Vinayak Hegde

Karosta (from Kara Osta meaning “War Port”) was a Russian military prison that was located near Liepaja and was off limit to civilians during the Russian occupation of Latvia. It was constructed around the beginning of the 20th Century as a hospital but was converted into a prison as soon as it was constructed. Walking through Karosta you can see concrete Soviet-style dilapidated housing blocks (most of which are now abandoned and in state of decay). There are huge cracks in the buildings still standing with creaking iron railing balconies.

When I finally reach the prison, it seems like a decrepit place – the small watchtower and the warning on the gate to keep off betraying the true nature of the is facility. I loiter exploring the place. There seems to be no-one around initially. Even a small tent selling memorabilia from the Russian era is unmanned. Finally I hear footsteps from within the building and a stern officer shouting orders. What was the grim reality and a place for punishment has now been turned into a bizarre spectacle. You can try on the gas masks and the unloaded guns to get a feel of the place. Karosta was used as a prison till 1997 after which it was decommissioned so we are not talking of distant past here. The guard prohibits me from taking any pictures initially but then relents and lets me take some. The prisoners lived in gruesome conditions working for 18 hours everyday and then cloistered into small rooms where they could barely sit on the floor. The worst was solitary confinement in pitch black darkness. A walk through the dimly lit prison is surreal with gas masks and weapons in some of the rooms. You can see scribbled graffiti in some of the rooms. The prison is now converted into a hostel where you can stay and “enjoy” the hospitality. Only the masochistic would do that as the latrines are the worst and the guard will wake you up in the middle of the night to disorient you. Surely reminds me of some kind of bizarre reality show.

After returning to Liepaja, I find that it has only one connecting bus to Vilnius early morning and everyone I ask (including the local transportation office) is unsure if it will run the next morning. My only choice is to pack my bags and wait at the bus station in the morning hoping that the bus turn and gets me out of this place. Thankfully it did turn up, though half an hour later than expected time.

Leaving from Riga, I had a choice of going to Liepaja or Ventspils along the Baltic coast or go inland to Daugavpils. I overstayed in Riga by a day so I had just one day more to spend in Latvia. All were roughly the same distance from Riga. I decide that I will continue south-west along the coast to Liepaja as it seemed the most interesting of the three.

Liepaja is the third largest city in Latvia. It is a planned city and it’s layout resembles a butterfly. Most importantly it has an round-the-year ice-free port which meant it was always important for Latvian trade. The city centre has old wooden buildings and beautiful Art Nouveau architecture but not as impressive as Riga. The city has a military past and was of strategic importance for the Russians. Due to this, it has been bombed, decimated and reconstructed several times. During the Russian occupation of Latvia, farmers from the surrounding areas needed to have special permits to enter the city. It was also unmarked on several official maps and always shrouded in secrecy during the occupation. The city’s military past has been the subject of several films on the World Wars and the Russian occupation.

However the city has moved on from it’s past and is a hub for Rock music. The city is also know for it’s beach-side parks (Jurmalas). The photos below were taken in the Liepaja Jurmala.

After visiting the Salaspils Concentration camp, I went canoeing on the Gauja National park and visited the ruins of historic Cesis Castle which was in the midst of being restored. On the way, back I caught the bus to Riga from Salaspils.

I called JE but he was in the midst of work and would arrive late. I was tired and sleepy but being in the center of Riga, I decided to walk around. Being a brown skinned guy in a white skinned country around in the dead of the night can be scary sometimes. Couple of times, beggars and (seemingly) drug addicts accosted me trying to filch money off me but I was able to fend them off. While walking around I saw some of the paintings in the subway. I decided to click some photos of it (See below). The Stockholm underground metro system (with 180 stations) is one of the largest public displays of art in the world. I had seen some of the paintings there but this was mostly wall art unlike in Stockholm. Even after midnight there was no indication from JE so I took the tram towards his house and sat in the park beside his house. I saw the police van circling the area several times and taking a closer look at me everytime they passed me. This happened 3 times. JE was frantically smsing me to stay safe and away from strangers. Finally JE came and I had a good night’s sleep. Later in the morning, JE told me that area he stayed in was shady (it was pretty run-down but so are some other parts of Riga) and full of gypsies and drug-addicts. I was lucky not to get mugged that night, it seems.

Art on the walls of Riga’s subways

Click on the photos for a larger version

Several months before when I was researching for my trip, I came across some photos of this place on Flickr. It looked interesting enough to photograph (because of the statues and the history of the place). I had no idea of how to get to this place, though it looked close enough from Riga (18 Kms south-west). Again after posting on CS board, LP volunteered to drive me to this place.

Salaspils (Literally “Island Castle” in Latvian) is quiet residential suburb of Riga now. But during World War II, it was a Nazi concentration camp used for killing Jews and enemies of Germany. It was particularly infamous as a large percentage of inmates were children separated from adult who died in the abysmal living conditions in the camp. Today the graves of children are marked by small dolls hanging on them (see pic below). The Salaspils memorial in 1967 was built to remember those who died in the concentration camp. The inscription on the gate to the memorial reads “Behind this gate the earth groans” (see pic below).

LP was giving me a lesson in history when we were visiting the memorial park. Latvia has been occupied alternately by Russia and Germany through the course of history. Whenever these countries were at war, there was forced conscription in Latvia. LP’s father had four brothers. It so happened that one of LP’s uncle was fighting with the Germans while his brother was fighting in the Russian when Latvia was invaded by Germany during World War II.

I was planning to hitchhike from Parnu, Estonia across the international border to Riga, Latvia but better sense prevailed and eventually I dropped the idea. In Latvia, I stayed with another couchsurfer JE. JE was an interesting guy – 20 years old, just out of college, optimistic about the future of his country (considering the multiyear deep recession in his country) and a budding politician. I was asking many questions on Latvia CS group when he offered to host me. He was really curious about India (I found a lot of people in Latvia who were curious about India and were keen to know more). Much of the information he knew about India was from the documentary series “The Story of India” by Michael Wood.

Riga, the capital of Latvia is like a live architectural exhibition. The Daugava river that runs through the center of the city provides a magnificent backdrop to this beautiful city. The city is especially famous for it’s German Art Nouveau Architecture and is recognized as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Latvia has been alternately been occupied by Germany and Russia over the last millennium before it’s independence. The video below shows it beautifully in the form of a cartoon.

Riga has the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in all of Europe. One of the unique aspects of German Art Nouveau is the use of faces and floral pattern in the facades of the buildings. In fact it is downright spooky as you see the faces on the building facades peer back at you in a variety of contorted expressions.