The final route

Everything has finally come together. Tomorrow the walking starts. I have a companion for the first 2 days - Jānis Dunnicliffe. Jānis is from Sydney and is a friend of my daughter, Jāna. He is in Latvia for a few months and expressed interest in coming with me along the Curonian Spit. Jāna was to also walk with us but has had to pull out. A pity as she has been a keen supporter of my Latvian walks and a frequent commentator on my blogs.

We must catch the tram at 5:48am tomorrow morning. We are booked on the 6:35am bus to Klaipeda in Lithuania where the ferry leaves for the Curonian Spit. Another hour or so in the bus will get us to Nida. We will have to walk a couple of kms to the Russian border to start our walk back. It is about 16.5kms back to Pervalka where we are booked in for the first night.

Ziedonis (and Gunta and Anita) have between them arranged 8 of my 10 nights accommodation. It was a hugely difficult task. It seems that the Lithuanian and Latvian seaside resorts are full of tourists. Ziedonis used a combination of Russian, Latvian and English (with a little Lithuanian) to secure a bed for the first 4 nights. My pack is packed and this blog entry is my last remaining task.

Jānis is not here yet (10:45pm). Perhaps he doesn't need much sleep. Juris has again agreed to manage the technical blog postings along the way. He did say that my Latvian sim card will work in Lithuania, though I am not sure how that will will work. Jānis and Jāna have just arrived. We will now catch the 5:28am tram, "just to be sure".

The plan (at the moment) is:

Day 1 - Wed 21 July - Nida to Pervalka (16.5kms) - staying at Villa Deva

Day 2 - Thu 22 July - Pervalka to Klaipeda (36kms) - staying at Molo Užeiga

Day 3 - Fri 23 July - Klaipeda to Nida, Latvia (32kms) - staying at Jūrmalnieki

Day 4 - Sat 24 July - Nida to Jurmalciems (31kms) - staying in a tent

Day 5 - Sun 25 July - Jurmalciems to Liepāja (28kms) - ??

Day 6 - Mon 26 July - Liepāja to Cirava (38kms) - staying at the arodvidusskolas dienesta viesnīca (student accommodation)

Day 7 - Tue 27 July - Cirava to Ivande (35kms) - staying in a private home

Day 8 - Wed 28 July - Ivande to Zlēkas (32kms) - staying at Vella Dzirnavas

Day 9 - Thu 29 July - Zlēkas to Blāzma (25kms) - staying at Ozoli

Day 10 - Fri 30 July - Blāzma to Dundaga (28kms) - ??

Day 11 - Sat 31 July - Dundaga to Kolka (34kms) - bus back to Rīga.

Anita, Lija and I went to Melluži last night to visit Anita's cousin Mārcis and his family. It was his wife, Nita's birthday. Their older son, Jānis, has walked with me for a day on each of the last 2 years (last year it was a massive 50kms from Zaube to Cēsis). He hopes to join me later in the trip. The walking on the last few days looks fairly tough and I will look forward to his company, if he can make it.