LATVIA Gauja NP 1; Cesis and Sigulda

We set off at 9 am, heading south to Latvia and Riga; we will drive through the Gauja National Park.

Latvia has been invaded by every regional power; it has a population of less than 2 million, and the language spoken is a Baltic language similar to Lithuanian - 40% of the population are Russian speaking, however. Half of the country is covered by forest, and timber is a big part of the economy; other main exports are fish and canned fish. There are lots of folk songs, and it is a very "singing" oriented country. The women are the tallest in Europe, on average.

The Gauja National Park was established in 1973; it is only an hour or so outside Riga - and very popular for day trips from here. We stop off at Cesis, a small town on the Gauja River, noted for its 13th-century castle, which was sacked by Ivan the Terrible in 1577. We walk around the castle grounds and see some of the town; see picture captions for details.

We stop off at Sigulda, regarded as the gateway to Gauja National Park, for lunch, and visit the nearby cable car for the view over the Gauja River. It is then a short drive to the other side of the river and our next destination, the Turaida Museum Reserve.Read more