Photo Essay of the Baltics.. experience.

What a great experience it is to cycle the poorer countries, as it is always unpredictable and exciting, this was especially true of Morocco and although after a marvelous tour around Western Europe it is now another story altogether as we arrived in Tallinn at the northern coast of the Baltics after the ferry crossing from Helsinki.

Rearing to go and hit these interesting countries we sort of forgot to spend time in Tallinn but instead concentrated on finding our way out of what appeared to be a messy city with terrible roads and dilapidated buildings, it was only later that we realized, hey, this is not the west and besides we like it the best.

Of course we didn't manage to escape the forests as Estonia has its fair share. Only a small country similar in size to both Latvia and Lithuania give or take a few thousand square miles. All countries are roughly the size of Ireland and this is good for us as countries like Sweden and Finland are rather insurmountable.

It was soon evident that something terrible had been going on in these countries as not only Napoleon but Hitler and the communists have all had a go at fighting wars here mind you so have the Pols and Swedes and of course the British have done their fair share as well. But it is the effect of the Russians that is most prominent as they only left the Baltics around 1994 and that means there has not yet been enough time to clean up the mess, let alone start the repainting and rebuilding of the roads, factories and buildings, they are all pretty much in a desperate state of disrepair.

Quite scary as we headed off the main roads and into the country lanes passing through derelict towns with many people not having much to do but stare at us as we plodded along. Some of the looks from people left us feeling a little insecure but no problems.

It is really interesting observing the lifestyles of the people and as against the western countries more of them are out and about on the streets and fields. The other great thing of course is that the countries are quite flat so no negotiating mountains and potholes all at the same time. Predominently good weather being the height of summer but it was quite normal to get a good rain storm for a part of most days.

Entering the border controls is always a laugh as the seriousness of it all just shows there is still a bit of the old ways lingering on. One guard asked us if we were tourists and I wish I could speak the lingo to advise him that no, we were actually a high tech trucking company delivering gold to the south, or something like that. Trucks that pass us along the roads are held up for ages at the borders, having their cargo and papers checked, and even cars have there bonnets and trunks lifted up to inspect inside but with us we just sail through. Anyone who cycles across countries must be too stupid to have any contraband on them, surely.

Visiting Riga was always a dream of Robs'. It was certainly not a disappointment.To spite having suffered the Russians it was being carefully reconstructed and the old town was simply a delight to the eye. Talking of delights to the eye, the Beach Boys song should have had the lyrics "I wish they all could be Lith-uanian girls" as along with Latvians, the women are really quite stunning with their smooth skin, high heels and higher mini shirts, they really do make an effort. Both Mary and Rob have been quite knocked out by their looks and even in the small villages the same applies.

Everyone in the Baltics drinks and drinks and drinks, with the region having the worlds highest rate of alcoholism but not surprising as all liquor and beer is so cheap and the range of product is incredible to say nothing of the fact that you can buy liquor and cigarettes absolutely everywhere, from the local grocer, petrol station to kiosks. The locally brewed beer is just great and we love to have a few after a long hot sticky dusty day of cycling. What's more, its always available from a fridge.(1 pint of 6%acl.vol beer $.50cUS)

Hotels, of which we couldn't resist a few times, are relatively cheap and the larger towns are no place to set up a tent unlike the west, never the less they are pretty scummy and very sixties with black & white TV only and mostly a browney coloured water and huge amounts of wasted space on each floor and lobbies. Normally around $20US per night for the two of us except the first city in Lithuania where we were totally ripped off, being charged $43US for a Soviet Dump!

It was only after we had camped a number of nights that Mary then read that the water can give you an untreatable form of leukemia and the ground contains life threatening ticks. Never mind though as it was too late, but we did get a couple of really good colds however, and at the time of writing this we are still trying to get over them.

There are many stories about this region and a history as rich as anywhere but what is probably not fully realized is the extent to which the Russians, upon leaving the Baltics, uprooted just about everything they could, including many of the vehicles. It really is amazing to observe how the Baltic States have so quickly got their act together but there is much to do and although touring by car may not show this, just cycle through the countryside and take a trip through the suburbs of the towns and it is plainly obvious that it is only a wee way up the ladder from third world. Having said that however, the people seem happy enough and as has been noticed throughout this cycle tour, the happy people are the ones with the least.

Why? one may ask, did we not visit the Kaliningrad special region or perhaps Belarus, well it goes like this...Both outfits require visas and without one there is no way of getting in, but to add to the stupidity of these ex Soviet states, the closer you are to the countries in question to apply for the visas, the longer it takes to get one. Two weeks of those fools filing your passport away somewhere is just too much stress and you must have confirmation of a hotel reservation also, so saying we have a campsite lined up in a pot hole somewhere would not get us far. BUT! apart from this, the speed limit is 60kph and the cars cannot even go that fast because of the condition of the roads so what hope would we have, besides, there is so much crime and poverty (minimum monthly wage is $13US) that we would be sitting ducks. The frustrations one sometimes encounters in the Baltics because of the hangovers from the Soviets way of doing things is bad enough, without cycling through countries that are much worse off now than in Soviet times (if that is possible)We would have loved the challenge however.

We leave the Baltics on the 28th July to cycle south through Poland and beyond. That is the plan but in the mean time Rob has a cracked wheel rim but the bicycle shops do not know how to stock product hence most only have about ten bikes and a couple of bike pumps so this will become an interesting saga.

If the next few months are as interesting as the Baltics have been for us then to hell with the west. East is best!