Hmmm... this story make me worry a little bit. Thanks for sharing it!
We are planning to do trip to Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania on this coming summer and our plan is drive smaller roads and camp in camping places or where ever it might be possible.
So, if we have to drive in the evening, it might to be better to drive on a big roads then..
Im not so paranoid person, just extra careful.

Sure it was a scary moment when you realize, that this car was really following you..

This "Hill of Crosses" is one of the must to see!

My Lithuanian friend, a family member, who is extremely proud of her Country says that is full of lovely people and that it is a beautiful place to visit, and the people, too, are nice people, I agree. However, the history of the Baltic States, and its connections with Russia has made these poorer counties and their late invitations into the Euro Zone desperate times, still.

As told, these are poor counties and to survive these conditions one has to take an extra vigilance when visiting. That said, when telling my friend about the BMW stopping she shrugged it off as “…maybe they were only trying to see if I was alright…”, somehow, I just didn’t get that feeling

Whilst waiting at the manned 24 hr petrol station I did meet & talk to several people and they were very nice, and even one young couple had said, too, that it is not best advised to ride at night “…one person on a bike like that (a 2008, fully-loaded XT660z ) can attract the wrong sort of attention from the wrong sort of people…” , the word bandits, too, did come into their conversation

I hope I’m not putting a bad connotation on this wonderful & history laden country or its people but, as one woman said; “…this is a poor country and one has to make a living somehow…”.

The Hill of Crosses is simply staggering and if do go, get a Cross made up, write on it and dedicate it to someone for example, and put plenty of varnish on it to protect it for the years it will be there, you’ll see that most are now very old and weather worn. It is north of Šiauliai, where our family member’s family come from, it’s a very poor looking town indeed, and the site is off the main road, to the right when heading north, what I did was to Google Street View it and then point it on the Sat Nav to find it. Also, its not what you’d call a Hill, but a large mound, and it really is breathtaking.

The ride up to Rīga is fine until you reach the Border of Lithuania and Latvia and hit the A8/E77 you are then riding the most uneven road I’ve ever seen, every square-inch is a filled-in-pot-holed fun-filled ride…

I'd go and see for yourself, it will be okay and you'll have a blast, it's all part of the experience