Monday, 03 June Week 06

This morning at 7:00 a.m. there is a little fog drifting through the forest behind us. But it burnt away so quickly by the sun that it is not even worth unpacking a new weather symbol.

We enjoy the silence at our overnight spot and are in no hurry at all. At 11 a.m. we are finally ready to leave and creep back along the cobblestone road. But it doesn't seem as long as it did when we arrived yesterday!

Our first destination today: the Rummu open-cast mine. You can also visit the former Murru prison in Rummu, which was built by the Soviets in the 1940s. But we are more interested in the limestone quarry around the corner. Here the inmates were forced to do forced labor. What is special about Rummu is that it is a good half under water. The quarry was kept dry with pumps. When the area was abandoned in the early 1990s, the pumps went with it - and the water came. Today the area around the Rummu prison is a remarkable seaside resort. A special atmosphere and we also climb up the limestone hills to enjoy the view from above.

Now let's go to the Kiela waterfall. It's beautiful and the camera and video camera are running hot.

Finally, we end up in Saue at a large RV site. Oops, we haven't seen so many RVs in one place for weeks. But we have to get used to it again.

Tuesday, 04 June

Today Tallinn is on our agenda. We take the risk and drive the motorhome to the port car park. The closer we get to the city, the more congested the traffic becomes, but we have time.

There is one huge construction site around the port area. We are sent to the right and then to the left and finally end up in the parking lot we were aiming for and there is still plenty of space there. We pay 6.50 euros and can even stay there for 24 hours.

We really like the city and of course we treat ourselves to lunch here. The Olde Hansa restaurant is decorated in the style of a rich merchant in the Middle Ages. Even the toilet!

However, we are simply not real city people and so in the course of the afternoon we move on to the Jagala waterfall.

You could spend the night here, but there are always cars coming by and so we don't really like it here.

So we headed to Lahemaa National Park. And here, way out on a headland, we found the perfect place to spend the night. Today, for once, there was no direct view of the sea, but it was nice in an open forest clearing and we could hear the sound of the sea.

The sea is only a few steps away and so we enjoy a beautiful sunset today.

We meet Alex from the canton of Bern, who has been traveling on his bike for months.



An interesting meeting with good conversations. Alex, nice to have met you.

Yesterday was so full of impressions that we don't want to drive far today and just want to let everything sink in and digest it. To do this, we drive to the next corner of the Lahemaa National Park. The RMK site here is even more beautiful than yesterday's. We are very close to the water and the forest is just behind us.

After arriving and taking a deep breath, we finish up yesterday’s homepage.

Yesterday we somehow didn't have the head for it anymore and sitting together with Alex was more important to us.

After a small lunch we hike to the northernmost point of Estonia, the North Cape of the Baltics, so to speak. We go over hill and dale and, depending on the time of year, even through water. But we are lucky and arrive at the end of the mainland with dry feet.

The rest of the day is spent doing nothing. Stop, of course, isn't quite right. We plan our onward journey. Then the daily work on the website, cooking, washing up, etc.



But everything is fun!!

Thursday, 06 June

Today we chug on through the Lahemaa National Park. We stop in the fishing village of Käsmu. The beautiful stretch of coast with the many boulders in the water tempts us to take a walk.

Many birds breed far out on a headland and so it is forbidden to go out there from April 1st to July 15th.

The next place is Vösu. A village in the middle of the forest.

We stop again in Altja. The village is said to be an original fishing village. Right at the front of the headland there are still a few old fishermen's houses. We can also admire pretty houses in the village itself, but we are not entirely convinced.

Our plan is to spend another night by the sea today, and tomorrow we will turn south and drive inland.

The search turns out to be a bit difficult. Finally we find what we are looking for in Kunda.



We are standing here on the beach of the town, with a bar, playground, fitness area - but everything is still deserted and empty. The sea view is a little modest, but the weather is getting nicer.

Friday, 07 June

We had this large beach area all to ourselves. First we quickly moved the car, as the sun was still a long way from shining where we were sleeping, and there is nothing nicer than when the sun shines into the motorhome in the morning. After showering and breakfast, the obligatory work - washing up, disposing of rubbish and we can even empty our toilet and fill up with fresh water.

And then we start with a waterfall tour along the cliffs. Unfortunately, this is a complete disappointment. The water is now flowing very slowly, but the stairs down to the sea are all the more spectacular. Climbing stairs is an integral part of our fitness program on this trip.

The Kuremäe nunnery is our highlight today. The monastery was built in 1891. It is the only operating Russian Orthodox nunnery in Estonia.

We end the day today on the shores of Lake Peipu. The lake is about seven times larger than Lake Constance. There are five of us on the large campsite.



With binoculars we can see into Russia from here. The border is somewhere in the middle of the lake.

​​​​​​​​​​Tagesstrecke: Kunda - Pusi, Peipsi-See

Distance: 184 km

Average consumption: 8.1 liters

Average speed: 54 km/h

Travel time: 3 hours 22 minutes

​​​​​​​Pitch costs: 16 euros, including water/electricity, we do not charge electricity

First, something about the weather.

The summer warmth, sometimes even summer heat, has disappeared. The days are full of storms. However, up until now these storms have somehow always passed us by.

But this morning we start the day with a little rain for once. It's supposed to be a rainy day, so we're taking it easy.

But lo and behold, the sun soon comes out and by the time we finally set off, there is no sign of rain anywhere.

We have barely started and we stop again. Alatskivi Castle is waiting to be admired.

Now we're on to Tartu. This university town has been recommended to us more than once. Today, too, we're heading for a large parking lot in the center. With 100,000 inhabitants, Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. Traffic is very limited.

But it's Saturday again and, like in Kaunas, there's a big market here today. Logically, it's next to our parking lot. But today we're lucky. All the market visitors want to park in the free parking spaces. There's a huge crowd.

However, our spot costs money and is hardly occupied. Since we don't know how long we'll be staying, we buy a ticket for 3 euros and we could stay there for 24 hours!

We just manage to make it back to the motorhome from the parking machine before the rain sets in. But after 10 minutes the rain is over and we stroll into town.

The pedestrian zone is not very busy, even though it is already 12 o'clock.



The second rain shower arrives about an hour later with almost black clouds and before we know it we are sitting in a restaurant enjoying a delicious lunch.

Refreshed, we stroll on in the sunshine. At the market we buy strawberries and cherries - both incredibly tasty and very cheap.

We leave Tartu and drive south to the Ahja River. Here we find a small family campsite with friendly owners. An ideal place for a Saturday night.

Once again on this trip we had an entire campsite to ourselves. And once again the showers are simply in an open space, here in the anteroom of the sauna. There are two of them, but at least you could lock the entrance door here.

But we are all alone, so we have our own private bathroom.

Today we want to do a circular hike in the Ahja Valley. The best impression of the river and the rocks would of course be from the water. You could also rent canoes at our campsite, but firstly the weather is changeable and cold and secondly we have never been out canoeing before and don't want to try it today.

We also like the river landscape from the bank. The hike is really worthwhile.

Luckily we started in the morning. Today, Sunday, many people have the same idea, and the hiking car park is already quite full when we return.

We decide to spend the night at Lake Peipus again today and drive to Räpina Marina. We generally prefer to leave the free parking spaces on Sundays to the day trippers and the parking space here is very nicely located.



The rain that was forecast arrives in the middle of the afternoon and we are glad that we are no longer on the roads. OK, it doesn't last very long. We simply enjoy the afternoon, work on the website and then there is a lookout tower that we will probably climb.