The Other Kurzeme Tour: From Soviets Listening to Your Phone to the Legends of the World War I.
Irbene is a former Soviet secret military site now a ghost town who is still running the largest radio telescope in the Northern Europe and 8th largest in the world. During the Soviet time, they were constantly spying not only telephone conversations in a large area, but also were picking up information from submarines and even satellites. In fact this place was so secret, it was discovered only after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Nowadays you can still see the radio locators and the military town with half of its buildings still standing. This summer might be the last chance to visit this place since the municipality is working on a renewal of the contract with a demolishing agency who have been operating there since 2012.
Our next stop in our trip is going to be a picturesque landmark – Kolka Cape – the most prominent cape Latvia has to offer which is notorious for the many ship crashes due its shoal that extends for another 6 km under water always waiting for the prey.
After that we go to the famous 20 metres high White Dune. The dune is staggering 6,000 years old – older even than the Baltic Sea itself and have been of particular interest to archaeologists. The White Dune is really a place for those who enjoy untouched and pristine nature.
On our way back to Riga we will also stop at the Great Ķemeri Bog. This place is a grandfather of the places with its 8,000 years long history. It is also a great place for amazing views due to the labyrinth of tiny lakes running through it. The bog became a mythical place during World War I when 9,000 Latvian soldiers perished fighting in it but later were brought back to life by many literary works.
So if you are interested in getting to know less tourist populated areas and still enjoy and learn a lot, this is a tour for you.
