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Baltic Greenlaning 2021
  • Buddha's Travels
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Baltic Greenlaning 2021

Time to go East again, time for some Baltic 4x4 Adventure - avoiding roads and going Greenlaning whenever we can.
Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia discovered. Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 4, 2021
    Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Hectic Countdown, hard decisions

    September 2, 2021 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Hectic and long days at Oldtimer Club FHTS getting our imported Oldtimer IVECO 40.10 4x4 WM /1 legalized and ready for its first Baltic trip.
    For us it is our maiden voyage with this noisy and uncomfortable Camper truck.

    As the packing list is much to extensive for the strict weight limit we have tomorrow will be the day for decisions - what to take (and never use) and what to leave behind (and miss painfully in a couple of days).

    After all our trips and adventures we still get excited during the countdown for departure.

    Do you folks use packing lists or do you pack by inspiration and experience?    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Just a couple of more things to fix

    September 3, 2021 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Well, it started out rather easy this morning...but again it took another complete day until it came all together.

    The good news is that due to being so restrictive when we sorted out our stuff we still have lots of empty packing space - the first time ever!

    And just when we figured it was enough for today we became greedy and tried to ad some music system to the truck - and things went wild😂

    So tomorrow morning we still have to connect the smartphones and tablets for the navigation, but how hard can that possibly be?    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
    Kostrzyn nad Odra - then an now. A very historic village
    Didn't we promise you lots of wildlife?

    From hectic to slow motion

    September 4, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    While we can't wait to finally get going things are hectic and dense...until we meet our friends and travel companions and at last cross the border to Poland at Kostrzyn nad Odra.

    A short hike around the Bastion, first sightseeing pics with sunshine, some sweets from the bakery sales stand and suddenly things get slower, deeper and more consistent.

    Our truck behaves well so far and most of the gimmicks installed still work (besides the catastrophic electric installation of previous owners).

    The countryside along the Warta River is smooth, green, wild and full of hidden historic sites.

    Finding a place for 4 in an restaurant turned out to be a challenge - everyone seems to get married today and many places were reserved.

    Then, down at RESTAURACJA KASZTELAN NA PROMENADZIE SANTOKSl, we conquer an outside table just to discover all menue cards are in Polish language only.
    "No problem" the friendly waiter said and starts to translate the menues for us, word by word.

    We stop him because we are almost starved already and waiting time is promised to be another 40 minutes.

    The he food was good, the mood excellent and we start to look for a beautiful spot for the night.

    Needless to say the day ends with campfire tales...    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
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    Finally the first Biwak Camp

    September 5, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    The night is bloody cold and I start searching for my better sleeping bag in the middle of the night. For now we are still lacking a system to exactly know where is what in this gigantic camper with lots of hidden space.

    To be honest, it is merely a lack of communication since we both started organizing our necessities and forgot to communicate with each other 😉

    Today we decide to do a significant leap towards the East and drive a couple of hours on solid roads. But we aren't quite happy with this decision and return back to the planned trail. We are slower and see so much more of the fantastic countryside.

    The truck performs well and things are getting more relaxed on the technical side.

    Weather forecast is promising for the next few days, especially when looking to the East.

    Oh, and before I forget - didn't they say our truck was less than 3,49 tons? Well, look what happened to that wrotten bridge after we passed it... 🤔    Read more

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    Sunny days, icy skies at night

    September 6, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    The second night in a row with 6-7°C and we're still not quite prepared for this.

    And, clever as we are, we always choose nice lakeside camps or spots on a river bank. So nice and chilly and humid nights is all we experience so far.

    But honestly, would you trade the soft murmur of the lake shore and the foggy mornings over the river for a dry and cosy night at some copy 'n paste hotel or camp ground?

    We just rearrange our equipment and prepare for the nights and slowly but surely the taste and the smell of adventure becomes our daily experience.

    So far the countryside has been a drastic change from busy live along the river banks of Odra, Warta and Co. to slow moving late summer routines of farming and forestry around the north eastern country side.

    Another challenge we underestimated is refueling along the often very remote Greenlaning tracks. We can't recall that searching for gas stations consumed that much of our attention in previous years.

    Tonight, after having a wonderful dinner at a superb little brewery restaurant we decided spend our night in an apartment on a horse ranch. And the hot shower let's you almost forget the curses of last night's chattering teeth contest down by the river.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
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    Castles, Dwarfs and Breweries

    September 7, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This morning we all felt too lazy to get going again. Besides the warm and cozy rooms, the excellent food, the friendly hosts and the stables full of curious hoof crawlers there is so much to be discovered nearby - and we decided to take a one-day-rest from our holidays (to be honest...we need to go shopping for some door seals to prevent the dust crawling into through the backdoors of our "Buddha").

    We have some wonderful ice cream at downtown Malbork, stroll around in one of the world's largest fortresses, enjoy the walk along the riverbanks and the coffee at friendly 25°C.

    And, of course, we find and buy some door seals, managed to silence the awfully noisy driver's seat and fix some electrical outlet issue on the Defender.

    Needles to say that we enjoy some excellent food all during the day.

    Tomorrow is the Kick Off for the next stage to take us Greenlaning up to the Lithuanian border.    Read more

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    🛑Under Construction 🚧

    September 8, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    The day starts with the understanding that overdressed male business junkies are the same all over the world - empty headed egomaniacs with no sense social behavior.
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever...

    Nevertheless our today's trail across Masuri is tasty, divers and challenging (no, not the OFFROAD tracks, it is the long road constructions that really challenge us) and in the end takes us quite close to the Kaliningrad enclave - a little off the track we originally planned. But who cares since we mainly proceed by instinct rather than a plan.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Drama, Drama and good food

    September 9, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Most of the time the track we follow is a narrow one-lane trail. Today we encounter a car parked halfway on the track. As I try to pass it I seem to get uncomfortably close to it with the large side mirror and I make a slight move to the right. A touch too much as it seems and the Buddha decides to jump into the deep ditch on the left side and tends to tip over...

    While Paula and Anke leave the Buddha I shift into 4x4 reduction, throw in all the diff locks and with the counterweight of two helpful souls manage to back out of the ditch. Challenge taken and solved👍

    Along the road we discover a small restaurant - and have an excellent lunch.

    Later in the day we take a break at the base of an old viaduct and take some impressive pictures. As we are already heading back to the main road one of our travel companions realizes that she has lost her smartphone. So it's back to the Viaduct and searching for the beloved "remote control".

    We are lucky again after 10 Min or so, return to the main road and start looking for a place to camp for the night.
    We are rewarded at a well maintained public BBQ place with a great view over the lake.

    Campfire? What else...    Read more

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    Border hopping, Canal stuff + Bye-Bye

    September 10, 2021 in Lithuania ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After a short discussion Ellen and Bernd decide to ride with us for one more day before they start their return trip back home to Hamburg. Goal is to at least set foot into Lithuania and get a taste of what lies ahead of Paula, Anke and myself.

    We start with a short stop at the “Oberländischer Kanal”, a famous channel with a century old ship lifting devices. Perfect timing we have - we arrive just in time to watch a boat to be lifted to the next level.

    Roaming the “Rominter Heide” is next on our schedule - a nature resort and special retreat close to the Polish-Lithuanian border. For centuries it had been used as a hunting area by European Lords, Kings and Emperors and nowadays still is famous for the ruins of old railway Viaducts. Forests are still wild and dark in this area (and without GPS signal) and we loose our way and ride in circles returning to a new scenic tower several times.

    Since we are traveling “after-season” we are almost the only foreign tourists out on the tracks and the local people take their time having a chat with us whenever we stop for food, sight seeing or curiosity.

    Finally we reach the Polish-Russian-Lithuanien triangle and cross the border into Lithuania to take our noon break at Lake Wystit.
    As we enjoy the fantastic view, the sparkling clean water, the border buoys marking the Russian border and the fresh coffee we made, Paula decides to take a stroll and roam the nearby campground for food. Our travel companions would like to spend their last night in a hotel we book a room at the “Villa Skomanda” in Augustow for them - a wonderful small hotel and adventure operator owned by friends of ours.

    We jump in the cars to drive back to Poland for our Bye-Bye dinner – and almost forget to take Paula with us!

    Back to Poland again for our dinner with the “Inselmanns”, sending them to Augustow for the night while we return to Lithuania (again!) to continue our Eastward Bound 2021 experience.

    After an hour or so driving into Lithuania we discover a wonderful nice spot directly at a small lake with a brand new wooden picnic area and a fireplace included.
    A couple of locals come by to go swimming in the lake and later on the local police force makes sure that we're alright.

    To give the day a perfect end the night turns out to be warm and very dry – the first time on this trip.    Read more

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    Lakes, Forests, more Lakes, more Forests

    September 11, 2021 in Lithuania ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Since we went to bed early last night (our typical traveling rhythm – tired early in the evening, wide awake at sunrise) we're up for an early swim (me that is), small breakfast and out on the road early.
    Today's goal is to put in a driving day to take us to Lithuania's eastern border with Belarus and as far North as we can get. We want to get all the way to North Eastern Estonia during this round trip. So it is less Greenlaning and more back road gravel and broken asphalt.

    The traffic is far less compared to Poland (which already had far less traffic than Germany) except for the small towns. Since this is Saturday it is flea- and farmer markets day and we find a wide variety of fruit, vegetable and things we don't need. Again (as every time we travel into Lithuania) we feel completely helpless when it comes to the Lithuanian language...until we realize (again) that most of the people speak English more or less.

    During the day again we realize that going straight forward deprives us of so many beautiful impressions and we decide to return to our spontaneous lake hopping mode. It still needs some time until we realize that this is a holiday trip and fixed goals are worth nothing.    Read more

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    Latvian Smoke Sauna...

    September 12, 2021 in Latvia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    If you follow our track on the map you will have realized by now that our way is not along the most touristy destinations. We decided to search for those nature gems in the more remote areas of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

    Still backroad riding takes a lot of time and resilience against potholes, gravel tracks and bumpy patches (not to speak of the 4x4 challenges) and we decide that we have deserved a special treat. So we book a small former farm house on a large horse keeping ranch with a...Latvian Smoke Sauna!

    This is supposed to be a very healthy way to practice the Sauna ritual, still it is not made for people that like light and sterile places.
    The traditional smoke Sauna was a place for smoking fish and meat during the week and "smoking" humans during the weekend celebrations. As the open fire is started in the Sauna to heat the massive pile of rocks, the water basin and the birch whips it takes about 4-5 hours to prepare.

    We gave our best and enjoyed the Sauna for more than two hours and today all the towels still smell freshly smoked - and so do we.

    Honestly - it is great to have a fixed bed for a night or two and we decide to spend another day at this wonderful place (besides they have WiFi in the main building - 1,5 Kilometers away and it it is good to do some walking exercises out here).    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
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    Lazy Monday

    September 13, 2021 in Latvia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    What did we do on this lazy Monday?

    Almost nothing and still a lot. We do some of our laundry, reorganize the packing of Buddha (again), recover from last night's Smoke Sauna, hike to the main building to do some Internet research, eat a lot, groom Paula and a lot of other things...

    Tomorrow we'll be back to the trail heading further Northeast.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
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    Roughing it

    September 14, 2021 in Latvia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    From the 184 Km we did today it was about 150 Km of gravel, mud and bushland - 4x4, reduction and lockers, we used them all during this tough ride.

    The weather is also roughing it - stormy, with fantastic cloud formations. The temperature dropps considerably and we drive with the heater turned on for the first time.

    As Anke is the only one with internet access during the day I have to rely on her weather predictions - and she promises a cold night ahead with 4°C max. I give in and Anke books another place for the night (damn, booking nowadays is just too easy) and we end up with this wonderful small cabin, an extremely friendly landlord, the probably craziest sunset we have had in years and...a Sauna with outside tub...    Read more

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    Bridges, Mushrooms...and Clouds!

    September 15, 2021 in Latvia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Or should I rather say "Apples, Forrests and Lakes"?

    Our main reasons why we love to travel the Baltic States in late summer/early fall are the colors (lakes and forrests), the late summer fruits and vegetables, and the fantastic cloud formations, of course.

    Since we have never cruised up North this far in the East through Latvia we are quite surprised how empty the country is (when it comes to traffic and people in public), how easy going and friendly the few people we meet are, and how many lakes we pass during our cross country ride.

    What really catches our attention are the alleys of apple trees we pass along the way...and the mushrooms and the bridges...    Read more

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    No "Russia today"

    September 16, 2021 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    This morning we leave Latvia on a small gravel road and enter Estonia very close to the Russian border. The main road would take us through the Russian Enclave on Estonian territory but our chosen trail is to lead us around it.

    The track has some of the most demanding passages so far (for me that is, Anke chooses to take a walk with Paula) and I am very much impressed by the offroad capabilities of the Buddha.
    But that bloody tunnel is just not wide enough so we turn back and detour for several kilometers.

    We come by a famous cave system today known for the bat breading sanctuary. While we pass along we notice a border patrol and a police car on the side of the road. I am sure they will stop us, but they don't . At least not yet.

    Searching for an advertised restaurant we realize many of the places are already locked down due to the end of the summer season. So we turn around and...we're stopped by the police and border patrol.
    The young policeman is a little stiff and seems to go by the book while the elderly boarder patrol guard is mainly interested in our truck. The tone is very friendly and helpful and we have a good chat while they check our data and those of the Buddha.

    One point arises their attention: it says in the German registration in one column "1950" and the elderly gentleman is sure that there must be a mistake. He remembers that they had Ivecos like ours when he was a young border guard - and that was definitely not in the 1950ies.
    Explaining the registration we point out that this vehicle was first registered in Belgium in 1989 and that matched his memory.

    As we have another frosty night ahead of us again we decide to book a cabin. What a surprise to find out that the landlady rents out her private house and stays with some friends for the night.
    After an interesting conversation she leaves us with her huge property and the big house.

    It is during unloading our stuff for the night that I discover one of the antennas dangling from the roof of the truck. As I check on top of the roof I discover the antenna had torn out an aluminum shindel and left a hole of about 10 x 18 cms.
    So I spend this evening glueing the shindel back to the roof with some silicone bond. Let's hope that it holds the roof water tight until we get back home.    Read more

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    Total Blackout & Point of return

    September 17, 2021 in Estonia ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    After a horrible night (Anke chooses the worst mattress in ages and I have an imaginary tick attack, but that's another story...) Anke prepares fried Parasol Mushrooms (we hunted down yesterday) for breakfast and I start packing the Buddha.

    To my surprise the "Low Battery Alarm" is blinking - and low them batteries are. No start is possible now.

    Great, no 24 V charger along, no other car or truck in sight.

    I call our host and she comes along with her car and a 2nd set of charger cables. Meanwhile I disconnect the two 12 V batteries and start charging them parallel and individually with the two sets of charger cables. And I start to search for the reason why the batteries were empty in the first place.

    Let me tell you that much - had I met the guy that fucked up the electric wiring on this truck, I'd probably run out of friendly words rather quick.

    In this case the joke is on me, after all I knew that the wiring was done by a total looser and I had just been to lazy to eleminate the worst traps.

    Hardly two hours later the truck is running and we were on the road to finally spend some time on the shores of Lake Peipus.

    What a wonderful place to be - even with ice cold and gusty Eastern winds.

    Needless to say that despite the weekend coming up we find a great place with a sauna and good mattresses (although we have to fight to take Paula with us into the Hotel - on their German sight it says "Dogs allowed", on the English and Estonian site they charge €50,- per animal and night. For that kind of money in the future we'd be traveling with an elephant).

    Good night.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Pähnamäe talu metsamajake

    September 18, 2021 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    "Pähnamäe talu metsamajake" how does that name sound to you?
    We like it, the cabin looks promising (though rather very basic) and we decide to spend our first night of the return trip right here at the shore of the lake.

    Very small, very cold (at our arrival) and very basic - what a contrast after our last nights luxury accommodation.

    The biggest surprise are the library and...the toilet! Dozens of books (mainly in Estonian language, but a few in English, French and German) of an age long time passed, some sorted out for exchange, some well kept for generations of nature lovers and fishermen to come.

    The classical outhouse (which at first we couldn't find for it was well hidden behind the trees) is a totally different story: Double seater (for a nice chat at the beginning or the end of the day, or in between) with a nice view out to the lake the front door, all walls papered with artistic historic drawings of legendary moments in American, British and Russian history - all commented in Russian language. And, off course, it is exceptionally clean (and quite chilly in the morning because the night ended just about 0 degrees).

    While we discover the most beautiful backroads getting to this place we also face a challenge which we will call in our future adventure tales "The 15 ton error": As we followed a small winding river which takes us to a very narrow bridge we have to pass to enter the town. The weight sign for the bridge is all rusty and hard to read - it says something like 15 ton limit. We ask an angler who is standing next to the bridge and he waves us along to pass it and to continue our way into town...and we do so. When we reached the other side the weight limit sign on the town side of the bridge is in much better shape, and it reads: 1,5 ton limit. Can you imagine how we felt?    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Greed devours brain

    September 19, 2021 in Latvia ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    The weather is turning bad on us! Even colder and increasing rain. Since we feel that we have accomplished our mission by testing the Buddha for keeps or sales we decide to turn the final days into a relax & recovery holiday.

    So what better can we do than to return to that phantastic house with the Latvian Smoke Sauna? Said and done...almost. The house is booked but the landlady tells us that she has a similar wonderful place for us for even a better price.

    We trust her and when we get there late in the evening we're quite disappointed. A minimal cabin without any comfort for almost the same price as the Smoke Sauna farm house...

    As we are tired and cold we decide to stay, hoping to have a chance to talk to the lady for a somewhat better solution or rate. She keeps invisible and we decide to cut it down to one night only without any additional service.

    When we communicate our decision via WhatsApp she is deeply disappointed and tries convince us to stay.

    And the lesson is...sales is easy, service makes the difference. And greed devours brain for sure.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
    Thanks Mr. Andris!
    Moose is watching you!One more great cabin with inside Sauna and "Plumsklo"Headhunting for refugees...Too deep to go - and we didn't!

    1 st track we definitly didn't do!

    September 20, 2021 in Lithuania ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Again we start into the day just around 4 °C and an even slow rain. South-to-Southwest is the course we set and off we go - noisy,thirsty and slow. The Belarussian border to our left, deep forests and an seemingly endless chain of lakes to our right - so we decide to leave the gravel tracks and go greenlaning wherever we can and use it as a shortcut. It doesn't save us any time (actually vice versa) but it adds to our check- and funlist.

    Since we have gained some experience more often we stop for a short hike to check out the trail ahead of us - and are rewarded with the lack of stress, damage and desaster because with all that constant downpour some tracks have turned into deep mud holes.

    Again Anke manages to find a promising cabin directly on the lakeside. So after we have pushed our daily kilometer average from 170 to 250 KMS we leave Latvia behind and end our daily adventure on a huge private property of a log dealer. We are welcomed by his friendly wife and are impressed by the wonderful little house at the lak. Just the 50+ hunter trophies (wolves, deer, moose, foxes and wild boar) irritate us in the beginning, but we get used to them rather quickly. Except for that gigantic moose who seems to be spying on us all the time...

    The landlady and her daughter return to their home in Vilnius and leave us with that spooky hunter husband of hers. Who turns out to be very friendly, supportive and interested in our Buddha and our journey so far. And he feels that we look starved and feeds us with a kilogram of chanterelles and a huge "Elchwurst".

    We just stay for another day, roaming the forrest for mushrooms and viewing the Belarussian border we are shocked to find out that Europe (Latvia in this special case) has returned to the habit of headhunting refugees who try to enter Europe from Belarus.    Read more

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    How problems make friends.

    September 22, 2021 in Lithuania ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Even if it is hard to do - we have to leave the Trout lake and the nosy Moose since home and the coming up election are calling us back home.

    Once the Buddha runs and is warmed up (we still have daily temps of 10 °C max and the old diesel needs some time until the heater works) we start our daily procedure: while Anke is doing her online English training I try to ride the bull and avoid the maximum bumps and still maintain an acceptable speed to get us ahead. Later on, whenever we have a mobile data connection Anke will start searching the internet for our next place to spend a night or two.

    When it is time for lunch we sit down in some restaurant along the track, try to get a hint from the waitress which is the best meal today. The waitress suggests a special meal in good German and without further request we order two portions. We should have asked for more details, but the result (see picture) made at least Paula very happy and us a lot more careful for future orders. Over a desert and a coup of coffee and we start discussing Anke's search results .

    We agree upon going to wonderfully described house not far to the "Meteliu Regioninis Parkas"

    https://www.google.de/maps/place/Meteliai obser…

    and Anke books the place online (due to short notice no refund possible).

    In the afternoon we stop at a shopping mall and again are impressed how easy the people handle the daily Corona challenge. At the entrances of the Mall you have to prove that you are either vaccinated, tested or have recovered from Corona and shopping is possible without even wearing a mask (although many people still do so).

    While we continue to head for the booked house Anke finds out she's made a mistake and that there are no dogs aloud. After a short discussion we decide to go there anyway and see if Paula can convince Landlord and Landlady that she is the most loveably hairy creature in this world.

    As we get to the place we meet Günter (the Landlord first) and Anke tries to explain our challenge - but he just can't understand the problem. Naturally Paula is as welcome as we are and Günter's wife Eva agrees and welcomes with some sweets for the coffee break.

    In a few words - we became friends quickly and while Anke has some time to relax I am totally absorbed by Günter who kindly asks for my support helping him to write messages to German private car sellers since the family wants to buy a Volkswagen Sharan Diesel. So, if you by any chance are selling a Sharan (or know someone who does) let us know and we'll inform Günter and his team.

    Update: After our return we helped Günter to buy his desired Sharan.    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021

    Modern Poland in the middle of nowhere

    September 23, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Again (and especially this time) it is hard to say Bye-Bye - but I guess I'll be back in a couple of days or weeks driving a VW Sharan from Berlin Lithuania ;-)

    Traffic starts to pick up as soon as we enter Poland and as we pass the "Masury Lake" district we get stopped several times due to...traffic jams! We had forgotten what a waste of time thick traffic is and we start to wonder how the people living on one side of the road will ever be able to visit the other side without taking a holiday. They'll probably need a week to cross the road.

    It is easy to understand why huge road construction sites don't bother the people at all because they are promised a highway to reduce the transit truck traffic. We ask ourselves how that is supposed to work out since usually Polish highways are privately owned toll roads and are far too expensive for the regular truck traffic. As long as cheap consumption is the main driver for the national economies areas as the Masury Lake district may loose their ecologic charm...

    We manage to leave the traffic craze behind us and while the shades are getting longer we try to find our way to the next accommodation - a goat farm. Time to realize that the regular H4 driving lights on the Buddha are worth shit and we are quite shocked when at the very last second we see a huge deer buck at the side of the road just contemplating whether he should pass the road in front of us or behind us. Luckily he makes the right decision and we arrive at the goat farm with the last light of the day.

    Another warm welcome by the owners of the farm and a wonderful large room with a huge panorama window awaits us. Later at night we have an interesting discussion with the Junior and his girlfriend about their enthusiasm for Europe and the interesting European initiatives trying to bring the East of Poland and the Kaliningrad enclave closer together in infrastructure projects.

    There still is hope for Europe and hopefully the pro European powers in Poland will be more successful in the future.    Read more

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    Deer for Dinner?

    September 24, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We have made up our minds and decide to spend our last night in Poland at a place we know well from previous travels - a horse ranch where all animals around are domestic animals (more or less) and move in and out freely.

    Besides that they serve an excellent dinner and breakfast, have well maintained rooms and the social action going on the farm is always worth a visit.

    This time there is a group of handicapped people staying for several days enjoying the contact with all the animals around.

    Since the owners of the farm usually close up for the public at the end of October it may be our last chance this year to enjoy some peaceful hours out here.

    Just Paula is not very happy because that young doe living on the farm is quite curious about the new visitor and is chasing her around restlessly.

    After Dinner we sit down with the owner and exchange memories and stories and make plans for coming back the grandchildren for some horse training and maybe with some motorcycle customers for a golden October trip.    Read more

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    Fate will "make" your day

    September 25, 2021 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It is quite warm in the morning and the weather forecast is promising for the next couple of days. So after the last tasty breakfast we hit the road on a slow and pensive drive back to our workshop in "Strausberg Nord" (home of all our technical and mobile equipment).

    And while we are driving we start to discuss why it is that Polish car drivers seem to be quite schizophrenic - they drive extremely slow while passing the villages (which we find very exemplary) just to go completely nuts at the edge of town passing each other in the worst possible situations. We have the feeling the situation had gotten better during the last 10 years but presently is returning to havoc. Dozens of crosses and name plates on the trees along the long alleys speak a language for themselves.

    Just as we enter the region about 10 kilometers away from the Polish/German border cars are coming our way with alarm flashing their high beams. Another couple of hundred meters down the road we come a around a bend...and enter absolut disaster. The road is blocked with warning flares, a woman is screaming in agony and on the right side of the road a car is totally crashed and wrapped around a tree, reduced to about half a meter, the bloody face of the obviously dead driver pressed against a side window.

    Another passing maneuver with a dead end.

    We are deeply shocked, being unable to contribute anything constructive on site since the emergency crew is already coming our way - and our day ends in deep silence. What an end after such a wonderful time and the awareness is sinking in ever more to live our lives by the moment and not by plans and dreams...

    But the day is not over yet. We meet our friends at the workshop in the oldtimer club, start telling stories, unload the Buddha, load our car and drive on to Berlin.

    After bringing all our stuff back up to our apartment Anke realizes that she is missing her mobile phone...and after a short break we decide to drive back the 45 Km to the workshop to search for the phone.
    Only we have to find out that we can't locate the phone in the Buddha back at the workshop and we drive back home rather frustrated - just to find the phone lying in the kitchen...    Read more

  • Baltic Greenlaning 2021
    Time to reflect...

    Fine de la Musica?

    September 26, 2021 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Oh no, not for quite some time!

    First we will do a little analyzation about what worked (and how) and what didn't.

    Secondly we need your support to sort out the best 30 (or so) pictures to create the printed foto album we have promised our families and friends.

    The link to the complete collection of pictures you'll find right here:

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/8f42pGJ9DTQ6JDCM7

    You can all go ahead, take some time and take a good look to find the pictures you like best. We will start asking for evaluation the next couple of days.

    So stay tuned - to be continued!!!    Read more

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