The next day I borrowed a bicycle from Marinska and set off down the coast from Kolka Cape, a sandy headland that marks the boundary between the Gulf of Riga to the east and the open Baltic to the west. Historically, the Livonians inhabited a string of 12 villages stretching 40km south of Kolka. Once bustling with life, today these rustic groups of wooden farmhouses, paddocks and log barns are home to just a handful of ageing residents.