Fucking Daugavpils

Among Latvians the second biggest town in Latvia – Daugavpils is considered a shithole. It is the place where even Latvians speak Russian (occasionally even better than Latvian), because most people are Russians. It is also known for Daugavpils fortress, Grīvas prison, trams (besides Riga and Liepāja) and collapsed heavy industry – in Soviet times it was a massive industrial town, there’s not much left from that, just abandoned factories. Daugavpils was also the birthplace for Mark Rothko, a famous American painter (for unknown reason some Latvians consider him Latvian).
First of all, if you are a typical tourist who is looking for beautiful sights, there’s nothing much for you to do in Daugavpils. You can probably just stop over for a night in order to explore Latgale’s region later, for instance, many lakes or churches. However, if you are looking for some weird staff, Daugavpils is the right choice. If you take the bus to arrive to the town, you might be surrounded by some gypsies that try to sell black-market cigarettes at the bus station, so better use the train if you arrive from Riga, it’s also cheaper. There are a couple per day. In Daugavpils it’s quite hard to find a nice place to eat for a reasonable price unless you like cool food (bistro Vēsma), kebab (in front of the bus station) or Hesburger (on Riga street). To spend a day, you can go to the fortress to see the abandoned buildings of Russian army. In some of the areas people still live today. Try to ride there a tram as it is different than in other towns in Latvia. In the center you can explore a few shopping malls that have taken the best spots of the town or browse through the shabby looking areas such as Ķīmiķu ciems (village of Chemistry people) – a place for factory workers used to live. In general, Daugavpils can be explored within a few hours. Many roads of the town are still with sand (perhaps due to lack of money for asphalt), so remember to take extra shoes or a bottle of water to wash your feet if you don’t stay in a hotel or guest house.

Daugavpils is Russians’ town

People are experiencing economical crisis also in Daugavpils

Tram in Daugavpils. They are actually of different design and colours

Market in Liepaja

Market in Liepaja, just like every market in Latvia, attracts with cheap food produced by poor country people and some extra shit, such as socks and batteries usually sold by old grannies and daddies that dress like beggars and smell of piss. Saleswomen in market are of special category. Not all, of course, but most women look like butch type of lesbians (well, some look just like old masculine wankers). Even those with cute faces try to use the worst clothes they can find, so that they fit with overall dress code of market.

Beautiful saleswoman is selling some apples and smoking a fag

Now about those people who smell of piss. Usually it’s not cos they live on streets, most likely they have a flat or house, but it is expected that they live alone, so no-one can help them to wash clothes or take a bath. It is also truth that after a while people don’t recognize their smell, so probably these grannies don’t realize when it’s time to take a shower and change underwear. Surprisingly, these people very often sell you bras and shampoos.

Hey, granny, when was the last time you changed your panties?

Market is also a place that hasn’t changed over these times. People, goods and equipment looks just like 20 years ago. It is an interesting journey back to the past. Of course, I am talking here about people who sell food (vegetables and meat), cos all sock and battery ladies is a post-soviet production – desperate pensioners who lack money and thus sell some shit to earn extra pennies for bread and vodka.

By selling onions probably she earns less than 100 $ per month

So, forget museums of ethnography, go to market to see how people lived 20 and more years ago. Most food is ecological and “organic”, the only thing is to be careful with flowers. If you see an alcoholic selling just a few flowers it means that most likely he had stolen them from some grave in a cemetery near-by.

Fucking Sigulda

This is a must-see place. It’s a small town in Vidzeme, kinda East Latvia, some 2 hrs by bus or rail, service is pretty regular, you can easily go from Riga in the morning and get back in the evening. If you have bought some tour de Latvia than this place will be definitely on the list as it is famous for Turaida castle, bobsleigh and a bit of hills and rocks that let you enjoy nice panoramic views. Castle is of course a place to see since there are no better in Latvia than this one. Of course, it’s rebuild and looks sad comparing to anything you have seen in Scotland or France. But fuck the castle, there are quite a few more options.

Wanna go down at 200 km per hour?

They have a bobsleigh track there which is open in summer too. You can get in the bob for about 5 lats and a driver (usually a woman, some ex-bobsleigh pilot) will drive you down the track in about 2 min.

Some people in bob

It’s nothing like carousel or any other shit, this is real staff. In winter, of course, the track is busy with sportsmen, but why would you go to Sigulda in winter? You would miss also the green landscape. Inside the bobsleigh track there is a view point (well, you pay very little money to get in) and this is the beauty you see:

This is real Latvia

A view from the top of bobsleigh track

Wanna stay overnight? Last summer we stayed one night in a place called Hotel Sigulda. We didn’t try breakfast, but rooms very of high standard, clean and with all facilities inside. In Germany for such a service you pay three or four times more, there prices start at 30 lats per single and around 40 lats per double. There is also nice place around the same prices called Villa Alberta, or if you even want to pay less, try guest house Livonija.

Fucking Cesis

Cesis is a small town in Vidzeme, kinda East- North of Latvia, about 2 hrs by car or 3 hrs by train. If you want a bit more precise info, why don’t you try Wikipedia?

Cesis looks cosy, tiny town and probably the architecture is the only thing to see there. Well, if you want to spend a full day there it’s probably too much, a couple hours is enough. Old centre is small, you can walk trough in 10 minutes. We spent an hour and saw every little street at least three times. We even got bored, so we tried local toilets that cost 20 santims per pee and you even get a ticket. There are also a couple civilized places to eat and drink with good-looking members of stuff. The town was also quite clean but perhaps it was because they had a big cultural event called “Arts festival” when we were there.

Typical architecture in Cesis. “Fuck off” is the best what local graffitti artists can make.

Yeah, people in Cesis do like a word “fuck”, probably the only swearword in English they know.

Local train station, empty but it still operates. I am sure it looked the same 50 years ago. Fuck security, you can walk down the rails, which is great.

This is a “House of Culture” where locals get educated about conceptual art, philosophy and current musical tendencies.

Local residents. This was the biggest group of people we saw that day. The lady on left seems like flirting with the lads. A walking stick is probably latest fashion in Cesis, who knows.

This supposed to be the biggest pedestrian street in Cesis. At peak-hour (5pm) we see only this jerk with a dog – where da fuck is anyone else?!

We have no clue what is the best place to stay in Cesis, but we have been suggested a place called gueshouse Martins where single room without breakfast starts at 6 lats only, breakfast – 2 lats. That’s damn cheap!