Re: Ride to 'Hel' and back :P

The deck and the ship



Reminds me of Assassin's Creed!

That was one hell of a ride!! Loved the pics!! Great bro!

Re: Ride to 'Hel' and back :P

Now that you mentioned it does has a striking resemblance.
Glad you like the pics, thank you

Re: Ride to "Hel" and back :P

After the overwhelming experience at the ORP Błyskawica Destroyer ship and the Aquatic Aquarium, it was time to leave Gdynia and head for the final leg of our forward journey towards Hel. We had about 70 km ahead of us and it was a beautiful afternoon with cool breeze.



a short video of the ride


As we progressed, we realized that there were quite a few motorcyclists crossing us on this stretch. It is customary here that motorcyclists wave at each other while passing by. It was heart warming to get acknowledged in a foreign land like this. All barriers (such as nationality, skin color, religion, language ... Choppers vs Sportsbike, Harley vs Suzuki... ) got shot down by the sheer fact that - I am a motorcyclist. Its been 8 months in Poland for me and I guess this particular gesture is among the warmest that make you feel at home, a part of this world.

If you look closely on the map above there is a Yellow box, right at this place the road started to run right along with the Baltic Sea next to it. It was a thrilling experience and also a little challenging as it was tough to keep the eyes on the road .

riding along the Baltic Sea


yours truely


In a short while we were already riding on the Peninsula. Though with the vegetation on either side the sea was sparingly visible, it was interesting to ride on a single lane road with loads of motorcyclists on it.

riding on the Hel Peninsula


We finally made it to the end of the road on the peninsula at around 6pm. Parked the v-strom, switched from riding gears to beach-ish wear (read shorts and flipflops) and head straight to the beach. Suddenly the sun got blocked with the coastal clouds and the cold nip in the air started to make the weather even more interesting. We finally made it to the beach at around 6:30 pm.

embracing the gift of cloud Gods


The water temperature was quite cold ( ~ 5 degrees) and no one around was in the water. We too started walking along the beach leaving the crowd behind, moving towards the deserted sections.

only this guy was braving the cold


and then saw the rest of his gang


serenity at its best




Guys who know me would understand that I couldn't have let such an opportunity go by. So what if it was a little cold, I decided to take a quick dip in the sea and just dived in. As mentioned earlier, the Baltic Sea water is not that salty, in fact in comparison to Indian Ocean it is almost drinkable. Any how the cold temperature was doing its trick and soon I came out shivering. Changed and continued towards the center of the town - Hel.

time for the sunset




it was like the sunset was getting even more beautiful every minute


Post a memorable sunset, it was time to get some food. Motorcycle ride, cold-ish weather, a dip in the sea ... I had been through almost all possible ways to get some serious hunger pangs. While entering towards the market place, a loud rock music caught our attention. And we found out that Harley's annual festival - "Road to Hel" was in progress.

listen to the music


the parking at the festival


a chopper


There is a street in the market area marked with the Club board

says North Street of Motorcycle Club



We had a delicious round of Fish and Chips :P and went to our hotel for a much needed sleep.

To be continued ...

Re: Ride to "Hel" and back :P

Awesome!
Waiting for the next part.

Re: Ride to "Hel" and back :P

After the exhilarating feeling of making it to the tip of Hel Peninsula, I slept like a wood. Now the place we were staying for the night actually was more like a home stay. The owner had constructed separate fully functional cottage with kitchenette with in his residential compound. The sea shore is barely 100 meters on either side :P
I am sure Hel attracts a lot of tourists and especially in summers, when the season is at its peak, Hel probably becomes quite crowded. I could see similar cottages and various home stay advertisements on a number of houses around.
Anyhow, I woke up at 5:30 am and for that I had set up an alarm this time. The idea behind getting up a little earlier was to go for a stroll on the beach. So I got up and stepped out to see a bright sun already shining and everything around freshly washed - so another night and another spell of rains. The plan for Day 4 or this last day of our trip was - 2 phases. First half constituted only to chill and relax at the beach and second half was a straight marathon run of about 600 km to home.

kids play probably from yesterday


pathway leading to the Bay


the Open Sea vs the inside Bay


The two shores on either side of this Peninsula are just 200-300 meters apart, separated by what may look like a very thin strip on the map. However there is a striking difference between the two sea shores. For first, in comparison to the open sea, the one inside (lets just call it the Bay) is very quite with hardly any waves - almost like a big lake. There is a considerable difference in the water temperature between the two - almost to the tune of 5 degrees. While for the immature human eyes, the vastness takes over and the first sight still recognizes both as a single or similar sea shore.

the Open Sea




a short video of the walk at the Open Baltic Sea


If you look closely in the video there is a flock of Seagulls at a little distance from us and as we moved ahead the ones closest to us started to fly over the sea. In a bit we realized that the ones flying were returning to the shore and were settling down at a distance further. It later became a cycle, park of the flock used to fly out and settle at a distance and as we move closer the next part does the same. After a refreshing walk on the quite serene beach, we came to our home stay and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast.

parking at the homestay


breakfast


post breakfast, the weather had warmed up further and it was time for a round of swim and chill at the beach. It was thrilling to get into the sea for a swim and then soothing to sit and relax in the sand. Gradually with the temperature rising further more people started to show up.

a short video of the beach life


time to leave the baggage and dive in




It was almost 1 pm and time to bid adieu to Hel. Took us some time to gather our selves and were finally on the road at around 1:30 pm.



crossing Gdynia Port on the way back


The ride back home was long but again a lot of fun. Didn't take the express ways and continued sticking to the winding single lane state highways. Of course we had a last round of Fish & chips somewhere at the outskirts of Gdansk region. We finally made it to Wroclaw at around 11 pm.

In a way it was the first proper ride for us in Poland and Europe. It was a great fun and has given us some memorable experiences to look back in future, time and again.

Thank you for following

~ B2L

Re: Ride to "Hel" and back :P

Neat tripping to beautiful place!