Day 10 - Near Inesi to near Skujene

31km (313km) - 6 hours 15 minutes - weather fine

A sumptuous breakfast.




Esmeralda's hospitality has been wonderful. Her house is like a living museum of how country folk lived during the early years of the last century. We left soon after 9am, Esmeralda to a rehearsal of a new play and Anita and Mark for a brief visit to Mezaparks. Mark flies home next week. Anita is pursuing possible performers who might come to Australia. Anita heads up a committee which will organise the biennial Latvian Cultural Festival in Melbourne between Christmas and New Year's Eve in 2010. It is increasingly an important focus of her trip. Fortunately, we will meet up again tomorrow night at Zaube. Today's walking was pleasant - the roads were generally comfortable to walk on and, after I turned off the highway, very quiet.

I saw the water lillies of Vecpiebalga
- which are apparently sung about,
the Lutheran church at Vecpiebalga

and the apparently now disused Orthodox church at Mali, and a man doing a very odd but appropriate thing. Vecpiebalga and Jaunpiebalga (vecs - old; jauns - new) are the setting of one of the classics of Latvian literature - Mernieku Laiki (The times of the surveyors). As I was walking along, I saw a man measuring out his land using what looked like a set of primitive 2m measuring sticks. I hope my short video conveys some of the excitement I felt at this sight. I delivered a seminar paper on Mernieku Laiki when I was in the first year of the Latvian university course as part of the literature component. Esmeralda said that the museum devoted to the authors, the Kaudzisi Brothers, was well worth visiting, but was about 10km off my track. I am staying in a fisherman's lodge tonight - two storeys with all facilities including a wood-fired sauna. I am almost too relaxed to write much more tonight. Last night, Juris solved all my technical difficulties, with a couple of simple suggestions. The walk today took me within 44km of Cesis. Juris will be there tonight waiting to receive my email so he can post the blog. The photos (and perhaps a video) will have to wait till he is back in Riga. I finally finished a book this evening - Adam Runaway by Peter Prince. It is set in Lisbon in 1720 and the critical points in the story are when Adam uses the expression 'pipkin vent' when talking to a young lady he was interested in (with disastrous results), and later when he finds out about his illegitimate son, but not the true fate of the mother at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. Not a bad read - say 5 out of 10. I will start The Outcast by Sadie Jones later tonight.

Day 9 - Vestiena to near Inesi

26km (282km) - 6 hours 30 minutes - weather fine

We were 10 minutes away from our destination and walking past a large stack of cut logs. I heard a voice calling; Anita! She had been waiting for us. As a surprise, she had travelled down with Esmeralda.

Esmeralda is an actor with Riga's Dailes Theatre. She stayed with us in Melbourne a year or so ago when she was touring with a play in Australia. Esmeralda won the role of the young woman, Baiba, in the film version of the classic Latvian story, Put Vejini (Blow, Wind). Esmeralda was 16 and has been an actor ever since. She is also at present the face of L'Oreal's Latvian advertising campaign.
Esmeralda's house is near Inesi and apart from the timber house built in 1905, there is a large barn of the classic design with very thick stone walls up to about 2m. The roof is steeply pitched and still has wooden shakes rather than the ubiquitous asbestos sheeting - the first I have seen on this trip. There is also a large dam where Mark and I carried out our ablutions, and an impressive, well developed garden.
We have just finished a big meal and I feel well prepared for the next 2 days walking, before I arrive at Gunta's place near Zaube.
Tomorrow will be as far north as I go and then I will be heading south-west to cross the Daugava River at Kegums.
Today started with a straightforward, non-stop 20km walk from Vestiena to Inesi. The road was generally quiet, well-surfaced and through forest. At both the villages we encountered there were large muizas (manor houses). The one at Inesi has a large surrounding park where we had lunch. After Inesi, the landscape was lush, undulating farmland. From Esmeralda's, we could see the Gaizinkalns' tower in the distance.
Mark's feet held up well today. My blister is a little larger and is spreading almost underneath the heel. It may be that my orthotics don't leave much margin for error and I am at a loss to know what to do. I am inclined to wait and see what develops - it will probably burst eventually. If it bursts under the heel, walking will be difficult.
I have encountered difficulties with my technical equipment. I am sorry you were denied the blog yesterday. Perhaps you thought that Mark and I had encountered serious issues during our ascent of Gaizinkalns. The technical difficulties continue, and were probably caused by my trying to include another video on the blog, after the popular success of the "walking feet" video. Hopefully, with Juris's continued assistance, these matters will sort themselves out.
Thanks again to Mark for his company over the last couple of days. It has been a critical time and Mark has helped me get through.

Day 8 - Madona to Vestiena

29km (256km)- 7 hours 30 minutes - weather fine

Today Mark and I conquered Gaizinkalns, Latvia's highest point. It was a first ascent by both of us. Rising 311.6m above sea level, the mountain is visible for at least 3km.

The ski lifts to the top were not operating today. Definitely green runs, including Dames Paradize.
At the top there is a tower - a square red brick structure built like a Soviet residential block with windows at each of its 14 storeys.
Like most Soviet built residential blocks, it is now disintegrating and totally unsafe. Uncharacteristically, it has been recognised as being uninhabitable and the access from the bottom storey has been boarded up. It should probably be pushed over before it falls over.
I had always wanted to visit Gaizinkalns and I pleased to have done it in the context of this trip. It was also a pleasure to walk with Mark again.
We have done a number of impressive walks and rogaines together. Probably the craziest was to attempt the 100km Oxfam trail in reverse from Wesburn to Jells Park, in July, by ourselves and starting at 10:30pm. Our best rogaine was a 2nd in the Geelong Metrogaine last year, completing about 40km in 6 hours.
So today has been a good day. We were talking so much that we were about 7km past a wrong turning we made before we realised. Fortunately it was of no consequence as the roads converged some kms further on.
Mark has had some serious foot problems today - one large toenail lifted off and a large blister which had developed, burst before the end of the day.
We ate well at the kafejnica next door to the hotel.
We were told by the woman at the hotel when we booked in that we should immediately check at the kafenica as the kitchen would close at 6pm. We immediately went next door and ordered our meals. Mark then asked the kafe lady, 'Could we have a shower before the meal', and she replied in slightly shocked tones, 'You can wash your hands over there, but I can't help you with a shower'
Mark will walk on to Esmeralda's tomorrow and travel back to Riga with her on Thursday. Mark, Janis and Marcis will then compete in a half marathon on Saturday!
My only real physical problem is my blister which is a little larger tonight, but is bearable to walk on. I probably have slightly bruised feet and my leg muscles ache a bit, particular at night. .
But otherwise I am taking it day by day and, looking at the map of Latvia on the hotel wall, it seems that we are about one third of the way across.
After dinner, we had a sauna at the hotel. I am feeling much refreshed and pleasantly relaxed.

Day 7 - Barkava to Madona

30km (227km) - 6 hours 50 minutes - weather fine The big surprise tonight was that Ziedonis drove Mark down, and Anita came along for the ride. Unfortunately she and Ziedonis have now gone home. Mark will walk with me for the next couple of days to Vestiena tomorrow and Esmeralda's near Inesi the day after. The 'Dienas bizness' journalist will join me later in the week. Today was 30km of road walking. For the first half, there was only a narrow, gravelly shoulder to walk on, but later the going was easier. My blister has enlarged, but Mark brought some blister pads with him and I am hoping it won't develop too badly. I walked each 10km straight through with a couple of 10-15 minute stops in between. The traffic was constant with lots of heavy trucks. The roadworks between Jekabpils and Varaklani (which held us up on the way down in the car) no doubt contributes to the volume of traffic. I walk on the left, facing the oncoming traffic. I still have trouble crossing the road and invariably look the wrong way. Facing oncoming traffic, you can see what is about to hit you. However, that does not take into account the cars overtaking as they come up behind - with the faster, overtaking car suddenly appearing, what seems like inches from my right shoulder. It happened a number of times and it is not something that grows on you.

Anita asked tonight what keeps me going during these long stretches. I just seem to retreat into a very contained space. I can spend long periods thinking about specific matters, not particularly productively, in the sense that I don't necessarily think about deep issues or come to any specific resolution.
But the hours and kms roll by and it tends to shut out the incredibly loud traffic noise. Because it was a main road, there were markers at each km. I counted down 29 markers. It seems to help the time pass. It is still necessary to concentrate on the task at hand. I started the day having eaten only mixed nuts for both dinner and breakfast. I was able to find something more interesting for breakfast and to carry with me for lunch. There were absolutely no shops along the way. Just more farmland - mostly cropping, and pretty flat. I did cross a substantial river, the Aiviekste - it was about 40-50m wide. There is a very significant wetlands area not far to the north-east from where I was walking. In Madona, I had a task to undertake on behalf of Ansis and Nora from Melbourne.

I was to contact Dace at the local museum. Dace wasn't there but I met her brother, Indulis. He is a historian and he gave me a copy of the local history for which he had written the text. I rather disrupted activities at the museum, but declined a tour as I was desperately in need of a wash. One week down and I am still on target. I am finding it very hard. My feet are sore and the blister worries me. I removed about 7 or 8kgs from my pack and sent it home with Anita. In my listing of items I am carrying, I didn't mention my Teva sandals. I have kept them with me. I am critically looking ahead at each day's walking to see if it is necessary. Liepaja still seems a very long way away.

Day 6 - Jaunvilani to Barkava

36km (197km) - 7 hours 50 minutes - weather overcast and windy

I enjoyed the walking today until the last few kms. I felt strong - perhaps because I had eaten well. I hope in fact that there is another explanation as tonight there is no dinner apart from as many mixed nuts as I want to eat. Barkava is smallish and late on Sunday there is apparently nowhere to eat or buy food.
I am staying at the middle school. The school is closed for the summer and I am in a Soviet style barrack building with well over 100 rooms. The room has 2 beds and shares a bathroom with the adjoining room. It is basic and seems to be without hot water.
When I arrived, I found the door locked. I phoned Andris, with whom Ziedonis had spoken last week. We had a difficult conversation, my Latvian was inadequate and he had no English. I eventually understood that I was at the wrong door, and through the correct door I should find, what sounded like, 'the commandant'.
I did and we did our business with a minimum of talking. She answered my query about food in a way which discouraged further inquiry. It is an experience. The corridors are unlit and I am at one end. There is no one in the adjoining room, or possibly, the whole floor. Should I lock my room when I go to the shared bathroom? I will survive.
There is 29km of bitumen to Madona tomorrow. I joined the road 6km before Barkava - there is less than a metre to walk on beside the road. I have pretty sore feet and a small blister on the inside of my left heel.
Looking ahead, I can probably drop off a few kms by going more directly. Fewer kms means shorter days and less effort required.
Today I walked long stretches non-stop, the first 12km to Varaklani along the Moscow road and, after Varaklani, the next 17km through the backblocks.


The countryside seems more prosperous - there is intensive cropping and I even saw a fenced paddock with a herd of 40 cows, including a few calves.


The hay was in round bales, in some cases covered in plastic. Different to the traditional hayricks in Latgale.


There are still many abandoned buildings - mainly houses and farm buildings but also Soviet-era industry and four-storey accommodation blocks built generally out of stark white bricks.

I think we have moved out of Latgale into one of the other 3 provinces though I am not sure whether it is Zemgale or Vidzeme.

I think Varaklani is on the boundary. I spent over an hour walking through Varaklani. Fortunately, the larger tourist map of the town showed the layout of the manor and surrounding park.

The present manor house was built in the 1780s, though the manor was established in the 15th century. I had a quick look inside, although there was a wedding in progress in part of it.


The surrounding park was mainly of oak and, I think, linden trees. It was very impressive - the garden is much more established than the recreated garden at Rundle castle and although laid out to a design had a wildness about it. I read that the park has been recognised (I think by an official European body) as one of the 100 best maintained sites of cultural significance in Europe!
There is a 'milestibas akmens' (love stone) in the park - I have seen references to these in Latvia but am not sure about their significance.
Generally, the most significant building in the towns or countryside is the local church. In Varaklani, on the northern outskirts, was the first Lutheran church I have passed. Latgale is regarded as predominantly Catholic and the rest of Latvia as Lutheran. I popped into the Catholic church (a very stolid building) as midday mass had just started. There were over 250 at the service. Down the road, the Lutheran church is a fine looking building, but it was not in use.
And finally, just a few words about the blog. It usually takes me a couple of hours to pick out, or if I sit at a table, to type out on the tiny keyboard. I usually send it to Juris without rereading, hoping he might correct my worst mistakes.
I haven't quite got the hang of responding to the comments on the blog. I do connect when I can and very much appreciate the fact that so many have written in. Thank you Jana for your very warm, and too insightful, words.
I am not looking forward to the walking tomorrow, but it will be great to reach Madona and hopefully meet up with Mark and Nils (the journalist from 'Dienas bizness').

Day 5 - Kozori (4km west of Rezekne) to Jaunvilani (New Vilani)

27km (161km) - 6 hours 30 minutes - weather warm to hot

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.

Day 4 - Dvarci to Kozori (4km west of Rezekne)

34km (134km) - 8 hours 10 minutes - weather hot

It was Ziedonis' last day on the track today. We said farewell in the main street of Rezekne. Ziedonis caught the train to Riga and tomorrow will drive to Liepaja where he has a renovating job.
Ziedonis has been a great companion. The walking has been very tough but he never complains. Ziedonis completed 106km in the four days. We were able to have great conversations - the day-to-day stuff in Latvian, but when we turned to more esoteric subjects like the political relationship between Latvia and Belarus, Ziedonis would resort to English.
Ziedonis' spoken English is better than my spoken Latvian - my vocabulary is less and I tend to swallow the word endings. While we were talking, I thought it would be interesting to record a conversation and post it on the blog. I have the technology in my mobile but the moment has passed. Ziedonis has helped so much to get me on the road and to guide me through the first few days in the border country and rural Latgale.
My last contact with Ziedonis was a quick phone call from the train. He asked if I was all right and said something had happened to him in Rezekne which he would tell me about later. He should be just about back in Riga by now.
Not much to report about the day's walking. It was a road bash. The first part around Raznas lake was quiet and scenic. There must have been about six small cemeteries we passed around the lake, all in the narrow strip of land between the road and the
shoreline. This is not unusual - Nita's mother rests in a beautifully treed cemetery next to and overlooking the beach at Jurmala.

Ziedonis and I found the church at Zosna open. The woman (caretaker) inside told us that it was the church of St Michael and was the smallest Catholic church in Latvia. Latgale is largely Catholic. There are also small shrines in the remotest of places.
Our next section of road walking was mainly on a gravel road. As we got closer to Rezekne the traffic increased. Each vehicle (mainly trucks) which passed sent up clouds of dust. It was a relief to come to the bitumen sections which at least have wider and flatter shoulders.
I will leave the topic of how to cope with constant road walking to another blog. The next three days to Madona will mainly be a road bash.
At Rezekne, I went to a restaurant and had chicken and chips and vegies. I am a little restored, though the unrelieved heat on shadeless roads has taken its toll.

Rezekne is one of Latvia's largest cities, Ziedonis thought fifth or sixth. I went an extra km to again look at the famous statue of Mara, and take a photo.

Then through the backblocks, with directions from a couple of men who volunteered their services in both Latvian and Russian.
Tonight's accommodation, 'Kaleji' at Kozori was just a spot on the tourist map. I saw about twenty cars parked on a property and guessed it must be home. There was a wedding in progress. There is a large dam (lake?), with sweeping grassed areas.

My accommodation is a single room fisherman's cottage 20m from the water's edge. The toilet is about 100m away, in the bush. The hostess is Haide and she has been terrific. She only speaks in fast Latvian, and when in response to my query about where the toilet was, she kept on saying, 'it was in the bush', I didn't know what to expect. It was fine and a shower in the sauna building was most welcome.


Ziedonis had phoned ahead to enquire about clothes' washing. I now have clean socks and undies again. Now all I need is a sleep and a relatively easy day tomorrow.