Eelmiste reisidega võrreldes oli meie stardipäeva ilm kardinaalselt erinev: kergelt pilvealune taevas ja kõigest 18 kraadi sooja. Eelmisel suvel samal ajal alustasime 30-kraadises kuumuses, nii et algus oli paljulubav, väga mõnus motomatkamise ilm. Eestist Läti poole sõites tibas väikest vihmakest, viskasime korraks ka kileriided selga, kuid erilist vajadust selle järgi tegelikult polnudki.
Compared to previous trips, our departure day weather was radically different: slightly overcast sky and only 18 degrees warm. Last summer at the same time we started in 30-degree heat, so the beginning was promising, very pleasant motorcycle touring weather. Driving from Estonia towards Latvia, there was a bit of drizzle, we threw on rain gear for a moment, but there really wasn’t much need for it.
Salacgrīvat läbides tuli küll täielik dejavu-tunne peale, nimelt toimub seal meie sõitudega täpselt samal ajal suur ja väga populaarne muusikafestival Positivus, rahvast on selles väikeses külakeses ikka väga palju sellel ajal.
Kuna mina kõigi üksikasjadega meie reisi marsruudist kursis ei ole, see rohkem Teedu ampluaa, siis sain alle poole päeva peal teada, et Klaipedasse sõidul läheme ka läbi Palanga. Teadsin, et Valja (minu hea kolleeg) puhkab seal oma perega, helistasin talle, et kokku saada, aga nad olid just pere ja sõpradega Palangast väljasõitu tegemas, nii ei kahjuks ei õnnestunudki meil kohtuda.
Passing through Salacgrīva, we definitely got a complete déjà vu feeling, namely there’s a big and very popular music festival Positivus taking place there at exactly the same time as our trips, there are really a lot of people in that small village at that time.
Since I’m not familiar with all the details of our trip route, that’s more Teet’s domain, I found out less than half a day in advance that on the way to Klaipeda we would also pass through Palanga. I knew that Valja (my good colleague) was vacationing there with her family, I called her to meet up, but they had just gone on a day trip from Palanga with family and friends, so unfortunately we didn’t manage to meet.
Selle eest saime tuttavaks aga teiste huvitavate inimestega. Ootasime Klaipeda sadamas praami peale minekut, kui meie taga seisvast Inglismaa numbrimärki kandvast autosuvilast üks sümpaatne vanapaar meiega juttu tegema tuli. Nemad olid just Eestist tulnud ja kuna meie suund Šotimaa poole oli, siis juttu jätkus meil kauemaks. Huvitav oli see, et neid oli Inglismaalt kokku 14 autokaravani, ongi sellised reisid korraldatud, et grupp autosuvilaid saab mingis punktis kokku (nemad alustasid Belgiast), jagatakse kätte koordinaadid, räägitakse ära, kus on ööbimised karavanidele, kus ekskursioonid, kõik toitlustus, matkad, kõik on korraldatud ja siis igaüks ise vaatab, mis teed pidi täpselt sõita tahab ning mingis punktis siis jälle kohtuvad. Nii olid nad sellise 14-karavaniga Baltikumi tuuri teinud, vahepeal viidi neid bussiga ka Narvast üle piiri Venemaale. Tundus vägagi lahe ettevõtmine, ühest küljest oled teistest täiesti sõltumatu oma autosuvilas, teisest küljest on kõik ette-taha organiseeritud. Nad olid selliste gruppidega ikka palju aastaid juba ringi rännanud, väga armas oli näha nii reisihimulisi ja elurõõmsaid vanapaare!!
Instead, we got to know other interesting people. We were waiting to board the ferry at Klaipeda port when a nice elderly couple from a camper van with British license plates parked behind us came to chat with us. They had just come from Estonia and since our direction was towards Scotland, we had plenty to talk about. The interesting thing was that there were 14 caravans from England in total, these trips are organized so that a group of camper vans meets at some point (they started from Belgium), coordinates are distributed, they’re told where the overnight stays are for caravans, where the excursions are, all meals, hikes, everything is organized and then everyone decides which roads they want to drive on exactly and meets up again at some point. So they had done a Baltic tour with such a group of 14 caravans, they were even taken by bus from Narva across the border to Russia. Seemed like a really cool undertaking, on one hand you’re completely independent from others in your camper van, on the other hand everything is pre-organized. They had been traveling around with such groups for many years already, it was very sweet to see such travel-loving and cheerful elderly couples!!
Meil oli laevas kajut broneeritud, mis esimese päeva lõpuks hästi ära kulus, esimene reisipäev ikka väsitab ja Teedul oli eelmine päev veel pikk tööpäev seljataga. Hea on see, et laupäeval ei pea varakult tõusma ja asju pakkima hakkama, võime lihtsalt olla ja laeval oma puhkuse algust nautida!!
We had a cabin booked on the ship, which came in very handy by the end of the first day, the first travel day is always tiring and Teet had a long work day behind him the day before. The good thing is that on Saturday we don’t have to get up early and start packing things, we can just be and enjoy the beginning of our vacation on the ship!!
