I wake up early, the day is cloudy, windy and cold.

The roads have more traffic than further north. There is a headwind that cancels out all sounds from the trucks. So I end up riding the soft shoulder more or less all day.

Roads got more miserable the closer to Jēkabpils I got, in the afternoon there were dark clouds and the wind picked up.

In the outskirts of Jēkabpils I found a Hesburger, so burgers for lunch.

It looked like a very nice town, divided by a river and lots of people out and about. I manage to find the tourist office and they tell me that it’s the towns birthday and every accommodation within biking distance is fully booked. Really bad timing to arrive. I bike around to a few places to see if it’s really full, and it’s fully booked everywhere.

So I decide to go and try the camping a few kilometers outside town, there will always be a place for one more tent, right ?

Reception was closed, the information was in Latvian. After a while I found a number and called, no English or German. I biked around the camping and found some young people that prepared for a party, they helped me with calling the number and translate. After a while the manager or so appeared and I could rent a cottage for 10 Euro, pitching the tent was 2 Euro.

The cottage had 5 beds and a small sitting area outside. I dig out some stuff to eat from my bags and enjoy it in the cold rain.

My neighbors are getting drunker and drunker by the minute, I guess they are celebrating the birthday of the town or so. Fortunately they burn out early and it’s all quiet and nice again.

I fall asleep very early.