Burning Man - September 2026

At the end of August we went on our second year to Burning Man. We bought our tickets back in February and this year we didn’t want to be living in a tent on the playa so we got ourselves a trailer. Our friend Barbara had one she was not using that much so we bought it and gave her the right to use it at any time in exchange for storing it at her ranch.  As new trailer owners we set about figuring out the idiosyncrasies of trailer ownership. There were many issues we weren't even aware of - our generator was way underpowered to run the air conditioner, there were multiple mud wasp nests in various trailer orifices that inhibited ventilation and prevented the propane fridge from working, the tank gauges were malfunctioning, the batteries were not mounted securely, some lights worked others didn't, etc.  

Our Mini-Max Trailer

After a couple of weeks of serious work and expense we were set to go.  We had a new high powered generator, we had taped up all the windows with blue painter’s tape (the Black Rock Desert dust is notoriously penetrating), we had managed to load our bikes onto the very flimsy looking bike rack and we had food and supplies for just about any eventuality.  

We left Sacramento early on the Wednesday morning and headed up the hill to Truckee and on to Reno.  Burning Man had started on Sunday, but we figured we didn’t need to be there all week.  Wednesday to Monday was enough time for us.  We left the highway at Wadsworth, the small town east of Reno, and headed north to Gerlach and the Black Rock Desert. It was a beautiful day, blue skies and no clouds but as we headed out from Gerlach there was a cloud of white dust over the desert playa. Unlike the prior year where we spent 19 hours waiting in line to get in, this year there was hardly any traffic at all.  

Entering the Playa at Black Rock

We drove off the tarmac onto the playa and made our way to the entry.  We entered into the cloud of dust and quickly the visibility became seriously limited.  We were following the lights of someone ahead of us, until they disappeared into the dust then we edged along the entry fence one fence post at a time.  It was really quite bad.  At the entry gate they stopped us for about an hour until the dust cleared. We were then allowed in and again carefully followed one fence post after the next onto the streets of the camps. 

In all our diligence to prepare the trailer we had forgotten to tape the windows of the truck - a major mistake as the fine dust began to pile up and seep into the vehicle.  Slowly we proceeded into camp and found our way to the location we stayed at last year at 5:30 and I - a nice location away from all the noise and heavy traffic.  We found a place to park and quickly leveled the trailer and got inside to ride out the dust storm.   In retrospect it might have been better to sit the dust storm out back on the highway where it was a beautiful blue sky day.

The dust continued throughout the rest of the day so we didn’t stray from our trailer.  The weird thing was that at times you could look up and see blue sky above you but everything down at ground level was a white dusty fog.

A beautiful sunrise on the Playa

The next morning, the wind had died down and it was a beautiful sunrise.  There were drifts of dust around everything that had been left out in the open.  It is an alkali dust too, very fine and it feels very silky between your fingers and it sticks to everything.

The 2026 Burning Man

In the early morning, I went out for a bike ride around the playa while Diana rested some more.  She had been quite sick with what turned out to be flu and she was not quite over it.  Out on the Playa the weather was quite good, not too hot in the early morning with beautiful clouds in a blue sky.  I cycled up to the statue of the Man and then over to the Temple.  

The Man Structure

The Man was an impressive construction this year - quite tall and with a spiral staircase up to the upper levels.  There was a long line of people waiting to go up so I gave it a miss. 

The Temple

The Temple was equally impressive though unlike last year it did not have a central area where people could sit and be silent.  There was some seating but it was quite limited and it was all taken when I was there. People looking very solemn and sad - some sniffling and some weeping.

I took in a few other nearby artworks before going back to our trailer - a magical treehouse, an origami bird, a huge pavillion structure. 

From time to time the wind got up again and there were clouds of dust.  Around lunchtime I got kitted out with my goggles and face mask and headed out one more time to the Playa. 

Generally it was quite dust free but it was changeable and when it did get dusty it was hard to tell where you were and what direction you were going  The advice when that happens is to stay where you are and await for a drop in the wind and a clearing of the dust.  I had to do that several times.

As usual the art installations were impressive - a broken Eiffel Tower emerging out of the desert sand, a ruptured ocean liner, a giant mobile made up of 4 or 5 small caravans. 

  

On the way back to our trailer I stopped at one of the camps, a pink camp, everything was pink. They were giving out ice cream.   Most welcome on this dusty afternoon.

Back in the trailer we had a meal (dehydrated camping meals are wonderful - tasty and easy) and stayed inside all night as the intermittent wind and dust was not at all welcoming.

Mud on the Playa

During the night we had rain.  It was supposed to rain just a little - only 0.05 inches were forecast.  However off and on through the night and into the morning it rained leaving the ground a series of puddles and everything very muddy.  In such conditions it is not advisable to go out.  There is no riding of bikes on the playa or driving on the roads and the mud just clings to your boots as you walk, building up and building up until you are 2 or 3 inches taller.

By late morning the rain had stopped and things were drying out and by 4:00 pm we were able to venture out.  Diana and I rode out to the Playa and to the Man and took in more of the art work.  So many wonderful things.

We stopped at the central area on the way back to use the public wifi there.  All the camps were either covered in dust or caked with now dried mud.  It is a real shame that everything gets so contaminated when the weather is like this.   They construct such beautiful pavilions where you could hang out or participate in various events and then the dust and mud comes and everything gets blanketed in grime.  One day we will see it in its pristine clean original state.

Barbie Death Village

Not far from our camp is the Barbie Death Village.  A humorous installation with a trail of a few hundred Barbie dolls leading up to a ramp and feeding into a shredder that then spits out arms and legs and other pieces of the doll parts  Of course, it has suffered from the elements and the Barbies are all dusty and brown now.

Sunset on the Playa

It was another beautiful sunset that evening.  They really do have the most amazing sunsets and sunrises in that part of the desert.

The next morning, Saturday, the day of the burn, we were out reasonably early and toured the Playa on what was a perfect day - very little wind, hardly any dust and a nice sunny day and not particularly hot.

John's rememberance

We went over to the Temple and I stapled a couple of photos of our friend John, who had just passed,  onto the wall.  The entire temple was covered by memorials to friends and family of those who have been lost in recent times.  It is quite moving.  While most of the Burning Man area is joyful and funny and weird, the temple is a very reverent and quiet place with lots of people tearful and sad - such a contrast.

We continued to view more of the art works - the Pink Rabbit, the African statues, the Penguins, the Goose, the very large inflatable men, the shiny chrome statues. 

The MOOP Fence

We rode all the way out to the fence - the trash fence - where any extraneous MOOP (Material Out of Place) gets caught.  The fence really does its job and it captures nearly all of any material that gets blown away across the desert floor.

Nighttime on the Playa

In the evening, we got ready to ride out to the burning of the Man.  It was the first time we had been out at night and how spectacular it was.  Everyone, including ourselves was lit up - lights on their bicycle wheels, lights on their clothing and all the mutant vehicles were arranged around the Man.  It was an amazing cacophony of sound and an onslaught of lights.  Every sound system, and there were many of them and they were loud, was booming out EDM.  Even though everyone was booming out their own music, the beats per second were very close and almost synchronized so one just blended into the other. 

El Pulpo Magnifico

We wandered all around the perimeter of the man, which, since it is loaded with fireworks and incendiaries is well guarded.  There were some wonderful sights - propane blasting into the air, laser beams and colored lights everywhere and lots and lots of people.  This is the main event of the Burning Man week. Our favorite installation was a repeat appearance from the prior year - El Pulpo Magnifico (the magnificent octopus).  This vehicle in the form of a giant octopus has moving arms, eyes and mouth and flaming propane blasts issuing from its head and tentacles - truly magnificent.

Fireworks before the burn

Before the Man burns there are a few ceremonies going on - processions of toga clad people carrying lanterns, people twirling flaming batons and, before his demise, the Man raises his arms to the sky.  Finally when it came time for the burn we got in position for a good view of the activities.  It was initiated by several explosions and a magnificent display of fireworks - one of the best we had ever seen - and it went on for a long time.  Then there were fires around the base of the Man and these slowly grew until the entire structure was aflame.  The whole structure was engulfed in flame for a long time, before things started to weaken and then with one almighty crash the whole structure fell to the ground to the whoops and hollers of the crowd.  It was simply wonderful and amazing.

The Man is Burning

Finding our bikes in the dark in the mass of hundreds of bikes after the burn was a bit challenging but we eventually found them and made our way back to our camp.  A most epic conclusion to the day. 

The remains

The next day I rode out to the site of the Man and was surprised how small and area debris it was - charred wood mixed with metal construction frames and nails and screws.  It was still smouldering slightly and the ashes were warm.

The Temple Burn

In the evening, Sunday evening, we rode out once more to the Temple to witness its burning.  This was a more reverent affair with no ceremony leading up to the lighting of the fire promptly at 8:00 pm.  Uite a few people leave after the burning of the man but there were still several 10’s of thousands of people around the Temple and they were all completely silent.  We sat in the dust around the Temple and watched the flames take hold and quickly envelop the entire structure.  

It was actually quite moving that so many people sat so quietly to witness this event.  Sure every now and again there was a lone howl like a wolf by someone somewhere and when the entire structure fell somebody played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes - not my favorite instrument to hear in such a setting.  That should be banned.

With the two landmarks of the Playa gone we now had to get back to our camp.  Not the easiest thing to do but at least there was no dust.  There were a group of cranes and loaders near our street of 5:30 that helped us orient ourselves.

We had a little issue with our plumbing that evening.  The black water holding tank of our toilet after 5 days finally filled up.  Things got a bit stinky for a while until I decanted a small quantity off into a container and took it to one of the porta-potties.  Not what we really wanted to do on our last night but we survived.

The Departure

The next morning we were up with the sun and hitched up our trailer and headed out.  There were a few other folks leaving at that time but nothing that made us wait in line for any period of time.  We were fairly quickly out to the road and on our way to Gerlach, Reno and Sacramento.

Whilst we had some tough times with the wind, dust, rain and mud, the last few days were perfect and it was another wonderful experience.  The little trailer was quite comfortable and quite adequate for our needs.  We will be there next year.

The Baltic States - June 2026

The Tallink Silja Ferry

We arrived mid-morning into a very wet Tallinn. It had been a smooth crossing on a very modern ship of the Silja Line.The process of disembarkation was very efficient.  A couple of thousand people were off-loaded very quickly (the boat’s capacity was 2800) and they were ready to reload passengers for the return trip.  We ran the gauntlet of crooked taxi drivers that lie to you and mis-direct you and got a real driver from the taxi rank (why do they let them get away with that deception?). 

Our Hotel, the Movenpick, was quite a distance from the harbor.  We dropped our bags there and, by then, the rain had eased so we walked over to the old town.  It is a beautiful old town and, even on this damp morning, there were a lot of tourists around.  We walked around in the intermittent light rain for a while before stopping for coffee and cake at Cafe Maiasmokk. Maiasmokk is possibly the oldest cafe in Tallinn.  As well as coffee it specialises in hand painted marzipan animals and dolls.

The Russian Embassy, Tallinn

The coffee shop is directly across the street from the Russian Embassy, and just as there was the last time I visited in 2022, there were a lot of posters and graffiti protesting the war with Ukraine.  It’s good to see that they are keeping up the effort.  Of course, the Estonians more than many others have a very good reason to be protesting Russia's advancements - they share a border with Russia.

Beautiful Art Deco Buildings

We walked on further through the old town, admiring all the old buildings with their beautiful exteriors and ornamentations.  There are some art-deco masterpieces there as well as many medieval buildings.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

We next walked up the hill to Toompea and the large Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.  The cathedral was open so we went in to examine the inside of this beautiful Orthodox Church.  

Coats of Arms, St Mary's Cathedral

From the Cathedral we walked to the adjacent Lutheran Church, St Mary’s Cathedral.  Inside St Mary’s the walls are full of coats of arms - an impressive sight.

View of Old Town from Toompea

Next stop was the overlook with great views down to the old town below.   All the tourists go there so it was a little busy. From there we took the stairs and switchback footpath down to the lower level of the city and walked over to the railway station.  The station and trains are now quite modern,  Estonia is doing well.

Mushrooms and Berries abound

We paid a visit to the adjacent market area and browsed around.  The produce in the vegetable stalls looked wonderful.  Lots of berries of different sorts and lots of chanterelle mushrooms.

There is an interesting old part of the market that is kind of a flea market selling all manner of old stuff.  In one stall, we saw this nice oil painting that looked interesting and thought about taking it back home.  It was only 55 euros.  We asked the lady if she could take it out of the frame so we could pack it in our bags.  She agreed but, without any prompting from us, she said we could have it for 40 euros.  That was good but we were not expecting her to reduce the price without the frame.  She found a screwdriver and started to pry the canvas out of the frame and then announced the price was 30 euros.  Without any bargaining from us, she had dropped the price twice, from 55 to 30 euros - just like the Monty Python sketch.

We next went back to the hotel for a well earned rest before leaving again in the evening for another walk around.   We had spotted a Michelin rated restaurant earlier in the day, Rado, and we dined there.  A wonderful meal of burrata, chanterelle pasta and rhubarb trifle.

Freedom Square, Tallinn

After dinner we walked over to Victory Square or Freedom Square (it has multiple names).  There is a monument there commemorating the first independence for Estonia in 1920.

Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn

The next morning we took an Uber over to the Kadriorg Palace.  This palace was commissioned by Peter the Great for his wife Catherine in the early 18th century.  Peter died before its completion and Catherine lost interest in it, but it survives today and it is a beautiful building in a beautiful park setting.   Nowadays it is home to an art gallery and there was a wonderful small exhibit of Finnish art as well as many not so interesting (to me) 17th and 18th century portraits.

Presidential Palace, Tallinn

The official residence of the President of Estonia is just uphill from the Kadriorg Palace.   We walked over to it and around the adjacent gardens. The roses were in full bloom. It was amusing to see several robot lawn mowers navigating their way around the gardens and keeping the place tidy.

Old City Gate, Tallinn

We walked back from the Palace to the sea front and on into the old town again. We passed by the monument to the 852 people that drowned when the Ferry Estonia sank in 1994. What a terrible tragedy that was. We entered through the old gate to the city at the bottom of Pikk Street and walked up through the old town. We had a great coffee and cake (rhubarb crumble with cream) and then we were off back to the hotel for our bags and an Uber to the bus station.

We had an afternoon bus, a FlixBus, to Riga the capital of Latvia. It was a 4 hour journey, with one stop in Parnu before we arrived in Riga.  The landscape was relatively flat with lots of forests and lots of green. Estonia certainly looked like a prosperous country.

Town Hall Square, Riga

In Riga we walked over the cobbled streets to our hotel, the Neiburgs Hotel in the old town.  While roller bags are great for most situations they do not do well on cobbled streets.  One day our wheels are going to fall off and then we will be in trouble.

It was a cool, grey and damp evening.  We were looking for somewhere to eat and all we could find was pubs and clubs and trashy uninviting places.  Riga has become the destination for stag nights and hen parties and it caters to that clientele. We finally settled on a pizza place near the hotel.  Adequate but not great.

Orthodox Cathedral, Riga

The next morning we walked around town looking for a reasonable breakfast spot.  Again a bit of a bust - just coffee at Costa.  We then walked over to the Independence monument, then on towards the Orthodox Cathedral. 

Bird Box Tree, Riga

Next to the Orthodox Church was an interesting sculpture - a dead tree full of bird boxes.

Orthodox Church Ceremony

At the Orthodox Church the bells started chiming and then everyone paraded out of the church and walked around it.  They were lead by the clergy in their fine gilded and colorful robes.  They carried an icon, all the women followed behind with their hair covered in scarves.  It was quite the procession.  Before returning to the church the head priest scattered water on everyone, presumably to bless them. He also managed to splash many of the bystanders.   We took a quick look inside the church and it was spectacular, but allowed no photos.

Elizabetes Iela, Riga

Moving on we went to Elizabetes Iela and Alberta Iela (Iela is Latvian for street) where there are some spectacular art moderne buildings.  Riga has the best collection of art moderne buildings in Europe.  Truly spectacular.

Elizabetes Iela, Riga

We stopped at an interesting coffee shop across from another fine art moderne building.  The coffee shop was full of armchairs and sofas and fine books and fine porcelain and was run by a nice guy that really wasn’t interested in making conversation. I tried.

Berlin Wall, Riga

We moved on through the Kronvalda Park and alongside the Canal.  There was a small section of the Berlin Wall.  Everyone seems to have got a gift of a piece of the wall when it was demolished.

The Powder Tower, Riga

We entered the old town again and looked at the round Powder Tower before heading back to the hotel for a quick refresh. 

Riga Main Market

Then it was on to the market area.  The market is contained in four Zeppelin hangers purchased from Germany after WWI.  They have been repurposed to make a great market area - meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, clothing, everything. The berries, fruits and vegetables looked wonderful - very high quality.

St Peter's Church, Riga

View from St Peter's Church Spire

The next visit was to St Peter’s Church.  This large church has a spire with a viewing platform with great views of the city below.  Since it was rebuilt after the war, it has had a lift installed that makes getting there a lot easier.  There was a pianist rehearsing for a concert he was giving later in the evening.  It sounded wonderful.

The Four Brothers, Riga

We had a final walk over to the Castle (rather unspectacular and disappointing) and a group of houses called the Four Brothers, the oldest houses in Riga, before we retired to the hotel. The hotel restaurant had a Michelin recommendation (they give those out like candy these days) so we dined there.  It was indeed quite excellent.

Daugava River and National Library

After dinner I went out for a walk, over the bridge to the other side of the Daugava River, to the Latvian National Library building.  It was a lovely sunset as I was walking over the bridge.

The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we checked out and went to the bus station for our bus to Vilnius.  Right on time the Flix Bus left for Vilnius, another 4 hour journey.  The countryside was nice enough but nothing spectacular, just flat, agricultural land with quite a few forested areas.

St Casimir's Church

In Vilnius, we walked from the bus station down to our hotel, the rather nice Radisson Astorija. After a quick refresh in the hotel, we set off to explore. We first walked across the street from the hotel to St Casimir’s Church another fine church, and there were certainly many of them in Vilnius.

We then walked down the main street through the old town to the Cathedral area.  It is a lovely street and it has certainly been improved since I was last there in 2018.  We went to check out the Palace of the Grand Dukes where we would be attending a Jacob Collier concert the following evening. 

Vilnius Cathedral

The Vilnius Cathedral is an imposing building, very large, very white, very grand , more like a Greek Temple than a Catholic church. It has a separate bell tower in the courtyard in front of it. Inside, it was also quite plain, unlike most Catholic churches. 

  

Gediminas Tower and Neris River

From the cathedral we walked over to the River Neris and crossed over to the other side.  The view from the bridge of the hill with the castle tower on top is quite impressive.  The tower is called the Gediminas Tower. The river is not a huge river but it is certainly quite fast flowing.  We walked along the opposite bank for a while and had a drink while we basked in the sun on what was a beautiful afternoon. 

Potato Zepellin

Walking back into town we stopped for dinner at a Lithuanian restaurant in the main street, Pilies Street.  We had a great meal of Lithuanian delicacies - fried bread with cheese sauce, cold beetroot soup, zeppelin potato rolls, and a cheese strudel dessert.

The next morning we walked up the street from the hotel to the upper end of town and the old city gate. the Gate of Dawn.  The Gate of Dawn has a rather famous icon of the Virgin Mary inside. It looked to be very crowded so we didn’t go in but we caught a glimpse of the glittering golden icon from the street below - quite impressive.

Old City Walls, Vilnius

We walked down past the fortifications of the old city down to the other smaller river in town, the Vilnia and then to the bohemian district of Uzupis.  Uzupis is somewhat a self-proclaimed independent enclave within Vilnius.  It is somewhat similar to Copenhagen’s Christiania district, but with a much more artsy vibe.

The Mermaid, Uzupis, Vilnius

The Tibetan Stupa, Uzupis, Vilnius

We walked around Uzupis and admired the quirkiness - the mermaid sculpture in the river bank, the Tibetan stupa, the murals and the multi-lingual metal plaques proclaiming the constitution of the Uzupis Republic.  

Church of St Anne, Vilnius

We moved on to the church of St Francis of Assisi and the church of St Anne.  Impressive churches indeed, but we had seen so many such things on this trip that all we could manage was a quick photo and we were moving on. We walked back into the old town and over to the University area where there were more nice buildings that also warrnated a few pictures.  

We dined at the hotel before our concert at 9:00 pm that evening.  While we were dining, we looked at Jacob Collier’s website and, to our surprise, it said the concert was at 6:00 pm.  Our tickets definitely said 9:00 but we panicked for a while.  We left the hotel in a hurry and took a cab to the concert site.  Thankfully the concert did begin at 9:00 so we were in time. 

 

Ready for the rain

The concert venue, the courtyard of the Palace of the Grand Dukes was open to the elements and it was raining a little.  They were giving out free ponchos to all audience members.  The rain was only light rain and, with the ponchos, it didn’t bother us too much.

  

Jacob Collier

It was a great concert - Jacob Collier, with the Vilnius philharmonic conducted by his mum, Suzie Collier, and with the a cappella harmonizers Take 6. The rain was off and on throughout the concert but at the end of the evening it had stopped.  Jacob did his usual performance of directing the orchestra in a somewhat improvised rendition of a Michael Jackson song.  Then, as he has become famous for, he conducted the entire audience in vocal piece - quite remarkable.  

The encore performance was Jacob’s rousing rendition of the Lithuanian National Anthem which moved everyone in the audience and got them singing (except for us, we didn’t know the words).

Frank Zappa, Vilnius

The next morning, a Sunday morning, and the last one of our trip we checked out of our room and walked around the city some more.  We visited the Frank Zappa statue, then on to a nearby park where they are building an impressive new concert hall, and finally we ended up by the River Neris once more.  

Vilnius River Taxi

The city runs taxi boats up and down the river, so we took one.  It was a pleasant journey upstream and we traveled quite a ways away from the city center before getting off and catching a boat back to the center again.

It was then a slow walk back to the hotel for our bags, with a stop for coffee and doughnut balls along the way, and then it was off to the airport for our RyanAir flight to London, Stanstead.