I have finished a huge plate of food and have asked for more. I am in a hotel on the main road to Moscow, the road I must walk along tomorrow - though away from Moscow. The hotel is very comfortable. But nothing could match the warmth and generosity of spirit shown to me at Kaleji overnight.
I had wondered what I might cobble together for breakfast, but when I returned from a visit to the 'bush', I found breakfast waiting - bread, cheese, ham, a chicken leg, a tomato and piragi.
As I went down to the main house to take my leave a crowd started to gather, several asking about my plans for the day (I had shown Haide the 'Diena' article last night).
Then Haide's husband did what I had seen done at the open air museum at Riga a fortnight ago - he made me a 2008 Kaleji medallion by putting a blank in a mould and whacking it with a sledgehammer. It is a great little souvenir. Then it was time for photographs. Haide and her husband walked up to the road with me, describing how they had converted a 'jungle' into what it is today. There were another 3 wedding parties booked to use Kaleji today.
I asked Haide whether I might have seen a fox last night up near the toilet. She confirmed that there was a mother and 5 cubs living up there.
I haven't seen much wildlife - Ziedonis showed me dug-up ground where wild pigs had been, and I saw similar signs of their activity near Liepukalns. Some birds, including lots of storks, but no loonies that I have recognised, Peteris.
Last time I was in Latvia and walked around the countryside near Zaube, I thought how interested Hamish would be in the pasture, and weeds. The farming in Latgale seem to involve traditional methods, although today the holdings appeared larger and the cultivation more sophisticated. The system of drainage channels fascinates me - they seem older than the collective farming of the Soviet times, but must have involved quite extensive cooperation between the landholders.
Hamish would not like the invariable use of asbestos for roofing. Much of it is in very poor condition, and when discarded seems to used as road-making material or for filling holes and ditches. There will be an immense problem in the future as buildings are repaired and renovated.
Just a few brief words about food. For breakfast, we have generally had a couple of soft of hard boiled eggs, bread, cheese, tomato, muesli or porridge and fruit juice. For lunch we carry a couple of cheese sandwiches and bananas with nuts and dried fruit as nibbles. For dinner we have generally been restricted to instant soups and other 'add water' concoctions. Ziedonis' favorite was a mashed potato in a cup that we had a couple of times. On our last night together at Dvarci, Ziedonis prepared a pasta dish with a sauce of fresh onions and tomatoes. It was much appreciated.
Apart from tomorrow night, most of the places where I will stay there will be cooked evening meals available. The thought is sustaining me.
I try to drink at least a litre of water or juice at breakfast. I carry 2 litres of water though this has not been enough in the hot weather. Fortunately, I was able to buy more at critical times.
Yes, I did do some walking today. Twice roads on the map seemed to peter out requiring back-tracking. Some of the walking was interesting, though much of it was on loose gravel with largish stones which makes walking difficult and tiring.
How do you keep going km after km (hour after hour) in those conditions? It is a question I toss around for hour after hour as I walk. Perhaps if I set down my definitive answer to that question, the less interesting walking may become unbearable.
My watch desperately needs a new battery. For a while it stopped displaying altogether and I took it off. I found that time seemed to go much slower when I knew I could not check it. Not that it is something I do constantly - perhaps once an hour on average.
Ziedonis got home safely last night. There was no drama at Rezekne - just a misunderstanding in our communication.
Saw few people for much of the day, until Vilani. At the cemetery there were hundreds of people. Latvians have a 'cemetery day (or days)' in the calendar where they go and tidy family graves and pay their respects - that may have been the explanation.
At Vilani there is a very impressive Catholic church, beautifully restored. The countryside as I move west seems more prosperous; the fields are developed and the buildings better maintained.
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