Lithuanian border, gates in the background, but unmanned, so we still didn't need our passports.
27th
We headed off on our separate ways under blue skies in the morning, and crossed into Lithuania without having to stop and show our passports, a good thing as they were still in Australia awaiting our russian visas! The traffic was terrible, we were on the main road north and there were trucks everywhere. Plus there had been an accident to make things worse, and the trucks were banked up for miles. With the bikes, we just rode down the side, and everyone was fine with it, europe is so much more biker friendly than Australia. After we left the main highway at Marijampole, we stopped for lunch at a small cafe, with a butchers shop attached. Local meat, cooked the traditional way, really nice food, and cheap. It turns out they also give bikers a discount, even better. I had a talk to the cook out the back, who showed me how everything was cooked fresh over coals, interesting.
We headed off on our separate ways under blue skies in the morning, and crossed into Lithuania without having to stop and show our passports, a good thing as they were still in Australia awaiting our russian visas! The traffic was terrible, we were on the main road north and there were trucks everywhere. Plus there had been an accident to make things worse, and the trucks were banked up for miles. With the bikes, we just rode down the side, and everyone was fine with it, europe is so much more biker friendly than Australia. After we left the main highway at Marijampole, we stopped for lunch at a small cafe, with a butchers shop attached. Local meat, cooked the traditional way, really nice food, and cheap. It turns out they also give bikers a discount, even better. I had a talk to the cook out the back, who showed me how everything was cooked fresh over coals, interesting.
Our cook at the lunch stop, spoke excellent english, and showed me how it's done. The fire is in the box behind him, on a rack, the coals fall into the tray, and are then raked along under the meat. Simple but effective.
Local fresh food, delicious.
After lunch, a quick blast through the countryside, over to the A12 at Skaudvile, then up towards the Latvian border. Along here we met up with a friend of Marcis', and president of their bike club, who had ridden down from Jelgarva to meet us on his Goldwing. A quick fuel stop, then further north and over the border to Latvia. Lithuania probably deserved more time spent there, it seems like another nice country, more friendly people, although we had no hope with the language, different to both Polish and Latvian.
