Lithuania: A Fate Worse Than Serbia

Hello, dammit, from the same interminable day.

Lithuania has sunk even lower in my estimation since my last entry. If that's even possible.

This is a country full of boring landscapes, unpronounceable words, cold weather, dull old towns, mediocre food and people who would rather scowl than smile. 90% apparently don't know how to say Hello to foreigners, and 100% find the mere sound of English infuriating.

The ride to Siauliai took four hours. I got there and figured I might have to head all the way to Kaunas tonight as Siauliai looked pretty small and shitty with no hotels around. But I wanted to see the Hill of Crosses first, and I'd figure it out later.

I caught the bus at 15:40 to the Hill of Crosses (pissed off, once again, at the horrible Tourist Info bitch who looked annoyed at the mere notion that she might try to attempt speaking English).

The bus let me off 2km from the Hill so I walked there.

It was just okay.

(Certainly not worth the full day of travel that I spent getting there!)

I spoke to a little lamb (the nicest being I've met since I've been here), and caught the bus back to Siauliai centre.

I tried my best to find a hotel as all I really wanted was to treat myself to a nice bed rather than a pod, have a nice dinner and several drinks and end this awful day.

But the 2 hotels I found didn't appear to actually function anymore, so I had no choice but to catch the bus to Kaunas, which I'm on now, armed with a disgusting kebab and a beer.


This experience has really got me thinking.

I, who spout the advantages of solo travel at any given opportunity, have realized that travelling alone is only a good thing when you're in a place you love. The location becomes your friend, and happiness with your surroundings fills the space of companionship. You're happy to be alone with your place, so no one can distract you from admiring it.

But when you're somewhere that you hate, like I am right now, being alone just makes you angry. And anger needs to be laughed at.

In my previously darkest hour of travelling, on the million-hour bus ride into Nis, I had Mike with me and we laughed about it together.

But laughing when you're miserable AND alone makes you something completely different: a crazy person. Lithuania has not only turned me into a bored, miserable and angry person, but now it's also made me into a crazy person. And the worst part about it: I'm STILL HERE!

It's a funny thing, travelling. You feel the need to see as many new parts of the world as possible. You want to add to your list of places you've been, add another pin into the map. You want to one-up people at dinner parties, so that when your friend Alice says: "I had this amazing massage in Hungary!", you can come back with: "Oh, let me tell you about the most AMAZING spa I went to in Finland!".

Young travellers like myself should take a good, hard look at our elders and notice that they no longer hop from country to country every year. For the most part, they've left their tourism promiscuity behind, chosen a few places they like, and stuck with them.


It makes sense, of course, to see as many places as you can while you're young, because youth is all about experimenting, finding out what you like and what you don't, blah blah blah.

But when you get to the point, like I have, when you're hurtling through the barren Lithuanian countryside and you've spent a total of 6 hours on a bus just to spend 45 minutes looking at a bunch of wooden crosses on a hill, it's time to re-evaluate your travel decisions.

I'm now officially out of places to visit in Europe.

Unless I want to go to Moldova or Luxembourg, which I don't, I need to either leave the continent, or choose my favourite place and stick with it.

And that's possibly what hurts the most about this trip: the fact that I could be in Croatia right now. I love it there. I lvoe the food, the people, the sea, the language, the music, the men, the gemist.

But it was the thought of changing my Facebook status, for the 5th time this year, to "Andrea is off to Croatia!", felt a little embarrassing. I'm supposed to be this world traveller, after all, I figured I can't keep going back to the same place time after time.


But guess what: YES I FUCKING CAN!!

In fact, this experience is probably Croatia sending me bad vibes from down the continent for thinking I might enjoy another country.

Something, somewhere, has it out for me. Surely, it can't be Lithuania itself: we've only just met What did I do to make enemies with it so quickly?

I don't think I've ever given Lithuania a moment's thought before this trip, much like most other sane people along the backpacker trail.

And now I realize there's a reason for that.

It's a squalid rathole and the only people who wind up here are people like me with pretentious notions of trying something new, wanting to be different and original, smugly saying the words "Latvia" and "Lithuania" and watching people's eyes widen in admiration, thinking I'm the bravest and coolest girl in the world.

Now, I've spent the entire day on a cold, slow bus to Kaunas.

Tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be freezing to death, attacked by a crazy man in the street, with a case of the runs from the kebab I had for dinner. At least I'll have my originality to keep me warm.

The Balkans Rule - the Baltics DROOL!

I've officially decided that the whole "Seeing the World" thing is totally overrated. Screw it... from now on, I'm going no further than the Balkans where, above all its other amazing attributes, THE PEOPLE ARE FRIENDLY!!

I'm on the bus getting the Hell out of Vilnius, and not a moment too soon! How I regret leaving sweet Estonia with its saunas and nice old towns and good dancers! I'm hoping that Lithuania will redeem itself over the next two days when I'm out of its truly shit capital!

Last night, my dinner was pretty good. I had pork, mashed potatoes, brocooli and carrots, all kind of mixed up in a stew-type mess (yummy, though), and 2 half beers, and read my Salman Rushdie book. I left the restaurant at 8:30 and walked through the creepy streets, kinda wanting to go into a bar for a drink and a chat. But the bars were full of people sitting in closed little groups, totally intimidating, and even when I stopped at The Dubliner pub and asked two English guys for a lighter, they just lit my cigarette and turned away. I got a little lost for a while and decided being in bed (sorry, being in pod) at 9:30 was better than dying a creepy death in Vilnius. It's the only place I've been in where the thought actually crossed my mind more than once that if I was being mauled by one of its creepy street urchins, the whole town would probably stand around and watch!

When I got back to the hostel, the VERY weird American guy who seems to live there was hanging around being weird, and then a couple of girls came downstairs and told the reception lady that there was an old drunk man passed out in their room. I just knew it had to be my room, and sure enough, I went upstairs and on the couch, right beside my pod, there was an old guy, sprawled in a drunken stupor with a bottle of vodka below him. The American tried like a fool to communicate with him, and then the reception lady started speaking in Lithuanian to him, and told us not to worry, he'd just go to sleep and not bother us. It was an ironic turn of events, seeing as the first thing I noticed when I got into the hostel was the sign saying drunk people would be kicked out immediately.

I wanted to go to the bus station to catch the sooner bus the Hell out of Vilnius, and I wished I hadn't already paid so I could pull a runner the way Christina and I did in the Nazi hostel in Sibiu.

There was one other guy in our room; an Aussie who has been living in Japan for a few years. He and I started chatting and went down to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and chat. He was a nice guy, but we never got past the "I want to talk all about my travels" level of conversation that dear Michael Ruhfus identified in some solo travllers.

At 11:30, I went out for a final smoke, checked my email, and went to pod. As weird as the pod is, I had a nice sleep because the mattress and pillows were very comfortable. I guess I'm all for the pod revolution!

This morning, I got up at 10:00 and scurried out of the hostel. I'd wanted to go to the KGB museum before I left, plus buy Mom an amber gift, but the bus station was close and I was more than ready to leave.

The ticket desk woman at the bus station and the information woman were both horrible, rude bitches who kept trying to shuffle me to someone else so they didn't have to listen to my offensive English. I actually had to get a bit snarky with them to make them sell me a ticket. Finally, I was able to buy a ticket to Siauliai, and I got out!

I'm now 3 1/2 hours into a bus ride that Lonely Planet had promised only took a little over an hour. Fucking Lonely Planet has really pulled a fast one on me!

Vilnius Creepiness

I was expecting to be blown-away by Vilnius, but so far I haven't seen anything that compares to the beauty of Tallinn (but, to be fair, I've only been here for a couple of hours, so I'll reserve judgment for now).

The bus ride from Riga to Vilnius was a painless 4 hours (I had my raspberries and my mobile phone games to occupy me). When I arrived, I got a little lost finding my way from the bus station to the AAA hostel. The hostel had a pretty creepy feel right away, made even creepier when I found out that the rooms were made up of pods! I'm sleeping in a pod tonight ...

Lithuania, thus far, is just creepy (and it doesn't help that some nutcase has been chanting and screaming outside this restaurant for the past 10 minutes).

I dropped my backpack in my pod and then headed straight out. It was a bit of a long and dodgy walk to the old town, and then I found the streets even emptier and quieter than Tallinn had been. (SHIT, the crazy man has made his way into the restaurant and is headed in my direction ... get me out of here!).

Anyway, I wandered into a few amber shops (the Baltics are amber-central and I'm going to buy something for Mom tomorrow). I stupidly sat at an outdoor cafe for a caffe-latte and it, and my limbs, got cold before I could even finish a cigarette.

I then walked along the pedestrian street to a big square full of giant white buildings. I took a few photos but it started to rain, which lent an even creepier ambiance to the place. So I headed back along side streets, went to explore a graffiti-filled,, run-down area by a little stream but noticed a group of intimidating-looking goth kids just in the nick of time and headed straight back to the touristy part of town.

I'd wanted to see the KGB headquarters (wouldn't that make a perfect end to this day!?) but I'm hating it here and I want to leave. I'm going to stay out for a couple of drinks and dinner, then go straight back to the hostel, and tomorrow afternoon I'm getting the Hell out of Vilnius!

I thought this would be my favourite of the 3 Baltic capitals ... now I'm wondering if the movie "Hostel" is based on true events that took place here!

Talk to you later (I hope!)

Working up a sweat in Tartu

Hi from still in Estonia, just a little further South (closer to Latvia).

I had a really good sleep last night; there was an American guy in my room but we didn't really speak until just as he was heading out for a drink. I kinda wished I'd gone out with him because I wouldn't have minded a little company, but it's probably a good thing I didn't as I needed some rest.

I woke up this morning at 11:00, starving and dehydrated and, for lack of an immediately better option, I had a McChicken for breakfast. The McDonalds was right beside the vine-covered town walls: pretty nice location.

It was miserably cold and rainy so I decided to get out of dodge. I planned to go to Riga, but the next bus there wasn't for several hours and Tallinn was too rainy to walk around. So I decided to catch the 2:00 bus to Tartu instead.

It was a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to this little University town. I was pretty keen on having another sauna (when in Estonia...), so I decided to stay at the Alexandri Hotel, which has a spa attached to it! It was a bit of a hike away from the centre of town, so apart from the road heading towards it to it, I didn't see much of Tartu!

I got a nice room with a television, but didn't stay in it for long as I ended up booking a sauna right away (I was a bit gutted that the massages were all booked up for the day, as they were very cheap!).

I stopped into the adjoining restaurant, had a quick beer, then headed to the spa. It was actually a solarium rather than a sauna; apparently it's less hot but is supposed to make you sweat more and lose 600 calories. I sat in it for a half hour and thought I was going to spontaneously combust from the heat. I don't know if I lost 600 calories, but I probably sweated 600 gallons!

I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant (the Alexandri sure was a one-stop shop!), and thoroughly enjoyed my steak with mushroom sauce, potatoes and coleslaw, and red wine. I was happy to learn that an Estonian band would be playing later in the night, and just as I finished dinner, they took the stage.

There was a guy sitting a few booths behind me who I kept making eye contact with; a few songs into the band's set, he finally came over and invited me to sit with him. His name is Andras, he's from the town of Parnu, and he proved to be a great companion. He told me that all private houses in Estonia have their own saunas, he talked about Russia and about ice-fishing in Norway.

We had a few beers, a few cigarettes in the smoking room, and then - the piece de resistance! -we asked me to dance. He was probably the best partner I've ever danced with, and we had a grand old time out on the floor. When we sat down again, he serenaded me with an Estonian version of the song "Country Roads."

Tartu ended up being a real highlight of my trip (well, at least its hotel did!)

Hi from Estonia

Where the Hell are you? you ask.



Why am I not in Croatia, or the former Yugoslavia in general?


Well, I've decided to give my beloved Balkans a rest and try something new.


Last week, I was staring at my wall map and feeling uninspired because I've been to all of the most obvious places. I noticed the little Baltics, and suddenly this region, that I've never really heard much about, seemed like just the right choice!


I have five days and I plan to see Estonia, Lithuania and possibly Latvia (although I've heard Riga is Stag-Party-Hell).


Last night, I lay in bed for about three hours, not really sleeping at all, and caught a bus from Peckham to Victoria at 2:30am. I was horrendously early to the bus stop, and had to wait about 40 minutes before the good ol' Easybus arrived (40 minutes that would've been much happier spent in bed, or at least in a pub). But I got to Stansted in good time and wandered around for an hour before boarding the plane. I caught a few zzz's during the 2 1/2 hour flight.


I had two shocks when I arrived at the Tallinn airport.


1. I checked my email (what a concept: free Internet at the airport!!) and Pedro had sent me an email from home! It's always a (nice) shock to hear from him!

2. I had no money left in my account! I realized that I never stopped this months' rent payment from coming out of my account and it totally depleted me. Thankfully, I was able to switch some money from my savings account to my chequing (thanks again to free airport Internet and online banking!) so a crisis was averted. I'm counting my lucky stars that I'm a good saver, or else my time in Estonia would've been slightly more stressful than I'd hoped!


After I sorted out my money, I hopped on the bus to the centre of Tallinn. I strolled around for a bit, the spires in the distance reminding me of Varazdin, and was totally impressed (and still a little shocked that I'm here). Lots of little curvy streets, colourful buildings similar to Sighisoara, super old buildings and shops... the perfect old town!


I hadn't booked anything so I was happy to find Euro Hostel, a dive but it's right in the old town so I can't complain. After checking in, I walked nextdoor, ate 3/4 of a bacon/cheese pancake (apparently Estonia is known for its pancakes) and was stuffed to the brim.

I digested with a nice caffe latte at "The Best Cafe in Tallinn" (with a sign on its door to prove it, and I was in no position to argue).


Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the gorgeous old town. I went up to Toompea (upper old town) and saw the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which is amazing. I had a look out from two look-out points up there, took some photos (I'm becoming a pro at the self-portrait and timer function on my camera!), then wandered around the lower old town for a bit.

I was feeling really sleepy but decided that 5:30 was a bit early for bedtime, and I knew exactly where to go next ... the sauna! Estonians (being so close to Finland), are known for loving a good sauna, so I ventured to the Kalma Saun (the oldest one in town). It was awesome, even though I had no idea what to do half the time. I watched the other women and took my cue from them, including to take all of my clothes off and go naked (when in Estonia ...). I sat in the boiling hot sauna (furnace is more accurate), took dips in the refreshing pool, stood under the cold shower, and watched three naked women beat themselves silly with a birch stick.


All in all, a fantastic way to spend two hours!


I'm having one beer at The Best Cafe, then I'm off to bed for a well-earned sleep.