Nida, Lithuania to Pervalka 15km; 3 hours Weather hot
Jānis and I are underway. Although our walking distance was modest, we left Mežaparks at 05:15 and only stopped travelling at 16:30. We caught the first tram into the city. Our bus left from the bus station.
As departure time approached, we saw 2 deluxe express coaches. Jānis assumed that one of them must be for our inter-country trip and started telling me that they were equipped with wi-fi etc. Then our bus arrived – an old 15-seater mini-bus.
The trip to Klaipeda took 4 hours.
The driver drove as though he was after a PB (personal best). He overtook at every opportunity – or at least pulled out into the centre of the road to see if he could. He also had the disconcerting habit of changing up a gear as he drew level with the other vehicle; thus losing power and momentum.
I still managed some sleep. At Klaipeda, we changed buses and were soon on our way again. The bus had come from Vilnius and drove onto the ferry which took us over to the Curonian Spit. We made 3 stops (including here at Pervalka) before arriving at Nida at about 12:45.
We enquired about transport to the border 4 or 5km away, but there were no taxis and we were given mis-information about buses. So we shopped at the supermarket for lunch and ate overlooking the harbour and the lagoon.
We followed a paved, then bitumen, bike path to Pervalka. The path continues back to the ferry. Tomorrow will be a further 33km or so to Klaipeda.
We have experienced 3 of the 4 resort towns on the Lithuanian end of the Spit – Nida, Preila and Pervalka. Tomorrow, about halfway to Klaipeda is Juodkrante. The towns are all on the lagoon side and it is a 2km walk across the Spit to the beaches on the Baltic Sea.
The walking today has been either beside the lagoon or through the reforested areas in the centre of the Spit. Tomorrow's hike will include quite a lot of walking on the Baltic Sea side. The Spit is basically a long sand dune with a ridge line up to 60 metres high. The reforestation has been mainly with pine trees, though their height is limited to about 15-20 metres.
It is the views of the water, and the knowledge that over the ridge line is another expanse of water, which makes the landscape attractive. The modest proportions of the development in the resort towns and the appreciation of the sensitive environment is also commendable.
Jānis and I did a lot of talking. He is a 24 year-old Arts-Psychology, first-class honours Law graduate about to start work with a big Sydney law firm next year. Jānis unsuccessfully applied for internships, including as a commercial law researcher with the International Bar Association in London, so he now has even more time for travel in Latvia, Europe and perhaps South-East Asia on the way home.
Jānis is a strong walker and I certainty appreciate his company, particularly on the first couple of days of the walk. As I said as we left Nida "Only 360km to go".
I am sorry to have left Anita in Riga. This year, our household has devoted much of its energy to the Latvian Arts Festival to be held in Melbourne at the end of this year, between Christmas and New Year. Anita is the Festival Director and the job is almost all-consuming.
Today, Anita and Jāna met with Raimonds Melderis, the leader of the group Tango sin quinto who will play the music for the Song Concerts and at the New Year's Eve Ball. The group comprises four very talented musicians who play with the Latvian Symphony Orchestra.
Anita hopes to meet up with the other members of the group in the next couple of days and also with Ints Teterovskis. Ints is one of the two conductors coming from Latvia for the Festival – the other is Agita Ikauniece. Ints has been in China with his choir, apparently competing successfully in choir competitions. Both Ints and Agita are young, enthusiastic and engaging conductors and their appearances at the Festival promises to be one of the highlights.
Anita also met today with Daina Lasmane, personal secretary to the Festival Patron, Latvia's much-loved President from 1999-2007, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. Daina facilitated the arrangements concerning the appointment and the preparation of two video clips of Vaira encouraging people to attend and participate in the Festival. The video clips, in Latvian and English will be published on the Festival web-site when it is officially launched, I think, next week.
To finish off the family news from Latvia, Jāna and Lija are off to the European Latvian Summer School for two weeks from Sunday. This is Lija's third year as a student and Jāna's (and my fellow walker Jānis's) first as assistant instructors.
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