Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

Labanoras is a beautiful spot, a village in the middle of a forested regional park in eastern Lithuania. It's a place one might so easily miss. There are no great sights, no "must see" distractions. It is a perfect piece of hidden Europe.

article summary —

There’s no knowing what you might find tucked away in the forests of Lithuania. Hidden away in the woods, in the far north-east corner of the country, is an abandoned nuclear power station.

“Same kind of reactors as Chernobyl,” says a man who with his wife and two children is gathering mushrooms in the shadow of the power plant. His tone suggests that this might be a source of pride. “Like Chernobyl, but the reactors here were bigger,” he adds.

Elsewhere in our travels through Lithuania’s forests, we have stumbled on overgrown Jewish cemeteries, well-kept Tatar mosques and an extraordinary theme park showcasing Soviet-era statues of the men — they were almost all men — who wielded power and influence in the Communist Party. There stands Joseph Stalin in a forest clearing, a neat clump of birch trees behind him.

The forests of Lithuania are full of surprises. Labanoras is one of the nicest of those surprises. Heading east from Molėtai, the main road skirts a medley of lakes as it heads into the leafy depths of the woods. We pause here and there along the way, watching shadows freewheel in forest glades. There are beaver dams, tumbledown wooden farmsteads, kingfishers and osprey.

Labanoras is a beautiful spot, a village in the very middle of the eponymous regional park. You could slip through the village in less than a minute. We could so easily have done that. But it was time to eat so, seeing the sign to a hotel and restaurant, we decided to stop for an hour or two. Half an hour later, we were sitting on a wooden terrace in the sunshine enjoying home-made virtiniai — Lithuania’s take on the humble dumpling — with chanterelle mushrooms and a bright green nettle sauce.


This is just an excerpt. If you are a subscriber to hidden europe magazine, you can log in to read the full text online. Of course you can also read the full article in the print edition of hidden europe 60.

About the authors

hidden europe

and manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers. They delight in discovering the exotic in the everyday.

This article was published in hidden europe 60.