At the hostel I met a couple of lads from Iverness who are touring the Nordics and Lithuania/Latvia on more sensible sized bikes and as usual they were in disbelief at how far I was going on the XR.
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| The mighty XR while still in tip top condition |
A little maintenance was completed, the blown headlamp bulb was a pain in the dark the previous night and as I am about to go into Russia it would be the perfect excuse for the police to constantly hassle me for bribes. The USB charger still does not work but I will leave that for when I get to Moscow; as for the moment I am staying in hostels and hotels where I can charge my phone.
The ride to Rezekne in Latvia was again very hard, it seems that the Latvians have decided to dig up all the roads that head east and leave them in a loose gravel finish. The dust clouds are choking and the big trucks pepper you with stones as they rush past. Latvia seems to be woods, fields and lots of small farms, I did not see any industry over my whole trip.
Rezekne has a definite Soviet feel about it with lots of crumbling social housing flats and the expected big statues. My hotel is the usual lovely reception area then somehow you go back in time while in the lift and emerge to find a room perfectly preserved from the 1960's, complete with dripping taps and lino flooring.
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| Soviet era crumbling flats |
Miles today 220M (352KM) and a lot of dust and dirt.
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