The fine weather on Friday was followed by every humid and cloudy on Saturday, eventually developing into a full-blown thunderstorm which lasted for hours and drenched Daugavpils in torrential rain. So much for any plans to make another foray into the surrounding area.

Sunday and I still had no pictures of Daugavpils. Since the pattern seemed to be sun in the morning, thunderstorms in the afternoon, I set off in the morning on foot to take some pictures. Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia with just over 100,000 inhabitants, but it is hardly photogenic.  There is a large, well-laid out park, seems popular with locals who use it to rest and shelter for the sun.

 
Park in Daugavpils

  
Modern central avenue in Daugavpils

There is typical slav architecture, and an impressive modern central drag, an open air market selling clothes, fuit and vegetables. Shops seem few and far between with no tea shops or cafes to talk of.

<Gallery Daugavpils>

On returning to the flat I greeted the few people sitting on the wall in front of the flat. Sergei, one time Latvia decathlon champion and now sports teacher at a local school, keen to learn English, seized on the opportunity to try out his English and offered me tea in his flat.

Hence a cycle trip on Monday to visit his mother-in-law, who owns a farm about 15 kms outside the side on the Daugava River.

 
Lake by Daugavpils River

While the farm consists of some eleven acres of land, only a plot about the size of a normal allotment is under cultivation. Latvia seems to have suffered more than most countries from its separation from the former Soviet Union. Money is in short supply, jobs – if available at all – are poorly paid (ca. 160 GBP per month) with taxes running at about 50% of the gross income. If a community is lucky enough to have one inhabitant with a tractor, a little more cultivation can be achieved. But this is the exception rather than the rule. Many young people, in desperation, prefer to try their chances elsewhere.

<Gallery Demene>

Tuesday – trip down to the lakes around Demene, not from the border with Belarus. Interesting to see the area beyond the border shaded out on the satnav. Excellent quiet road as far as Demene but then again, dreadful unmade roads off the beaten track, but pretty undulating countryside interspersed with numerous lakes of varying sizes.. Kumbuli caught my attention. A small community, some older type wooden houses and dilapidated blocks of flats built under Soviet rule.

Today Wednesday 4 August – up at the crack of dawn for morning ride with Sergei. Conversation is limited but he is a very agreeable companion. We cycled to Kauja, east of the town, taking a variety of roads and tracks, passing lake and enjoying the shade of the forest. It was hot! I just saw in a newspapers that temperatures have exceeded 37 degrees C. The humidity makes it all the more oppressive.

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