(actual date 29.5.15)
Today I dipped my toes in the Baltic.I moved on a further 90km and reached Jurmala,which is essentially a long pine clad sand spit to the west of Riga,about 20km long and 1km wide,separated from the mainland by the Lielupe river. Jurmala has been a beach and spa resort since the early 19th century (which was when Riga was the third largest city in the Russian empire after Moscow and St Petersburg)and its particular feature,other than the white–sanded (and Blue flag)beach which runs its whole length,is the collection of historic wooden villas,and pleasure halls of various descriptions,ranging in date from the 19th century to the Art Nouveau period.
It has always been a fashionable resort,something in the league of maybe,Deauville on the French channel coast,or the Venice Lido.Some of the guides describe it as the Cote D’Azur of the Baltic,but that may be overstating it a bit. It continued as a beach and spa resort through the Soviet era,when a whole series of sanatoria were built to administer various health therapies. These are still in evidence,but several are now just stark abandoned shells.It has moved on from there,and there are some swanky beach and spa hotels ,which apparently still attract the rich and famous,and it is still popular with Russians. Although some of the old wooden villas are empty and falling down,and quite a few are rather tatty,there are some very smart ones but also big flashy modern houses glimpsed through the trees,at the end of closed gated roads.I followed a walking guide I picked up at the information office, that took me round a few typical streets.
It has always been a fashionable resort,something in the league of maybe,Deauville on the French channel coast,or the Venice Lido.Some of the guides describe it as the Cote D’Azur of the Baltic,but that may be overstating it a bit. It continued as a beach and spa resort through the Soviet era,when a whole series of sanatoria were built to administer various health therapies. These are still in evidence,but several are now just stark abandoned shells.It has moved on from there,and there are some swanky beach and spa hotels ,which apparently still attract the rich and famous,and it is still popular with Russians. Although some of the old wooden villas are empty and falling down,and quite a few are rather tatty,there are some very smart ones but also big flashy modern houses glimpsed through the trees,at the end of closed gated roads.I followed a walking guide I picked up at the information office, that took me round a few typical streets.
 Typical late 19th/early 20th century wooden villas at Jurmali  |   |   The weathervane on this one dates it to 1913 |
There is a 2 Euro toll to get into Jurmala:as I approached I saw some cars stopped at ticket machines to the right of the road but before I realised what they where,I was heading over the bridge and it was too late.Having later stopped and looked up the situation on the internet it appeared that I had fallen into a classic tourist trap.To be stopped by the local police without a toll ticket is a 60 Euro fine,and they specifically target foreign vehicles as Latvians all know about the toll and aren't caught out by it.I passed 2 motorcycle cops waiting by the side of the road after a few hundred yards but I think my disguise as a goods vehicle saved my day.Subsequently I managed to safely drive back out of the town across the bridge,turned round,and bought a toll ticket ! There are two campsites on the coast at Jurmali:I tried both, and both ,although open were completely deserted. The second one I tried was in the grounds of a derelict Soviet sanatorium, and was empty, with no staff and it seemed insecure.Returning to the first one,a caretaker did appear on a bike on my second visit and I paid him,although I had met some Germans leaving earlier who had managed to spend the previous night there without seeing anyone to pay. My Lonely Planet guide is sadly out of date here, as it advises that it is a good campsite with its own waterpark, and cabins.I even picked up a flashy brochure for it in the Tourist Office,so perhaps it’s not Lonely Planet’s error entirely. The waterpark ,however was derelict, all the tubes removed and the pool empty and crumbling.I think market forces must be at work here,as I saw that there is a monster new waterpark at the other end of the town.Other than a biker couple in one of the cabins,I was in splendid isolation for some time, until at 7pm what looked like an unsupervised party of about twenty 14 year olds turned up on foot to stay in the cabins, which I suspect will lead to a noisy night, and finally one Latvian campervan arrived late in the evening and disgorged a large family.What the campsite does have is access to the beach 200 yards away,to a beautifully quiet section.Apart from the odd walker it’s deserted, although it has been a sunny day.I had a long walk down the beach,and dipped my toes,although the sand seems to be so gently shelving that you’d have to wade out hundreds of yards to be able to swim(seagulls were bobbing like ducks 100 yards offshore,able to reach the bottom by just dipping their heads)
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