Day 6

Up. Not a hangover, but the knowledge that I was drinking the night before. I periodically like to prove to myself that I am not an alcoholic by deciding I will not drink on certain days, and given the last few nights today seems like a good one to nominate. Get on the bus to Siauliai, which is a town about halfway between Vilnius and Riga. It is famous for its ''hill of crosses''.

Siauliai is known as the Sunshine City and in fairness it is sunny when I arrive, though cold. I get the bus to the hill which is 12km outside of the town - I'm starving, but figure I'll get something there. The bus drops me off 2km from the Hill and I start walking the rest of the way. I meet a backpacker walking the opposite way and we exchange hellos.

The Hill is impressive - three different visitor guides give the number of crosses on it as 50, 100 or 200,000 but there are an uncountable number, swarming over a small mound. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes I feel I have experienced all there is to experience there. The visitors centre is huge but mostly empty and there is no where to get food. The next bus is not for 2 hours and I'm cold and hungry.

I decide to hitchhike. The first car to pass me stops and I'm able to pronounce Siauliai correctly enough for them to understand. They drop me off outside my hostel. This is the first time I have attempted hitchhiking and it is such a success that I decide it is a brilliant way to travel.

Hostel, shower and meet the Hill backpacker in the hostel lobby. The manager decided to put him in the other bed in my twin. He is a German called Tim. We wander the town and decide to have a night in with the TV (Siauliai is very small and neither of us are really in the mood for going out). I spend the last of my Lithuanian money on snacks - I consider buying beer, but decide to stick to my no-alcohol plan.

Kebab for dinner - Baltic kebabs are odd, they use fajita bread instead of pita. Hostel, TV, start writing a diary and trying to remember what I did four days ago, bed.



Estimated number of units today: 0
Estimated number of units total: 26

Estimated number of girls taken to bed today: 0
Estimated number of girls taken to bed total: 0