True to his word Russell ( we later introduced ourselves)came back for me and we headed off to the truck. An enormous vehicle, a lot bigger than the trucks I was familiar with at home. He put my suitcase in the back of the truck and I carried my backpack into the cab. It was quite a thrill climbing three steps to get myself into the passenger seat of the cab. One that had two beds, and all mod cons including a GPS with a lady who kept recalculating throughout our trip. We drew out, stopping one last time to drop off , I presumed, more papers.
Once we were clear of the border station, he stopped the truck to lock the back with my bag in it. While stopped he asked if I wanted to use the toilet, a portaloo on the roadside. Thinking I’d better as I didn’t want to hold the guy up any longer than necessary. A disgusting experience, some one had crapped all over half the seat. The exercise in using squat toilets came in very useful.
He said while at the border crossing after going into the shed, one of the officers had come to him and asked ‘Britannia’? In all his trips he had never been asked to go to the office and did so in fear and trembling, thinking the x ray had discovered something. In the office the English speaker had asked if he was going south and while she did so, he had seen me playing on the ipad.The penny dropped and he heaved a sigh of relief.
I got back to ,the truck and there was a beautiful cup of coffee made. It tasted so good, just how I drink it. He apologised for the lack of sugar, but as I don’t have it , wasn’t a problem. In fact I had had been using the small packets of coffee and never did find one that did not have sugar. The pleasure of a decent coffee much appreciated. on the move again with a coffee in hand.
We passed portaloo after portaloo, for at least 2 kms, and I commented on them , apparently the queues to enter Russia can and do extend to those lengths. The waiting time anything from about six hours to twenty four hours, such a waste of time and productivity.
We continued on roads that would have shaken the life out of a car, the uneven surface making drinking coffee an adventure. The roads on our entire trip through Latvia never changed until we crossed into Lithuania.
Russell drove at a steady speed that was comfortable, he had a bouncy seat that must have absorbed some of the bone shaking roads. He picked up the radar, the cops and didn’t miss any thing road related.
We turned down a road I forget the reason , that had a signposted 17%
gradient. I ask you , 17% ? Any way he ended up having three goes at the hill.It even had the locals out at their front gates watching this enormous rig, stalling just before the top of the hill then of course going backwards . The mirrors massive, I had three on my side , I never did count them all. Back down at the bottom of the hill , we are ready for another run at the hill when a car appeared,He let that go then a last run ,finally making the top, it was edge of the seat driving for me, no doubt for Russell just another day in the office!
As we drove through Latvia he pointed out various points of interest, we chatted most of the time, obviously sharing the same interest in travel and a relief to be able to hold a conversation! Passing an old man sitting on a small stool milking his cow. It would have done any dairy farmer proud,nice cow.
Russell had driven over most of Europe at one time or another . Married to Dawn with three children, two grown and a little one called Freya.
Obviously a family man, with a very supportive wife, as his driving can have him away from home for months at a time. A professional driver, like all professionals, a pleasure to watch doing the things they do best.
The kilometers just disappeared, we covered all of Latvia in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Noticing a drunk slumped on the roadside, who had obviously had one for the road !
We got to the border of Lithuania, and Russell tells me that was the border! No signs to say so, just a change from the bone rattling Latvian roads to a surface that was more conducive to coffee drinking.
Lithuania was pretty from the start and I really enjoyed the ride through this country, the towns were attractive, and with the spring blossom everywhere , enchanting. Russell noticed a cop sitting on the road as we passed ,at the legal speed, and he goes oops, got to get road tax! Slowing the rig to a stop at a rather insignificant building he hops out and gets the road tax. I had asked about an ATM to get some money for a taxi, because neither of us knew how close we would be able get to the hostel. He came back to the truck and said no ATM but the banker lady would change some cash if I wanted to do that. I still had some US dollars stashed, so thought it appropriate to use one of the notes for cash. She actually gave a very good rate and I was pleased. Getting back into the truck , Russell is cooking our meal, a cabonara pasta , yum! It was a damn sight better than one I had a couple of nights previously in St Petersburg in a supposedly Italian Resturant.
After dinner it was on to Vilnius, he was keeping track of break times as they are required to do. Just outside of Vilnius we stopped and he put the hostel address into the GPS, it came up alright, but gave no indication of the width of the roads. We carried on and with a number of recalculations by the unseen lady telling us where to go, we reached the end of the road that I would find the hostel, just 750m away. With hazard lights flashing I scrambled out of the cab and grabbed my bag I didn’t want to hold Russell up if I could help it. Still very conscious of the fact that he had driven some 200 kms out of his way to drop me off here! So it was hasty goodbyes, and thank you from the bottom of my heart to man that I will never see again, who gave me a real insight into the kindness and life of a long haul trucker. Drive Safe , Russell!
