Not only is it a great way to taste the Baltic waters, but this is also the northernmost beach I have ever been to. Nothing much interesting though, and I headed back into town.

As I headed back to my hostel, I had my dinner at the cafeteria style shop near the train station, in order to save money from the ripped off restaurant at Tallinn old town. As the night comes, I walked back to the old city center and took a few more pictures before I went back to my hostel. Here I called it the night.

The next day I would be taking a 6 hours bus south towards Riga, the capital city of Latvia.

Photos of Tallinn: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/4

(Pic Caption: Top - View of Tallinn Old Town. Bottom - Me posting at a view of Tallinn Old Town)

The Hostel Hunt Nightmare! - Tallinn Estonia (16/7/06 - Day 2)

2007-06-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

So, after exactly 20 minutes of flight from Helsinki the plane touched down at Tallinn Airport. Excited as always, I jumped out of the plane, and ready to embrace this part of the world. While crossing immigration, the line was solely consisting of Estonians who are returning back to their country and I was the only Asian looking character who was queuing with them. Again, like entering Helsinki, the border check was very smooth. With a British passport, they just looked at my passport, handed it back to me and pretty much waived me through.

I arrived at Tallinn past midnight and there were no longer public transportation to the city center. The only way I can get to the center is by taxi. However, the taxi journey was a nightmare. Not only the taxi driver did not know where I want to go (but pretended he did know,) but he also talked on his mobile phone to his friend on the way there, while the taxi metre was running (and yes, the fare amount jump like heartbeat.) At the end, he dropped me right next to the train station and told me, "the hostel should be around here..., and please 130 Kroons."

"What? You charged me at least 10 kroons more by stopping on the side of the road talking to your mobile phone. No way, I will only pay you 120 Kroons, and that's it." I shouted. "Ok, sure." The taxi driver replied helplessly.

Yes, sure. The hostel "should" be around here. But where was it? It was already close to 1:00am and everywhere around the train station was dark. How could I be able to find the hostel? As I was walking around the houses near the train station, no where could I find a sign nor a house that looks similar to a hostel. What should I do. As I was sitting on a bench near the train station, I saw a sandwich shop nearby and went in and asked the the people there.

"Would you please help me, is there a hostel nearby? Here is the address, you know where...?" I asked desperately. I gave my Lonely Planet guidebook to her and she asked her other friends, but seems that no one knows where it is.

Man! What can I do? The worst is I would have to stay the night outside the pavement near the train station. Quickly, I pulled out my mobile phone and tried to call the hostel.

"Hostel Alur..." The voice came. "Yes, I have reserved a bed at your hostel and I am now at the train station. Would you please tell me how to get to your hostel?"

"Err....err.... we are just nearby." The voice replied in a very broken english. "Sure, I know, but where?" I asked...

"Err...err.... near the train station."

"Yes, I know!!! But where?" I nearly shouted in exclaimation

"Near the train station..." the replied...

"But...."

The phone then cuts off. I tried to call again, but the dialogues pretty much repeats in itself. Eventually I shouted to them and asked, "Would you PLEASE come out and look for me? I have no idea where your hostel is! It is already late at night and I can't see anything!" Again, you could guess what the replied was. "Near the train station!!!" And the line cut off....

I tried to call again, repeatedly for at least five times, and eventually, fear that I was really lost, she pursuaded me to hitch a taxi. There, I handed my mobile phone to the taxi driver and let the hostel receptionist talk to the driver. Then I hopped onto the taxi.

As we drove off, the hostel sign finally appears. Hey! Here is the hostel, I shouted. The taxi driver nodded but kept on driving until she reached somewhere seemingly trying to make a U-turn. However, unfortunately she seems to get onto another road and within minutes I was lost again. Suddenly, she seems to go crazy and try to drive her car backwards in an unbelievable speed. The further she drove, the more scared I became. Suddenly I reached the point, and told the driver to drive me back to the train station instead.

As we drove back to the train station, we pasted through the hostel again. This time, I shouted to the taxi driver, "STOP!!!!!" The taxi driver seems to be scared of my shout and finally agreed to stop, right next to the hostel. I paid the taxi driver, and I got into the hostel. Later, I found out that the hostel is just exactly 100m next to the train station.

As I got into the hostel, I broke into anger, and nearly sweared at the receptionist, criticising her that, despite I was right next to her hostel at the train station, she refused to come out of the hostel and look for me, letting me going through all these troubles and wasting all these money just to find them. This experience had pretty much ruined my first expectation of Tallinn, even though at the end, the real beauty of the Tallinn old town has winned my heart back.

It was close to 2:00am, and after nearly 26 hours without sleep, I dropped straight onto my hostel bed and called it the night.

The Adventure Begins - (15/7/06 - Day 1)

2007-06-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

HK - Helsinki - Tallinn

I bought my Finnair ticket nearly half a year ago, due to a special promotion price of HKD4400 plus tax to anywhere in Europe, but the cons are: fixed date departure, no changes allowed, but a trip to Europe for only HKD4400 plus tax (despite tax comes to HKD1600!), no complains at all. As a result, off I go!

I went to the airport early in the morning, and checked in for my flight to Helsinki, as the agent checked my passport (British passport), and murmured to herself, "does he needs a visa for Estonia?" I was like "What?" Estonia is a European Union country, and supposively holding any EU passports shouldn't need a visa to visit any EU countries (or even to work there!) So why ask? I am really surprised for the travel knowledges of airline staff. However, they have the authority to let me or deny me boarding the plane. I have to say, I was quite nervous...

The flight finally took off (with me, thanks God!) and within 9.5 hours I arrived at Helsinki Vantaa airport. Quickly I dashed out the plane, went through immigration (with me having a EU passport, I pretty much being waived through) and quickly dashed on a local bus towards downtown Helsinki.

The first impression of Helsinki is clean, bright and small. It has a small town feeling other than being the capital and the biggest city of a country like Finland. The biggest attraction is the white Lutheran Cathedral which was built in 1917 as a tribute to the Tsar of Russia before its independence. The second attraction is the Suomenlinna Fortress which is just off the coast of Helsinki. Suomenlinna fortress is a UNESCO World heritage site which itself is worth a visit, as it was built in 1748 against Russian expansionism.

The one thing that surprised me was how expensive Helsinki can be. A quick take-away meals cost around 7-10 euros. Getting a microwave meal from a supermarket around 3.5 - 4 euros. I guess it wasn't as much when you compare to the UK, but since I have already back in HK for 3 years, the price kind-of comes to me as a shock. The more I was in Helsinki, the more I feel proud of being from HK.

I had a strange feeling while walking around downtown Helsinki. It was way too quiet and way too bright. However, I guess that is how the Baltics is! It was close to 9:00pm but with the sunlight, you feel as it is 9:00am, but with all shops closed and the streets nearly empty. I feel like jumping around, going into shops and looking for more attractions to see, but it was all closed.

I guess I had enough of this city, but nevertheless, I had already seen the important sites like the White Cathedral and the Suomenlinna Fortress. My next connecting flight leaving for Tallinn (Estonia) will be at 23:50 and it was now time to head back to the airport.

The distance between Helsinki and Tallinn is only 80 miles, something like from Hong Kong to Macau. By fast ferry it takes only 1.5 hours, and it is both funny and ridiculous for someone to ever negotiate this route by plane. However, since this flight sector was included on my ticket, so why not? With this, I hopped onto this shortest ever flight I have ever flown in my life. Within 20 minutes of flying time, I arrived at Tallinn, Estonia.

Tallinn airport is bright, though much smaller than Helsinki. But with a Baltic heart, I stepped into this piece of foreign land, and ready to embrace for the coming adventures.

More pictures of Helsinki: http://lonelytraveller01.multiply.com/photos/album/2

(Picture Caption: Me in front of the White Lutheran Cathedral, Helsinki)

Baltic Trip (July 2006 - 07) - Prologue

2007-06-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Every year I try to take a long-haul trip (good to be a freelancer), and most of the time I go to Europe. After having lived in the UK for 4.5 years during the year 1999 - 2003, I feel a sense of belonging there (not only because I hold a EU British passport but because I really enjoy the culture, the architecture, the old, the people there.) The year 2006 was no difference. After having been to most of Eastern Europe, this year I decided to visit the Baltic states, to the countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, three ex-soviet states who are so eagar to embrace to the west.

Eastern Europe is a continually changing continent. Only 17 years ago when they were still behind the iron curtain, today many of them are full members of the European Union. Things are changing fast, capitalisation is embracing in nearly every sectors of the society. Price of goods, transportation, and nearly everythings you can think of, becomes horrendously expensive. (especially in old town Tallinn...) However, on the downside, local wages haven't increased in proportion. I remembered asking a local Estonian and asked what the local wages for an ordinary person is, and she answered, "about 5000 Estonian Kroons per month." This is equilvalent to 3500HKD, or 350 Euros. While in Riga, Latvia, I also asked a local about the minimum wage there, and the minimum wage was only 70 centimes per hour. (which is 0.70 Lats, or equilvalent to HKD10 per hour) Man! How can people afford to live with this wage, especially in Tallinn, where everything is so expensive?

Well, I can't answer, but yet I know, when countries are embracing capitalisation, that is what's happen. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. But yet, I believe that it is all for the good... competition means a better society, better services, better food, better for a traveller (definitely!)