Some Soviet Latvia
Our 5th day driving across northern Europe.
We arrived at the Missile Base at 11pm, having driven for 5 hours along roads devoid of traffic, lacking posted speed limits and packing an atmosphere that made you feel like no one else on earth existed anymore.
As night fell, deer caused near high speed collisions as the 'tarmac' gave way to 'gravel'. We headed into the forests where during the Cold War, the Soviets kept some nukes. Arriving around midnight, we confirmed our location down barely trafficable logging paths with hasty flicks of the high beam switch, before i suggested we sleep in the car, in situ. Snappel contemplated this just long enough for a lone wolf to howl in the background. Whereby he stated, categorically, 'no'.
We drove to a tiny village and parked in the centre by some half collapsed garages, then made our dinner of boil-in-a-cup noodles and pasta, while chugging 0,50 euro bottles of German cider. Falling asleep in the car was easy. Waking at 4am needing a pee, opening the door to find it snowing in late April was harder. I ended up peeing *on* my sleeping bag in the proceeds of trying to pee *out* of it.
By 7am, we were up and surrounded by utterly ruined Missile Base. Not a place for UE scavengers/collectors/thieves, given Latvian scavengers/collectors/thieves had been given a 20 year head start, the thrill was in the architecture, the ruin and the landscape. It snowed, and felt like the last place on earth.
.
We stumbled around inside, peering into the half filled silos, traipsing half frozen, flooded tunnels, before heading out, along roads we worried our car might get stuck on.
Stopping at the a town nearby, the main supermarket didnt sell batteries. Go figure. That kinda sums the place up. It was astonishing.
We headed to an abandoned Soviet Military village. Arriving expecting to find utter desolation, we did indeed find utter desolation and a security guard. I made a joke that the place (recently bought by a Russian 'tycoon') was in reality Mob owned. Cue Snappels over active imagination.
As such, we only saw a bit, before Snaps got severely spooked when a black Dodge SUV being driven by a hoodlum went by, a 'businessman' ensconced in the back seat with what most certainly looked like an under age prozzie...
I was loving it, despite my facial expression:
We arrived at the Missile Base at 11pm, having driven for 5 hours along roads devoid of traffic, lacking posted speed limits and packing an atmosphere that made you feel like no one else on earth existed anymore.
As night fell, deer caused near high speed collisions as the 'tarmac' gave way to 'gravel'. We headed into the forests where during the Cold War, the Soviets kept some nukes. Arriving around midnight, we confirmed our location down barely trafficable logging paths with hasty flicks of the high beam switch, before i suggested we sleep in the car, in situ. Snappel contemplated this just long enough for a lone wolf to howl in the background. Whereby he stated, categorically, 'no'.
We drove to a tiny village and parked in the centre by some half collapsed garages, then made our dinner of boil-in-a-cup noodles and pasta, while chugging 0,50 euro bottles of German cider. Falling asleep in the car was easy. Waking at 4am needing a pee, opening the door to find it snowing in late April was harder. I ended up peeing *on* my sleeping bag in the proceeds of trying to pee *out* of it.
By 7am, we were up and surrounded by utterly ruined Missile Base. Not a place for UE scavengers/collectors/thieves, given Latvian scavengers/collectors/thieves had been given a 20 year head start, the thrill was in the architecture, the ruin and the landscape. It snowed, and felt like the last place on earth.
.
We stumbled around inside, peering into the half filled silos, traipsing half frozen, flooded tunnels, before heading out, along roads we worried our car might get stuck on.
Stopping at the a town nearby, the main supermarket didnt sell batteries. Go figure. That kinda sums the place up. It was astonishing.
We headed to an abandoned Soviet Military village. Arriving expecting to find utter desolation, we did indeed find utter desolation and a security guard. I made a joke that the place (recently bought by a Russian 'tycoon') was in reality Mob owned. Cue Snappels over active imagination.
As such, we only saw a bit, before Snaps got severely spooked when a black Dodge SUV being driven by a hoodlum went by, a 'businessman' ensconced in the back seat with what most certainly looked like an under age prozzie...
I was loving it, despite my facial expression:
