Hill of Crosses

Day 90 

Light poured through the tent walls very early the next morning acting as a natural alarm.  

It was a welcome relief to see clear skies, as the previous day had been quite unfavorable.  After breakfast we packed up camp and started the 54km bike ride back to the other end of the Curonian Spit, still in hope of seeing the famous wild boars that roam the island.

Just about to start the 54km ride back.

Enjoying the much improved conditions.

One of the many sand dunes on the Curonian Spit.

Haunted forest? Felt like it!

The favorable conditions gave us record speed and enjoyment as we glided back along the cycle path.  The only disappointing part of the ride was not seeing Wild Boar.  We read in the Lonely Planet that they literally run out in front of you but the only pig we spotted was a dead one lying on the side of the road. 

We made it back to the ferry terminal in record time and enjoyed a fresh coffee while we waited for the next boat to arrive.  

Once back at Maxi we unpacked the bikes and set off on a long uneventful drive through the middle of Lithuania to a town called Siauliai.

There’s not much to write about the city of Siauliai except it is a dirty, aesthetically unpleasing place that is trying its hardest to clean up its act.  You’re probably wondering why we were there at all, but it was because we were driving through it on our way to Lithuania’s ‘most incredible’ tourist attraction that is situated 10km north of the city ‘The Hill of Crosses.’

It was raining quite heavily as we drove into Siauliai so it dulled down the effects of the miserable city. In fact, mini flash floods had formed and we had to take Maxi for a swim down a few streets eventually making it out onto the open road and to the Hill of Crosses.

Flash flood in Siaulai

The Hill of Crosses is essentially two mounds in a field that have been blanketed with thousands and thousands of crucifixes.  Apparently the site is a place of national pilgrimage that started in the 14^th century and each cross is a mark of devotion to God or memorial for a loved one.  The crosses were actually bulldozed by the Soviets during occupation but the tradition has lived on and now there is estimated to be up to 5 million crosses.

After parking up in a church car park nearby, we took a walk through the site and to be honest, it was an eerie and unsettling place to be so didn’t hang around too much longer after taking a couple of photos.

Lighter coloured crosses were newer
and darker stained wood older.

So many crosses!!! 

A reminder not to light up a candle and burn down the sacred site.

An estimated 5,000,000 crosses!

Do I blend in?

A very eerie and weird site. 

As it was getting on into the evening, we decided to take advantage of the wild camping car park, as did another couple of campers.  

We got chatting with one of the wild campers by the name of ‘Kultz.’  He and his dog were from Germany and they were on their way home after travelling across Kazakhstan and Russia to Vladivostok.  He was an eccentric and friendly guy who had many stories and seemed to live to travel.   

He told us that while he was driving in the middle of nowhere in Russia (where there are no shops or fuel stations and you don’t see a car for 5-6 hours) he met Brendan from Brisbane who was cycling around the world.  He ended up travelling with him for 3 days and now they are great friends. He also seemed very knowledgeable about how to handle foreign corrupt police and gave us a few pointers if we ever encountered them, which was essentially don’t give them anything. 

While chatting away about travel and plans he proceeded to give us a heap of maps that looked like he had collected over the last 30 years.  They were all written in German and all of places that we had already been.  It seemed easier to accept them than refuse them so we politely took them and binned them the next day.  

He also introduced to a product from Russia but also sold in Lithuania called ‘Chalva.’  It is a compressed block of peanuts that is very tasty and keeps you full for hours.  I am yet to look at the calorie contents…

A Stalk with its well built nest on top of a light pole- very common in Eastern Europe.