Lithuania and paranoia.
 

Another ticked-off-the-list holiday done last year, to sail across the Baltic Sea and to visit Lithuania (avoiding Poland by road) more to the point of wanting to visit the Hill Of Crosses. The ferry across from Kiel (N. Germany to Klaipèda) (There is a lack of Signage pointing out the Port of Kiel and you really find it by chance and basically fall upon it) was an experience in itself.

You had to ride, an escort provided, some distance from the Check-In to the ship, what looks like a massive wood-yard, and when you get there, it (the ships “car/bike parking”) looks like something from The Lost World.

They took us, as there were some 20 Booze Fighters’ there too, heading to their annual party, deep into the bowls and the heart of the ship; at the very bottom and down steep ramps and a few extreme 180 degree turns; wet, slippery and lorries everywhere, an intrepid experience and something that was out of my comfort zone :funmeteryes:

Plus, after strapping bikes down (they’d run out due to the amount of bikes, and thanks to the particular Booze Fighter in helping me strap the 660z down) you had, with helmet, luggage, blood, sweat & tears climb upward & onward via the stairs, (some 4 or 6 levels?) that entered into the Restaurant!! doh

The crossing was very smooth and when I arrived at sunny Klaipèda at about 4pm I headed to Šiauliai via the motorway that is the A1/E85, then headed north via the A12/E77, by this time the weather had turned to rain and it was getting dark, so, I found a petrol station cum Motel on the A12, just short of Šiauliai.

The thing is, that the guy who ran the place, asked me if I was on a motorcycle and that if I were it would be “…a problem…”. His friends, smoking and drinking coffee, said that “…what he is trying to tell you is that if you stay here tonight, your motorbike would be in the back of a van by morning…”. :eek3:

So, with this in mind, and the first words spoken to me by a Lithuanian in Lithuania was a frank warning that my bike has all the chance of being took during the night… :o deep down, and in reflection, I was really pleased that the guy was honest enough to tell me of the perils of nightlife in the back & beyond of Lithuania. A warning, too, from a female Lithuanian friend: "Be careful and don't travel at night"

With this I headed to Šiauliai, and by this time it was around 11 pm and raining hard :stormy:, and the car (a BMW) that seemed to be “following” me, close behind me on a long, straight road, and not “taking its chance to overtake”, so, I pulled into the verge to let him, now very close, overtake, but, he didn't, instead of overtaking, the car pulled-up some twenty feet ahead of me and the passenger door comes open and a pair of f***ing legs come out: “Sod this!”, I'm off, stick it into first and ride around the BMW. With this, the car starts to approach me from behind then overtake and go over a brow of a hill, with this, I stop in the middle of road and turn around and head back to the motorway, find a petrol station and park my arse at its front, within range of its CCTV, and wait for daylight and the rain to disperse.

Daylight arrives and the rain has stopped, and I now head for the Hill of Crosses and place the two crosses at the site and wonder in its beauty…

Hill of Crosses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...then head to the ABBA Museum via Riga and another trip across the Baltic :funmeteryes::funmeteryes:

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 :rain:

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 :mchappy:) can attract the wrong sort of attention from the wrong sort of people…” , the word bandits, too, did come into their conversation :unsure:

I hope I’m not putting a bad connotation on this wonderful & history laden country or its people :thumbup1: 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…:funmeteryes:

I'd go and see for yourself, it will be okay and you'll have a blast, it's all part of the experience :thumbup1: