Day 12 - Helsinki -> Tallin, 107 km
It was pouring since morning, never like before during the entire expedition up to then. Even though I was packed at 9am, there was no chance of leaving the hotel. Therefore, I relaxingly ate breakfast, talked with my family and for almost 3 hours worked remotely, a kind of hot office ;) I checked the weather forecast by the way and it appeared that fine weather would follow from midday. It seemed improbable looking out of the window. Well, at midday I had to check out of the room so I took down my things and decided to re-park my motorbike under some roofing. I hoped that during packing, the weather would improve but to my surprise, when I got on the bike to go to the centre of Helsinki the sun came out!
Helsinki
There was another 14km to the centre, so I was in the Old Town in just a flash. I parked my bike in the parking area opposite the Presidential Palace and went off to visit Helsinki. After a short while I had to take off my thermals under my trousers, in some bushes because it had become really warm. I visited two cathedrals, the church in Skale and the market with local cuisine and with handmade goods, everything took me 3 hours. I also enquired what time the ferry was sailing out and with one hour in reserve I went to the ferry as an experienced tourist and knew how to get on the ferry. The motorbike was quickly secured, I took my rucksack with computer and up to the bar I went to get the best place visiting the decks on the way and one last photo of the harbour in Helsinki. I bought myself dinner, coffee and something sweet. Since there was good Internet access throughout the cruise, I checked what was going on in Poland. It uploaded a few photos on Facebook, and then proceeded to find accommodation options in Tallin.
After almost 3 hours I was in Tallin. My one aim here was to get to the Old Town. I cannot hide the fact that I began to worry about my motorbike, and, above all, the luggage on it. Therefore, I checked three parking areas but none of them was guarded. I decided to get to the heart of the Old Town and park there. In the end I left my motorbike in some small garden hugging a bar and went sightseeing. Tallin is magnificent and I will openly say that I liked it very much. The Old Town has been restored and some street renovation is still ongoing.
Tallin
I climbed up to the top of the hill (twice by accident) where the magnificent panorama of the entire city stretches along. I felt hunger after sightseeing and decided to return to the bar where I had left my bike. I ordered supper and after a moment this guy came up to me speaking in English. It appeared that he was Italian and was also touring on his motorbike. If that was not enough, he was riding on the same bike as mine, the same year and almost the same mileage and similar equipment. He planned to travel to Nordkapp and then is returning though Russia and Kazakhstan to Italy and plans to do everything on his bike. The only thing is that his accommodation is in hotels and guesthouses. Finally, he asked me if I had accommodation and proposed a hotel near the centre.
Since I had my eye on three places which were so near I decided to check those first. The first came up bullseye and the Vana Wiru hotel was just around the corner with its internal parking area. I considered it for long and booked accommodation via Booking.com and after several minutes rode up by motorbike. On that same evening I decided to see what the Old Town looked like at night. Although the beer gardens close at 11pm, restaurant owners invite you inside. It was wonderful here late evening, and the local beer tasted exquisitely.
Advice: Check two matters beforehand. The first is the ferry from Helskinki to Tallin and remember to check-in 45 minutes earlier. The other is the opening hours of the church in Skale for visitors because I had to wait 30 minutes and was a little afraid if I would make the ferry check-in. Fortunately, it isn't far (a few minutes by motorbike). Additionally, try to find more time than my 3-4 hours for visiting Helsinki. It's worth it.
Equipment: If you are planning to climb a fjord, iceberg or Preikostolen, it's necessary to take appropriate boots with you and ones, which are just below the ankle with a good tread. You can be sure that you will come across rain and that the rocks will be very slippery. The weather is very changeable to add to that and can change drastically in just several seconds because that's what happened to me on the peak. It's necessary to wear good fleece or wind stopper, clip the legs and have a good GPS with a trail map, which is key to avoiding danger.
Day 13 - Tallin -> Riga, 309 km
I got up really early in the morning it is rare for me to go down for breakfast at 7am, but surprise, surprise. I knew that the road to Riga before me was not so long, but I wanted to have enough time to visit it. The road to Riga didn't take me long because it was a little above 300km.
Riga Old Town
After getting to Riga, I went directly to the campsite which was probably the only one in the city and situated about 4km from the Old Town. Well, it's not a 'real' campsite but it's got everything you need and grass where you can pitch up a tent and a shower in the barrack. The washbasins are on the outside and there's a kind of reception with WiFi. When I decided to stay there for the night, it bucketed down. Okay, I have to admit that I became a little lazy and wanted some comfort. To add to this I thought that I would have to go on foot to the Old Town and return. I bought WiFi for 3 Euros and started to look for a hotel in the centre. After 30 minutes I was at a hotel called Tia. You will find it on the map but it doesn't look too good on the outside, something like an office building from the 1970s. With my soul on my shoulders I bought myself accommodation at 40 Euros, including breakfast. To my surprise, when I entered the room I saw new furniture, cleanliness and nice fragrance. The bathroom was also quite new, something in the IKEA style. To add to that, my motorbike was in secured parking with round-the-clock security. The centre was 10 minutes away on foot. I did well. The following morning I had the opportunity of eating a really good tasty breakfast, which was served, in the form of a buffet.
Riga is the most beautiful city I have seen during my trip and moreso, it's the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It has a huge Old Town with beaufiul, high and restored tenaments and loads of bars and restaurants. It is full of toursits and pleasant locals. I was impressed and on that particular day, I returned back late to my hotel.
Advice: Before leaving, it is worth checking the available Internet packages with your mobile operator. I knew that I would use the Internet quite a lot. Also I planned to work a few times online. There is the so-called Pakiet Atlantycki at Plus GSM and for 162 PLN I obtained 2.5 GB of bandwidth, which was completely enough for me. During the trip, there was no Internet only at one camp. I also noticed that there is WiFi at every Esso station but sometimes you have to ask for the access code.
Equipment: ELECTRONICS. There was quite a bit of it. I listened to music with Spotify on the phone (before leaving I downloaded the playlist locally) and audiobooks from the Audio Library. I have an intercom Interphone F5 on my helmet. Then it's the GPS: Garmin Zumo 590 lm, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (it is also a backup phone) and a webcam for the camera, two GoPro Hero4, one on the helmet, the other on a stick. The compact camera with the lens is a little better. I have to admit that the photos on the camera always come out nicer. To add to that there was a charger and cables, I always too double the amount of USB cables taking because they ceased to work on several occasions. There was also the additional POWERBANK so as not to run out of electricity (I think I used it once).
Day 14 - Riga -> Vilnius, 295 km
In the morning, in the hotel in Riga, I ate breakfast, packed and set off on my way. It took me a little while to leave the city and I still had to go to the station. That day, it took me more time to brace things up. In the end it was getting warmer, the sun was shining. Evidently, I switched to a slower mode.
Palace in Pilsrundale
I noticed that Statoil fuel stations dominated Latvia. The other thing I noticed was that the closer I got to Poland the more familiar products got. Latvia also surprised me with its motorways where there are bus stops and places where you can do
a U-turn. A storm front was later chasing me from Tallinn via Riga, Vilnius all the time. I tried to flee away from it.
I headed west several kilometers from Riga in order to see the Palace in Pilsrundale.
I had never seen anything so huge and glorious and I really advise you to visit it. If you don’t have too much time, it’s better not to visit the castle in Bauska in order to see the palace and its gardens, which are wonderful. When I finished visiting, raindrops started to come down. I decided at that moment to hit the road.
In Vilnius, however, rain got me. I rode to a hostel or campsite because I got somewhat wet and froze. I asked for some tea. Unfortunately, the hostel had no vacancies and a place to pitch my tent looked a little unlikely (it is the custom of great campsites in Norway). I decided to change the premises and look for a hotel. The situation repeated itself in Tallinn and Riga. Here, too, I found a small but very decent hotel called Rinno, which, in addition, had internal parking.
Well, compared to Tallinn, not to mention Riga, Vilnius came out very modestly. Although it is a beautiful city, it was perhaps due to fatigue, weather and homesickness that it did not make too much of an impression. However, I found a restaurant with local cuisine, which boosted my morale. Actually, I felt the fragrance walking by and an ad provided me with information about the local cuisine. I stepped back. It was a very good decision. That evening, I ordered an appetizer and a couple of dishes on a splurge and asked for small portions. After a moment, a couple from Germany perched next to my table and so another hour talking and drinking delicious, local beer passed by.
Advice: I'll write about the obvious. Before departure, inspect the motorcycle. Check if everything is OK in order to protect you from unpleasant surprises. If you change a tyre, check the bearing too. As it turned out, mine was in a sorry state, and the day before departure, I had to change it.
Equipment: Motorbike. I could write a separate chapter or book about the motorbike. Here I will say only that I rode on a BMW R1200 GS Adventure. I equipped it a little differently with Touratech accessories and guards. However, tyres are the most important thing (going on Metzelerach Tourance), BMW aluminum trunks, Tankbak and a good bag.
Day 15 – Vilnius -> Warsaw -> Poznan, 801 km
After breakfast I packed up and asked about the "release" of my motorbike. It was not raining, but it was cool and cloudy. It took me some time so I dressed up warmer. I was afraid that it would rain - completely unnecessarily. Fortunately kilometer per kilometer, it was getting warmer, and so from 9 degrees in Vilnius to 19 degrees in Marki near Warsaw. By the way, with each stopover I took off other successive layers of clothes.
I had booked accommodation in Warsaw. I very well know the hotel. I rushed to the front desk and ... I was surrounded with doubt whether I wanted to stay the night in Warsaw. I asked if I could just cancel the reservation at no cost. The receptionist knows me so she tapped the keyboard and said she would invite me next time round. So I escaped to a nearby cafe for a coffee and a cake and an hour's rest. I sent a short note to the family that I would be home a day earlier and enter the motorway to Poznan. Believe me, from the perspective of the road I had traveled up so far, making the additional 300 km highway looks like a kind of ride. I reported home safe and sound at 9pm.
Advice: When planning the trip, I used Google Maps and guide. Thanks to them I could not only just plan the way, mark the places I wanted to see and accommodation where I intended to spend the night but also I could share them with you. Quite often I switched between the views of the road map and satellite and Street View to check what and how it looked in a particular place. There was some difficulty finding such a cemetery with Poles quarters in and around Narvik
So I exported the planned path of the marked places to a GPX file, which I then uploaded to Samsung.
I used the Osmand+ https://osmand.net/ application on the Samsung. In my opinion, they are the best maps that I have encountered. They proved themselves, among other things, when I lost the trail while descending from the summit next to Preikestolen. In addition, I did not have to carry a map while exploring cities thanks to this application.
Equipment: Sleeping bag. I suggest you take the warmest sleeping bag which you have. If anything, you can always undo and uncover it. Believe me that when you arrive tired after a few (sometimes several) hours of road to the camp, and the thermometer shows 6 degrees, it should be a good warm sleeping bag and a foam mattress. When it comes to a sleeping mat, I had a self-inflating one and that proved to be excellent. I have the rest of the little tourist experience and I was surprised that for a really small amount of money I could buy very good equipment in Decathlon (tent 119 PLN 2 Second Easy 1, sleeping bag 279 PLN, sleeping mat Forclaz 74 PLN) on such an expedition
Epilogue
I rode over 7530km over 15 days. The trip cost me about 8000 PLN taking into account the souvenirs I bought. Perhaps you can do this route a little cheaper just spending the night in a tent and using your own cooker. Was it worth it? The answer is one big YES. There were great views, a fantastic adventure and interesting people. The only thing that I regret is that I did not extend the trip by three days (as originally planned) and spend them on calmer sightseeing and the rest on the way.
Finally, I thank my wife Anna and daughters and Ola and Hania that despite doubts and fears about my traveling alone, allowed me to go ahead and achieve it, and to support me on the way. Thanks also go to all of you who followed my journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, submitting comments or even liking my photos.
So you can keep track of entries from another trip - this time to Morocco - I have decided to create a dedicated page for these kinds of departures on Facebook: facebook.com/makerideeasy
It is also linked to my blog. You will therefore have one place to access all information.
As promised, I place the links below:
Link to photo albums
Link to the GPX file of the route and places worth seeing.
Link to travel route on Google Maps.
List of things and equipment for the expedition
Clothing
* hat
* T-shirt - breathable - 3 pcs
* long sleeve shirt
* briefs - 3 pcs
* warm woolen underwear
* short trousers
* quick-drying trekking trousers with zip-off legs
* socks - 3 pcs
* fleece / wind stopper
* cap
* quick-drying towel - large
* trekking shoes
* flip flops
* sandals
* trouser belt
Motorcycle wear
* helmet
* motorcycle jacket and trousers
* winter liners for jacket and trousers
* jacket and trousers
* summer motorcycle gloves
* warm motorcycle gloves - Gore-Tex
* motorcycle balaclava
* motorcycle scarf
* motorcycle boots
* earplugs
* vest
* rainproof protectors for gloves
* rainproof protectors for boots
Toiletries
* toothpaste and toothbrush
* shaving razor, shaving cream +
* toothpaste and toothbrush
* 2in1 Liquid shower
* deodorant
* antyprespirant stick
* hand brush
* tweezers
* small scissors for nails,
* wipes
* handkerchiefs
* toilet paper
* needle and thread
* lipstick
* filter cream > 50
* olive
Tourism and electronics
* pouch for documents
* bag
* headset for phone
* sunglasses
* camera
* GoPro camera + battery + remote control + stick
* memory cards
* charger and cable for charging
* power bank
* distributor to the wall
* computer
* guide
* map
* GPS
* smartphone
* plug into the cigarette lighter
* watch
* notebook
* pen and pencil
* business cards and stickers
Camping
* small tourist backpack
* retractable waterproof bag
* motorcycle bag
* tent
* sleeping bag
* cushion
* mat
* pocket knife
* multitool
* headlamps
* string
* wire
* two-component adhesive
* lighter
Kitchen
* cutlery
* metal cup
* cooker petrol
* pot to boil water
* chopping board
* bottle 0,7 l
* water in a plastic bottle - 1.5 l
* sponge for washing
* mini dishwashing liquid
Food
* tea
* coffee
* honey
* soup powder
* freeze-dried meals
* dry bread
* canned meat
* jam
* lemon
* cheese
* energy bars
Motorcycle
* set of tools