Down the hatch
After our hedonistic weekend in Kuressaare we, and our hangovers, headed off to the ferry to leave the island of Saaremaa, but not before visiting some old wooden windmills and a 
meteorite crater which was an unexpected diversion. Back on the mainland we headed to Pärnu, which is a bit of a rundown beach resort that had had its hey day somewhere in the mid 1930s – lots of crumbling, white-washed, art deco buildings and an enormous, yet deserted, beach complete with old wooden Baywatch towers. It felt a bit of a sad end to our stay in Estonia – the country that invented Skype, has wifi available to all and gave the music world Ultima Thule.
We headed down to Valga on the border with Latvia to camp, yet again, in someone's back garden (must be an Estonian thing). The town straddles the border (on the Estonian side it's called Valga, on the Latvian side it's called Valka) and the unmanned border crossing is half way down the high street. We visited a half-hearted military museum (a few armoured cars and a helicopter in a car park) and then entered Latvia. The second you cross the border you are confronted by the Latvian flag adorning every house. That is an unhealthy level of patriotism.
Three reasons to love Latvia:
1. Petrol is 72p a litre
2. They have LPG, which until now had eluded us – and it's only 32p a litre!
3. A 500ml bottle of beer is 30p
Basically, the nub of my gist is that Latvia is cheap. Very cheap. Cigarettes are £1.28 a pack – I'm almost tempted to start up again!
Three reasons to hate Latvia:
1. The roads are diabolical
2. The roads are diabolical
3. The roads are diabolical
Latvia consists 50% forest and 50% potholes. Subsequently, since we entered Latvia the Ebay van has been falling apart: we've had to get the windscreen repaired, a bit popped out of the overhanging bedroom at the front, a panel on the side has cracked (I'm running out of gaffer tape!) and the steering has all gone to pieces. We took it to a garage to sort out the steering and six men (one wearing three-quarter length jeans and white clogs) jacked it up and poked around – at one stage they even MADE a tool to get to the wheel bearings – and concluded that the van was fine, it was probably just that I wasn't used to the "mad Latvian roads" and basically to man up. I told Claire they'd fixed it.
Today we visited Ligatne which has some amazing caves carved into the sandstone cliffs around the village (the villagers used them as wine cellars and food stores). They also have a massive secret Soviet bunker hidden under a very Soviet looking health spa and "rehabilitation centre" – it looked like
a mental institute and had a scary number of patients (inmates) wandering around in 80s shellsuits. Led by our guide, Oscar, we descended into the Cold War (and cold) bunker. Oscar had massive ginger sideburns and an odour problem but was a very entertaining guide. Basically the bunker was started in 1970 and was completed in 1982, just in time for the Cold War thaw and as a result was never used in anger. Oscar led us from room to room o
f brilliantly clunky 80s computers, red plastic phones, telex machines and reel-to-reel tape recorders. When the Russians left in 1991, they left behind this time capsule of 80s "technology" along with hundreds upon hundreds of crates of gas masks – which you can now buy at the gift shop. I look forward to my nephew's reaction when he gets his!
We have now settled for the night by the beautiful River Gauja where I am drinking my 30p lager and batting away the endless barrage of mosquitoes. Bliss.
meteorite crater which was an unexpected diversion. Back on the mainland we headed to Pärnu, which is a bit of a rundown beach resort that had had its hey day somewhere in the mid 1930s – lots of crumbling, white-washed, art deco buildings and an enormous, yet deserted, beach complete with old wooden Baywatch towers. It felt a bit of a sad end to our stay in Estonia – the country that invented Skype, has wifi available to all and gave the music world Ultima Thule. 
We headed down to Valga on the border with Latvia to camp, yet again, in someone's back garden (must be an Estonian thing). The town straddles the border (on the Estonian side it's called Valga, on the Latvian side it's called Valka) and the unmanned border crossing is half way down the high street. We visited a half-hearted military museum (a few armoured cars and a helicopter in a car park) and then entered Latvia. The second you cross the border you are confronted by the Latvian flag adorning every house. That is an unhealthy level of patriotism.
Three reasons to love Latvia:
1. Petrol is 72p a litre
2. They have LPG, which until now had eluded us – and it's only 32p a litre!
3. A 500ml bottle of beer is 30p
Basically, the nub of my gist is that Latvia is cheap. Very cheap. Cigarettes are £1.28 a pack – I'm almost tempted to start up again!
Three reasons to hate Latvia:
1. The roads are diabolical
2. The roads are diabolical
3. The roads are diabolical
Latvia consists 50% forest and 50% potholes. Subsequently, since we entered Latvia the Ebay van has been falling apart: we've had to get the windscreen repaired, a bit popped out of the overhanging bedroom at the front, a panel on the side has cracked (I'm running out of gaffer tape!) and the steering has all gone to pieces. We took it to a garage to sort out the steering and six men (one wearing three-quarter length jeans and white clogs) jacked it up and poked around – at one stage they even MADE a tool to get to the wheel bearings – and concluded that the van was fine, it was probably just that I wasn't used to the "mad Latvian roads" and basically to man up. I told Claire they'd fixed it.
Today we visited Ligatne which has some amazing caves carved into the sandstone cliffs around the village (the villagers used them as wine cellars and food stores). They also have a massive secret Soviet bunker hidden under a very Soviet looking health spa and "rehabilitation centre" – it looked like
a mental institute and had a scary number of patients (inmates) wandering around in 80s shellsuits. Led by our guide, Oscar, we descended into the Cold War (and cold) bunker. Oscar had massive ginger sideburns and an odour problem but was a very entertaining guide. Basically the bunker was started in 1970 and was completed in 1982, just in time for the Cold War thaw and as a result was never used in anger. Oscar led us from room to room o
f brilliantly clunky 80s computers, red plastic phones, telex machines and reel-to-reel tape recorders. When the Russians left in 1991, they left behind this time capsule of 80s "technology" along with hundreds upon hundreds of crates of gas masks – which you can now buy at the gift shop. I look forward to my nephew's reaction when he gets his! We have now settled for the night by the beautiful River Gauja where I am drinking my 30p lager and batting away the endless barrage of mosquitoes. Bliss.
I hope you got me a gas mask for my wedding present! Really enjoying you blogs Will, they are genius! Ade x
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