Day 1 – 65km from Rīga
After departing Latvia’s capital city and riding through the coastal resort city of Jūrmala, I arrived at a small camping ground called “Zīvartiņš” just outside of the small village of Plieņciems. Here, I pitched my tent and then realised that I had left a small backpack back at the Naughty Squirrel Hostel in Rīga. That back pack contained, inter alia, my tool kit, puncture repair kit, and chargers for my mobile phone and laptop, as well as my Australian and Latvian passports.
There was no way known that I could continue the journey without that backpack in my possession. So, the next day, I left all my gear in Plieņciems so I could catch a bus back to Rīga to collect my backpack from the hostel before catching the next bus back to Plieņciems.
That was four hours of my life that I’ll never get back, but a valuable lesson learned, too!
But forget all that. The camping ground “Zīvartiņš” was a beautifully tranquil little place, nestled among forest, and easy walking distance from the beach. The managers, Ivo Graudiņš and Ilga Graudiņā were really nice people who gave me some bananas and two zucchinis on arrival. I camped there for one night and it rained quite a bit. While sitting in my tent as rain fell, I did my first interview on the Latvia Weekly podcast, with Joe Horgan in Jelgava and Otto Tabuns in Rīga. Latvia Weekly, which is Latvia’s longest running podcast, will be covering my “Akenfelds On The Road” adventure every week via their podcast.
After staying the night in Plieņciems, I was on my way, northbound to Mērsrags.
Akenfelds On The Road 