I had enjoyed the indoor accommodation and served breakfast, which actually wasn’t anything special, but got the day started. The hotel has a bakery, so I treated myself with a fresh-baked rye bread with dried fruits.
The first few kilometers were fast in tailwind. Then I turned to the main road towards Zarasai in Lithuania. The road was quite bad, but again few kilometers before the border, there was new asphalt in the making. Maybe Latvians want to show off and attract people with good roads in the borderzone. The road was quite hilly, and altogether I think the whole day was more uphill than downhill.
The Lithuanian border is in the downhill, before next uphill, so I didn’t bother stopping for border-selfie. I just continued on the silky-smooth Lithuanian road. Even though it was a main road, the traffic wasn’t bad. And the shoulder was just wide enough to ride comfortably.
In Zarasai, I went to the tourist office, asking about campsites and where to buy a sim to iPad. The tourist infos don’t seem to know too much about campsites, maybe not interesting business for them. But I passed the center and visited the operator shop and Maxima. I went to the park enjoy my luch in the warm sunshine.
I decided to try the Sudeikiai campsite, 9 km north from Utena. There were alternative paved roads, but the yesterday’s gravel grinding felt heavy in the legs so I kept pedalling on the main road. Even though the road was good, there was head wind again and riding was rather boring. I was happy to turn to a smaller road leading to Sudeikiai. It was hilly, but so much more beautiful landscape. And finally, Sudeikiai. Nice little village by the lake. Went to the shop and then to the campsite. It turned out, there had just been a festival, so the campers there were just working to clean up the place. I called the host’s number, and got to stay there for free.
It was beautiful campsite with awesome beach. I enjoyed my dinner there in the evening sun.
Kristiina Ullgren 