From my diary. 11th July 2005.Photos for those who don't like to read.
After arriving in Klaipeda from Siauliai (Hill of Crosses) at about 10 in the evening, we found our HI Hostel, thankfully not far from the train station. After checking in we inquired about the tours for the Missile Base that we had read about in the Lonely Planet. Apparently the woman who normally did the tours was away, but the woman at the hostel thought she might be able to arrange something for us. Cool. We would sort it in the morning.
Next morning the woman said she knew someone who could take us if we were still interested. Yep. The guide arrived at about 11, a young Lithuanian guy who was home from studying in Vilnius (I.T.). We dumped our backpacks in his red Nissand (just fitted), jumped in and off we went. It was to be about an hours drive to the site.
After about an hour we turned off the main road onto a gravel road in to Zemaitija National Park. People swimming in lakes surrounded by forest. Followed the signs to Military Exposition (in Lithuanian..) and finally we were there, pulling up in front of a large barbed wire gate. There were a couple of other cars and a rangers booth, all deserted. Could see the top of the missile base, four concrete domes and a
stage in the middle. There was already a tour happening so we had to wait 15 minutes or so. While waiting our guide told us more about the base. When it was built the Russians covered it with plastic trees to hide it from satellite photos. According to the Americans, it didn't work.
The ranger came out from the site, bringing out the previous tour group of three. A discussion followed in Lithuanian between the ranger and our guide, the gist of which I thought was "no dice"!. But it turned out that the ranger was happy to unlock the place and let our guide show us around while the ranger took another group which had arrived while we were waiting.
Through the gate we walked over to one of the four missile domes which covered the missle silos. Rusty metal and flakin ....
Oh man. I just finished writing this entry and somehow when I went to post it I lost everything from here on. Aaaarrrh. Hmmm. I think it may be lost forever. Enjoy the photos .....
After Nida we caught the bus most of the way across Lithuania to Vilnius, the capital. (It's also when I started reading Anna Karenina which I've only just finished. I thought it would be a good idea to read Tolstoy in Russia, but unfortunately I didn't get around to it IN Russia! FWIW : it wasnt bad, bit of a slog at times.)
Unfortunately the photos from Nida really arent that exciting, but I didnt want to leave the place out of the blog as it was quite interesting for several reasons.
The travel photos will resume soon. It is just that the next lot are from the Soviet Missile Base and that deserves a decent explanation which requires a bit more story effort than the usual entry. For now here is a quick taster.
Made the most of a fine English summers' day today and headed off to the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. The garden itself is pretty amazing, but the highlight for me was definitely the glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly. 
The Hill of Crosses is an amazing site near the Lithuanian town of Šiauliai. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, and well worth the effort of getting there. Effort? Yep! It involved taking a local bus from Riga, crossing the Latvia-->Lithuania border, to Šiauliai. Then a taxi from Šiauliai out to the Hill of Crosses and back. Our taxi driver waited for us which was nice, considering he had both our back packs in the boot of his car ! Finally a train to Klaipedia, rocking up at a youth hostel around 10 at night to take two of the last beds. It was quite a day. But like I said, definitely worth it.
