Lithuania's Curonian Spit: Serene strand between the waters

At the edge of the Valley of Silence, the landscape changes so suddenly it's like strolling to another continent - from a placid, fragrant pine forest to a soaring wall of brown sand.

A short but steep 52-meter vertical climb to the top of the Parnidis Dune - known affectionately or humorously as "Lithuania's Sahara" - reveals a sweeping view of a remarkable and soothing landscape, the Curonian Spit.

On the map, the spit resembles a stray hair rising from a child's cowlick, starting in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and gently curving north 98 kilometers toward Lithuania's port city of Klaipeda, which it almost touches.