Latvia visit

[VEGAS]

Hi all,

I have just returned from a short trip to Latvia. How was it? Well the following points might help you decide if you were considering going:

1. Its cr@p
2. The food is expensive
3. The drinks are even more expensive
3. Its unsafe, especially at night
4. People are not very friendly
5. The cuisine is nasty, spent most of the time in McD's/TGI's
6. There are a number of scams running in bars/clubs regarding paying the bill
7. The taxi drivers hate you and if your not careful you will be charged as much as ten times the standard rate and then threatened to be shot if you don't pay (it happened to a chap on another group)
8. The Police are not interested in looking after tourists and their presence is virtually non-existant
9. No one smiles
10. There is a horrible feeling of paranoia wherever you go in Latvia as if your being watched or followed around every street. The fact of the matter is - you probably are
11. You get regularly pestered by beggars & touts around every corner for cash and handouts which gets to the point where you are ready for punching someone
12. Did I mention its cr@p..?

Apart from that its ok.

So if your thinking of visiting there I would strongly strongly suggest you think again.

You have been warned. :tuttut:

The only good point was coming home and whilst at the airport I snapped these rare aircraft.

[Garry Russell]

Was it cold as well...........looks it :think:

Garry

[airboatr]

:think:
He did say he got the cold shoulder Garry

[VEGAS]

It was'nt too bad about 5/6C. Tolerable I guess. It was actually colder at EGGP upon arrival home yesterday!

Tonks, I'm inclined to agree with you about the place being similar to many UK cities.

[airboatr]

right
I think I just felt a chill

[RJP]

Hi all,

I have just returned from a short trip to Latvia. How was it? Well the following points might help you decide if you were considering going:

1. Its cr@p
2. The food is expensive
3. The drinks are even more expensive
3. Its unsafe, especially at night
4. People are not very friendly
5. The cuisine is nasty, spent most of the time in McD's/TGI's
6. There are a number of scams running in bars/clubs regarding paying the bill
7. The taxi drivers hate you and if your not careful you will be charged as much as ten times the standard rate and then threatened to be shot if you don't pay (it happened to a chap on another group)
8. The Police are not interested in looking after tourists and their presence is virtually non-existant
9. No one smiles
10. There is a horrible feeling of paranoia wherever you go in Latvia as if your being watched or followed around every street. The fact of the matter is - you probably are
11. You get regularly pestered by beggars & touts around every corner for cash and handouts which gets to the point where you are ready for punching someone
12. Did I mention its cr@p..?

Apart from that its ok.

So if your thinking of visiting there I would strongly strongly suggest you think again.

You have been warned. :tuttut:

The only good point was coming home and whilst at the airport I snapped these rare aircraft.

Wow..... a bit different from my trips there.......

I've driven from the UK to Eastern Latvia a couple of times and have also stopped in Riga a couple of times.

For food.... you should've tried the place with a huge windmill on its roof, at the western side of the town-centre, next to the river. Every type of food you could imagine & not expensive. They also have their own brewery in the basement (hic!).

Having been to 45+ countries I found Latvia had the cheapest beer of any of them. 8 huge glasses of beer (much bigger than pints) worked out at the equivalent of 2.40(GBP) (no effing pound sign on this keyboard).

Only caught a couple of taxis there, cant remember much about them but I probably would've remembered getting ripped off..... -dont think- I was. Bit late now but you should've looked for cars with a green light in the corner of the windscreen, unofficial / cheap taxis.

I had my wallet robbed in a nightclub but fortunately the people we were guests of were I think relatively influential (or, even bigger crooks?) and I got it back a couple of days later :shock:

Worst thing I thought were the f----ng trams. They're everywhere & stop for no-one. Traffic is a nightmare (but good training for driving in the Middle-East!) although blasting through the city-centre in a police-escorted convoy during the morning rush-hour was a laugfh.

Dont remember beggars but having lived in Kabul I've maybe just become immune to them.

Cheers
Richard

[VEGAS]

Hi Richard,

thanks for the reply. I have a strong feeling Latvia USED to be cheap and was the place to go in Eastern Europe for group visits. We stayed in Riga (the capital) for 5 days and never saw much else of the country. Did'nt want too.

I have never been to a place where I along with 25 other lads have felt such fear for our safety and well-being.

I reckon the locals have gotten wind of the tourists and the fact they spend a few quid. As a result they have bumped the prices up to unacceptable levels. IMHO I think the place will suffer a 'boom then bust' type of fate.

Our taxi driver was fine many genuine ones are easily distinguishable but none can be trusted unfortunately especially with what has been going on in the capital over the last few months.

I could'nt wait to leave and that goes for everyone in the group. Put a dampner on a good stag do! :sad:

[Jetset]

God Eddie, feeling nervous, especially with you being a man of the law for the GMP. It must be bad.

[Paul K]

Oooh a Backfire!! What a plane that is.