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the Degree Confluence Project
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Latvia

4.8 km (3.0 miles) SW of Bolderāja, Rīgas, Latvia
Approx. altitude: 19 m (62 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 57°S 156°W

Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: Rushhour in Riga #3: Track to Spot #4: Can you see it yet? #5: Can't get closer than that. #6: Another confluence bagged!! #7: The Immobilised Merc!!

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  57°N 24°E (visit #2)  

#1: 57N 24E

(visited by Phil Sharpe)

02-Feb-2006 -- My brother Chris and I both had the same week off work so one Friday evening he came round my house, we had some beers and trawled the internet for cheap flights to interesting places…..and ended up going to Latvia! Before flying though I thought I would just have a quick look at the atlas to see if there was any confluence points nearby and what do you know!...

Riga old town is really beautiful although a little seedy at night. By Thursday we had seen all the touristy stuff and I had persuaded my brother that 57N 24E was the way ahead! We got the #22 bus from our Hostel to the airport at around 07:00 but our early start was pointless as we had to wait around for the Car hire desks to open. The first ones to arrive was Europcar so as soon as the paperwork was done we got our ‘Mercedes A class’ and we were off.

Using the road map in the glove box it wasn’t too hard finding roughly were the spot was. The area was reached easily enough down a track off Kleisti iela. We followed the track for about a mile directly to the spot and parked up as it passed around 300m off to our right. A lot of the country side is forested and here was no different. Lots of Pine and Silver Birch. We found the spot with ease, (it would be hard not to as the point is signposted!) it is on a steep forested slope.

We took the relevant photos, had a little walk around and took in the quiet and stillness of the place. It was really tranquil. Back at the car we both got a little nervous when the car wouldn’t start. Eventually after about 5mins with the feeling of dread that we had broken down in a foreign country in the middle of nowhere I figured out what the problem was. In the car hire pack there was what appeared to be a key fob which has to kept on or near the dashboard for the thing to start. We had chucked it on the back seat when got out the car!!!!

By 10:30 we had finished our quest so for the rest of the day we took the car to the coast at Jurmala where we saw the frozen beech encroaching into the sea and visited the best Water park I have ever been to!

I really enjoyed getting this confluence point. Nice location, needs a little planning to get there but not too taxing. With it being in a foreign country I feel a greater sense of achievement too.


 All pictures
#1: 57N 24E
#2: Rushhour in Riga
#3: Track to Spot
#4: Can you see it yet?
#5: Can't get closer than that.
#6: Another confluence bagged!!
#7: The Immobilised Merc!!
ALL: All pictures on one page