Kuldiga, Latvia

Kuldiga

From Cesis we drove back past Riga - actually we accidentally ended up driving back through Riga - and on to Kuldiga.

Driving through Riga instead of around it wasn't the only wrong turn we took, there were half a dozen en route, which added an hour or so to the journey, so we didn't stop off at one of the places we had been considering.

Where we stayed in Kuldiga

We did stop for lunch at Rumene Manor though, which was definitely a good decision. You can't look around unless you are a guest there, but the restaurant is cosy and stylish, with great food - especially the delicious rosemary and olive oil ice cream with sea salt on top. We may have to try making some of that ourselves one day when we have our own kitchen again.

Where we stayed in Kuldiga

Once in Kuldiga, I navigated my way slightly nervously through the narrow gap that led to the back of the house where we could park the car, hoped that the builders working there wouldn't drop anything on it, and took a look around our 17th century home for the next few days. It was a nice little place, but unfortunately, there was a low hanging pendant lamp in the living room, and inevitably, Nic walked into it almost immediately. It wouldn't be the last time, either!

Kuldiga

We took a brief look around the closest part of town, but really didn't feel like checking out all of the food options, so settled for the nearby Hotel Metropole. It was nice to sit out on the terrace to eat, and the food was decent, if unremarkable. We were more interested in trying a recommended cafe afterwards, but that was shut.

The next day, we got on with the sightseeing, which took us all of about 5 hours, even including a break for lunch! It is a small place, and there isn't a great deal here, but it is still a good place to visit, simply for the nice old buildings. The town can be traced back at least as far as 1242, and there are many building that, like the one we were staying in, date from around the 17th century.

Kuldiga

Some of them have been nicely restored, but there were also a number that seemed like there wasn't much holding them up still, with parts bowing in a precarious looking way. There was certainly work going on in some of the more central buildings, including our own and the one next door.

Kuldiga

The other thing that there was a lot of going on here was weddings. It was a Saturday, but everywhere you looked there was a car pulling up with a bridal party; people were having to be careful not to end up at the wrong wedding!

Whilst the town was worth a visit in itself, I can't honestly say that the main tourist sights  added that much. The old brick road bridge across the River Venta isn't really that old, as it was built in 1874.

Tallest waterfall in Latvia, Kuldiga

At 164m, and wide enough to take two carriages passing each other, it is supposed to be one of, or possibly the, longest bridge of its kind in Europe. If you are a particular fan of bridges, then this one may well merit a visit, but otherwise, it really wasn't anything special to look at.

Kuldiga also has the tallest waterfall in Latvia, and the widest waterfall in Europe. That sounds far more impressive than it looks. The tallest, which is on the Aleksupite river, is still only 4.5 metres high, and even that was man made in order to power the mill next door.

Widest waterfall in Europe, Kuldiga

The widest is at least natural and genuinely wide, at 240 metres, but it is only a very low drop, so that loses some of the impact, and it isn't pretty, like for example, the small but attractive Kuang Si in Luang Prabang.

People were paddling their way along the top of it, so we watched for a while, perhaps secretly hoping that someone would fall in, but no one did.

Kuldiga

There were some nice looking gardens, and in town there was an interesting sculpture called Teleports, which is a collaboration by sculptor Gļebs Panteļējevs and architect Andris Veidemanis. It shows someone walking through a portal from the past to the future, using rusty cast iron on the back to show the 17th century and polished aluminium on the front for the 21st century.

Orthodox Church, Kuldiga

Even though there certainly are tourists around, Kuldiga doesn't feel too overrun, perhaps because many are coach party day trippers, who stick to the main sights and are gone by later afternoon. We were quite surprised at the lack of souvenirs and postcards on sale. 

Back on the food front, we had some excellent pancakes in Cafe Makkabi, and dinner at Goldingen Room, was both good quality and good value, which was a pleasant surprise given its location right in the town hall square.

Kuldiga

Teleports, Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Town Hall, Kuldiga

Tourist Information office, Kuldiga

Church of the Holy Trinity, Kuldiga

Church of the Holy Trinity and Church of St Anne, Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

St Catherine's Church, Kuldiga                                                   Kuldiga         

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Kuldiga

Lovely landscapes, though not much else, in Vang Vieng - but at least we didn't get shot at!

Vang Vieng

Our next destination in Laos was Vang Vieng. We were getting the normal bus this time, with only very slight trepidation after hearing about the one a few weeks ago that was shot at by bandits.

Apparently it was going along the same road we would be using, and they fired about 50 shots into the bus. Thankfully, the driver saved the day by being quick on the uptake, he swerved - which both moved him a little further away and made the passengers fall away from the windows - and got out of there as fast as he could.

Vang Vieng

I am pleased to say that our journey passed with no such excitement - just one poor woman who got terribly travel sick for a long part of the journey. It is apparently a route where locals are more prone to it, because of the winding roads as you pass through the mountainous karst region. It is beautiful scenery, if you're not feeling ill.

As is often the case around here, we weren't quite sure where we would be dropped off. Most information, and man at the bus station we got our tickets from, said it would be about 3km outside of town. When we got off, we weren't sure - and no one seemed to be able to tell us. A tuk tuk driver was very keen to tell us it was some distance away, and wanted to take us and the three girls we were chatting to, for what seemed like quite a lot of money.

Vang Vieng

Thankfully, the girls had an internet connection and were able to look up where we were on their phones. It turned out that the big carpark we were next to was in fact the old airstrip that runs behind both of our respective hotels. We were a five minute walk away. Needless to say, we didn't take the tuk tuk; sadly this was just another example of someone trying to take us for a ride - this time both literally and metaphorically!

Anyhow, Vang Vieng. We nearly didn't bother, as its reputation is the worst kind of backpacker hell. To appeal to the young backpackers that started coming to Laos, Vang Vieng set up the river for tubing (for anyone not familiar, that is going down the river on a large inflated tyre inner tube). They opened numerous pubs along the way, and very soon this was a drink and drug fuelled party town.

Vang Vieng

Not only is this very hedonistic behaviour contrary to the Buddhist way of life, and presumably quite galling to locals who have to get by on so little, it also resulted in numerous accidents, injuries, and indeed deaths.

So even though people were getting a nice little income from this, they did clamp down. You can still go tubing, and there are a couple of pubs you can stop off at, but you are no longer supposed to be allowed back on the water if you are drunk.

Vang Vieng

However, the town is very much a backpacker central, albeit that now the whole scene has calmed down considerably, and many people now spend their time exploring the scenery of the karst mountain area and the numerous caves to be found here.

There are still multiple bars, including one which constantly shows back to back episodes of Friends, and places where you can buy 'happy' drinks and pizzas. But alongside that, we saw posters asking tourists not be disrespectful by walking down the streets in their shorts and bikinis, and one piece of graffiti that was rather more direct and told tourists to go home.

Vang Vieng

I think if you are going to head off exploring, this is still a worthwhile place to visit, because the area is beautiful, but aside from that, there really isn't much here, and the place is still far too overrun with tourists to make it a place to come to really absorb the culture. It is a shame really, as this is really an awful example of tourists ripping the heart out of the places that the visit.

Mind you, some of the locals know how to party too. We were here during some music festival or other, which was taking place late into the evenings on the old airstrip, not nearly far enough away from our room. Not that we'd have minded had it been any good - we'd likely have been joining in - but most of it sounded truly awful.

You'd also find groups of local teens down by the river, with their huge sound systems in the back of their, often equally huge cars, booming out music. This blast of modernity was an interesting contrast to the very rickety looking bridge, which you can hear creaking when traffic passes over it.

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng