Ahoj,

Kilometers cycled so far: 14871

For those that are wondering Haviųov is in the north east of the Czech Republic, close to the Polish border and today is my first day in Czech...

Lithuania:

After leaving Riga, it was a pretty uneventful cycle to the Lithuanian border, except for learning the hard way about the differences between local and internation border crossing points.

As soon as I hit Lithuania, I noticed the highlight of this month: the friendly people. On the second day here, I called into a bar to warm myself up in the small town of Raguva and got talking (with lots of sign language - my Lithuanian is pretty bad) to a fellow. He took me back to his house, where his son and daughter could speak some english and translate for us. We talked for most of the afternoon, and it started raining, so that night I was the guest of Vaičiulyte family, who were very nice to me, despite having only know me for a few hours.

From there it was on to Vilnius. It would have to be my favourite of the Baltic capitals in terms of its buildings and general vibe. It also helped staying at a handy hostel with plenty of party people. I did not really do any touristy things except for walking around the old town and a visit to Trakai castle on my way towards Poland.

Poland:

There is nothing like snow on the ground to convince you not to cycle today and thats what I saw on my third day in Poland. But it only lasted a day and I was able to continue on to Warsaw and some not so freezing weather.

In Warsaw, I stayed with friends of friend, Mateusz and Karolina. They confirmed the reputation Poles have for their fine hospitality and Mateusz for their reputation of being keen vodka drinkers. I had a look around Warsaw (the parks were beautiful) but I used the opportunity of staying in a house to relax (some long vodka assisted sleep ins) and catch up on few things.

One of Mateauszs friends knew someone in Pulawy where I could also stay. So after leaving Warsaw, that's where I went and stayed with (a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend) Artur who was again a very good host. But during my stay here, he organised for the local TV station to interview me about my trip, so it's here that I got my 15 minutes of fame. And I think I'm happy to leave it at that.

From Pulawy, I kept following the Vistula river and on to Kazimiez and Sandomiez. These were both small, beautiful historic old towns, something I didn't see much north of Warsaw. After battling some insane headwinds, I made it to Krakow.

I only had one day in Krakow (and it was raining), but could have easily spent a week here. So I visited the salt mines in Wieliczka and their amazing rock salt carvings. Then, I headed on, but was moved with a visit to the Aushwitz Museum at the preserved sight of the Nazi concentration camp. It's a pretty earie feeling to stand in a gas chamber where thousands of people died....

Today I really hit the Tatra mountians before crossing into Czech. I have missed the deep leg fatigue that only a few hills can bring. Well my trip is fast coming to a close. From here I will make my way to Prague to catch a plane back to London and then will be back in the great southern land in about 3 weeks from now.

Which reminds me.... I will be in London on the 13th and 14th of November and in Dublin on the 15th and 16th of November. If you are in either of these cities and feel like catching up for a beer and a chat, drop me an email.