I had good sleep in Cesvaine, even though I woke up in the rain around 6 in the morning. It was some thunder, too. However, as I left the Rozites campsite, it was already sunshine and I could pack a dry tent.
It was rather fast ride to Madona, the next town. The tourist brochures I had taken from some tourist info about Madona advertised the winter sport facilities. That might be the case, but in the summertime it’s a less appealing place. There is some consideration to attending the bicycle tourists’ needs. There was a short stretch of bike lane and the Drogas sold the Alpecin shampoo. I did buy the shampoo, just for fun of it. It does fit my panniers and it promises superb hair growth…
I continued to south-west, against the wind again. The road was somewhat better than earlier. The landscape was hilly, down and up again. There appeared to be nothing that special to see along the way. My pause was perfectly timed, it started to rain right as I fetched my chickpea-cheese sallad and other delicacies. I enjoyed my lunch under the hood of a bus stop and the rain soon passed.
In Plavinas, I joined the main road between Riga and Daugavpils. It wasn’t too nice, narrow shoulder and a lots of traffic. Most of it was heading to the opposite direction, but as there was trucks passing me, they didn’t leave too much room. Heavy side wind didn’t make it easier. As I stopped to a shadow to enjoy my Lacplesis non-alcoholic beer, a road cyclist stopped to say hi. The guy had been studied tourism or something in Porvoo.
It didn’t too long to reach Jekabpils. I had somehow found out that there is a campsite nearby, called Radzi. It was listed on the Jekabpils municipality tourism page or something, not elsewhere. I didn’t bother notifying them. I went to a shop in Jekabpils with an idea to get something else than buckwheat and sausages this time. At Maxima, I got myself a mayonnaise sallad, grilled chicken leg, tomatoes, cucumbers and a beer. All good.
Radzi was few kilometers away. It could be found using google maps, the maps.me app didn’t even show the road there. Anyway, there was a good feeling riding the small road there. I rode in and there was a guy greeting, not speaking English, but Russian, of course. He showed me to a nice, private spot by the lake. As I had put up my tent, an elderly lady came to bring me 5l drinking water and showing me to the nearby villa to have a shower. The place has cabins and fancier cottages. There’s not really facilities for campers, but on the other hand they only take 2€ for camping and 2€ for the shower. The cottage I went in for the shower was really nice. With a proper wood-heaten sauna and all. The lady said they had been fully-booked for Saturday.
So I enjoyed my dinner and perfect camping spot.
Kristiina Ullgren 