Bo Lats

The travel books were wrong. The Latvian castle ruins were not exactly dramatic, nor were its city centres captivating. Nothingness was within itself. Surrealism was at its best too, people were like computer AIs, walking around but nothing happens. Events? No events, just walking people. Imagine staying in a secluded resort, an ex-palace, the experience is simply unforgettable. Maybe the travel guide should change its description to a medical palace, instead of just a palace. It could have been one of those medical experimentation labs, given the fact that it was so run down, the water was full of iron and the doctors and patients seem weird. Leaving the god-forsaken country was coupled with the fact that we were bo-lat, no energy, no money.

Estland welcomed us with open arms, with its seemingly borderless checkpoint, though there was a held up, given the fact that we were probably one of the few singaporeans, or maybe the first few to cross the border by foot. Anyway, there is such a stark difference between the divided border city of Volga (Latvia) and Volka (Estonia); though both share the same name, but they share different fate; our dear estland is certainly more capitalised than our fellow lats. Well, we were greeted by a bunch of inqusitive Estonians, they seem very curious to see china-men walking around in their land. But we were glad that they were curious about us and treated us like some star. Hostility seem to have a linear relationship with the amount of capitalism; we were hurled with hostile comments (ching chang chong....... ) in Tartu, a semi university city filled with consumerism, but we just laughed it off, which really pissed that young punk off. Food is heavenly here in terms of prices, bread and cakes are going at 30 euro cents, a main course is going at 3.50 euro. Seriously, i doubt i can get this kind of food prices back home. Next stop, Tallinn, the soul of the Baltics.