Moving down south

Last night was one of my worst sleep in a hostel so far; constantly woken up by constant snoring of a french guy who booked in during the day. He seemed a really friendly guy with the lights on, but turned out to be a complete nightmare when the lights went out - he perpetually snored NON-STOP throughout the night. Ended up catching few interrupted breaks and decided to wake up at 7 and pack to get out as soon as possible. I suspect he probably knows his snoring habit, which reminded me that I should definitely bring ear plugs or my in-ear earphones on my next trip!

Whole bunch of party folks checked in yesterday and thanks to the warm welcome by the hostel, everyone literally gets a free beer and didn't stop till they left for clubs at the strike of midnight. Most of them only got back around 6-7ish in the morning. Riga, been one of the stag party destination, did not seem to disappoint in that aspect, although I will avoid those crowds as far away as possible, unless you are aiming to rock till 7am as well.

Took a day trip out to Sigulda, 60km east of Riga today. Cost of the bus ticket was 1.6 Ls and took a very precise 65min to arrive from Riga bus station. Been a general flat country, Latvia does not have any ski resorts to boast, but for the Latvians who wish to put on their skis or hop onto their snowboards, this tiny town is the place to be. Besides boasting a few castles that date back to 800 years in exact, I reckon the bob sled course is probably more famous than the sights, especially during low season where the cable car that ferries travellers across the Gauja River for 1.50 Ls in winter. There was a slightly minor mishap where I almost fell down the slopes due to the slippery snow accumulated on the steps. Made me look extra stupid when you have people who were happily going up the hill on their ski lifts whilst I was literally on all 4s trying to grab hold of anything to prevent me from falling 100m down. Picking the idea from the cross-country skiers, I did realise that I can use the same technique to walk faster on my shoes by literally 'sliding' on the black ice on the road. Surprisingly, it was quite effortless, and added a little bit of fun on the long walk. The weather was fantastic too, which allowed me to bring out my solar panels to start powering my bag of gadget (photo to come soon).

Rushed back to Riga just in time to pick up my backpack from the hostel before scurrying back to the bus station to catch the coach to Vilnius. Sometimes I think I live life too much at the edge, always planning things to the very last minute to make full use of every minute, really need to buffer more time in between! By the way, I hope to only travel on bus/trains during this trip except for my return back to London at the end.

Riga has been wonderful, although I might spend more time going to other parts of the country if it wasn't winter. Probably leave that for now and leave with good memories and head to my next destination, Vilnius in Lithuania, where I am really looking forward to meet up with my host through couchsurfing!