another 6a.m. start the next morning, first light i was up and away, and was waiting only 5 minutes before i get a lift to lomza. had to walk into town, and then out a little bit, and another quick lift to graejwo. here i got really stuck, in the hot hot sun burning my face, 2 girl hitchers had come and got a lift, how demoralizing seeing i had been there hours and not even a sniff of a lift! finally finally, tomek saves me... he's going to toma, it's on the way to augustow... ok, i'm desperate just to get any lift and i jump in. toma turns out to be a middle of the forest place, but fortunately there is a bus stop with a lay-by. and luckily i don't have to wait long before i get the lift to augustow. maryna offers me tea and sandwiches too, and i was happy she could speak english too and was good company to augustow. i filled up on water and had a quick wash at the public water place, and saw maryna again. she persuaded me to do a little busking in the main square as she wanted to hear me drumming. so i did, it was a bit of a shock for the residents of augustow probably.... but maryna enjoyed it at least. i walked out to the hitching spot and tried thumbing, but no luck. and the weather was threatening rain... one old woman waiting at the bus stop even came up to me and told me the times for the bus to suwalki, speaking in french! "it will rain, it will rain", glancing up at the sky. and sure enough, some time later, it began to piss down. i waited under the bus shelter and hailed the sulwalki bus. it was still pissing down there too, and i took refuge in the bus station waiting room.
what to do, i was desperate to get hitching again, but i would get soaked for sure. nothing to do but sit it out. much later that evening, the rain eased off and i walked out of town for the road to the border, and found a place to hitch. wasn't the best of choices, but i didn't feel to look for a sheltered place to kip... happily, a large 4wd pulls over for me out of the petrol station on the opposite side of the road. maggie and her dad and brother could drive me to about 5kms from the border, there was a petrol station there where i could try to get another lift. but after an hour of trying there, i called it quits for the night and found a place to kip rough again. yet again, i'm waking up at 6a.m., this being sunday morning.... and it wasn't looking too hopeful. what was it with these border areas? like some sort of psychological as well as physical barrier for the drivers... the truckers kept flying past my outstretched thumb, as well as the lithuanian, latvian and estonian registered cars and vans. a polish truck pulls into the services and parks up quite close to me. i take the opportunity to ask the driver as he gets out of the cab. "graniza? graniza is dobra", i plead, beg. maybe he picks up the slightly desperate tone in my speech and says "ok". after getting some provisions, he drives me the last 5kms to the border, through the polish side, then the lithuanian post, and finally parks up just after. probably to get his paperwork cleared, i assumed. i didn't care, i was happy to be in lithuania, and walked on a bit to the services up ahead. it was a bright sunny morning which cheered up my mood, and dried out my clothes. i sat at a picnic table and had breakfast, and then to the road once more.
a french registered car pulls up and already i'm at the driver's side speaking to him in french... but soon realize that he isn't french and he doesn't speak french, but fortunately he speaks a little english. he's going to kalingrad, but he can take me a little bit past marijampole on the road to kaunus. it turns out that he is also a fire-horse, a couple of months older than me. i had to walk a bit past the junction where he dropped me off to find the services on the opposite side of the road... and fortunately a tarmacked side road for the cars to pull over. luckily i didn't have to wait long before i get a lift to kaunus, this time, the lingua franca was german. unfortunately, a misunderstanding made the driver drop me off at a hitching point on the a1 road to riga, i had intended to give up hitching and instead take a bus to riga with the lithuanian money i had saved from busking last year. no fear, it was still sunny and with a sign, i get a lift to the a8 turn-off direction riga.
what to do, i was desperate to get hitching again, but i would get soaked for sure. nothing to do but sit it out. much later that evening, the rain eased off and i walked out of town for the road to the border, and found a place to hitch. wasn't the best of choices, but i didn't feel to look for a sheltered place to kip... happily, a large 4wd pulls over for me out of the petrol station on the opposite side of the road. maggie and her dad and brother could drive me to about 5kms from the border, there was a petrol station there where i could try to get another lift. but after an hour of trying there, i called it quits for the night and found a place to kip rough again. yet again, i'm waking up at 6a.m., this being sunday morning.... and it wasn't looking too hopeful. what was it with these border areas? like some sort of psychological as well as physical barrier for the drivers... the truckers kept flying past my outstretched thumb, as well as the lithuanian, latvian and estonian registered cars and vans. a polish truck pulls into the services and parks up quite close to me. i take the opportunity to ask the driver as he gets out of the cab. "graniza? graniza is dobra", i plead, beg. maybe he picks up the slightly desperate tone in my speech and says "ok". after getting some provisions, he drives me the last 5kms to the border, through the polish side, then the lithuanian post, and finally parks up just after. probably to get his paperwork cleared, i assumed. i didn't care, i was happy to be in lithuania, and walked on a bit to the services up ahead. it was a bright sunny morning which cheered up my mood, and dried out my clothes. i sat at a picnic table and had breakfast, and then to the road once more.
a french registered car pulls up and already i'm at the driver's side speaking to him in french... but soon realize that he isn't french and he doesn't speak french, but fortunately he speaks a little english. he's going to kalingrad, but he can take me a little bit past marijampole on the road to kaunus. it turns out that he is also a fire-horse, a couple of months older than me. i had to walk a bit past the junction where he dropped me off to find the services on the opposite side of the road... and fortunately a tarmacked side road for the cars to pull over. luckily i didn't have to wait long before i get a lift to kaunus, this time, the lingua franca was german. unfortunately, a misunderstanding made the driver drop me off at a hitching point on the a1 road to riga, i had intended to give up hitching and instead take a bus to riga with the lithuanian money i had saved from busking last year. no fear, it was still sunny and with a sign, i get a lift to the a8 turn-off direction riga.
as i'm walking along the slip road to the hitching point, i thumb a car... and the young driver stops for me. armenus turns out to be driving to panevežys, and i ask him to drop me off in the centre.
here i get to the bus station and book a ticket for the next ecolines coach to riga! and then to maxima to buy a whole lot of grub to use up all of the lithuanian money which had been burning a hole in my pocket for a year and half or so!
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