Valga to Riga. (approx 160km)

Monday 15th September

Breakfast at the Metsis hotel in restaurant decorated with animal heads and bear skins.

Breakfast surrounded by hunting trophys

Check out soon after 10 and walk to the railway station which takes about 1/2 hour. The train to Riga is shown on the electronic display as leaving at 1143. Only a couple of other people in the station which is quite impressive, better than the one in Tallinn. What I think is a ticket office isn't; its sells something but not train tickets. The woman tells me to buy ticket on the train. At 1130  I don't see any sign of a train going to Riga. It starts here,  so I would expect it to arrive at least a few minutes before it is due to leave. There is a woman in an official looking uniform on the platform so I ask her "Riga?" and she replies "Autobus" and gestures me to go round to the back of the station. I am not completely convinced; is she just trying to get me onto the rival bus service,  but I don't see any sign of a train so I follow her and get on the bus. There are a few others on it already and some more get on before we leave at  about 1150, driving into Valga "city" centre and crossing the border into Latvia. My ticket costs 5.5 Euros. I know it is definitely the train replacement bus when we pull off the main road and head down narrow country lanes to a tiny halt where the woman in the uniform,  the conductor, waves to a couple of people waiting on the platform to get on the bus. Looks like even the locals were expecting a real train. This way I definitely get to see some of the Latvian country side,  to get to one station we seem to be driving through someone's back garden. The train is scheduled to stop at every station on the way,  so this could be a long slow journey. But after a couple more of these tiny stations, the conductor gestures to us to get off the bus and there, waiting for us at Strenci station, is a blue and yellow train; a diesel multiple unit of just three carriages.

A Real Latvian Train

And off we go, trundling through the Latvian countryside. Some of the small stations are little more than a clearing in the forest, not even proper platforms,  but at almost every one a few people get on or off. It's very rural, some farmland and lots and lots of forest. It is also very flat.

Tiny Station in the Forest

Lots of trees 

Pretty Lake 

On the map,  I discover later, that there were some hills nearby but the railway goes round them rather than over the top,  as railways usually do . Only one station, Cesis,  appears to be in a reasonable sized town. Luckily the train has windows that open so we get plenty of fresh air. At Zemitani,  we start passing through the un- prepossessing  outskirts  of Riga, arriving at the station about 4 pm. Riga station is quite impressive,  so not sure why Tallinn did so badly in the station building competition.

Train arrived at Riga

Train arrived at Riga on Left

Riga Station

Riga Station

Once I find my way out of the station, it is a short walk to Forums Hotel. A more modest hotel than the previous ones but it ticks all the right boxes, great location, reasonable price and decent room.