Two more days on the island of Hiiumaa

We cycled down the Kassari peninsula a little way till the path got too stony. Lots of bird song and a beautiful sandy coast. Then on towards the tip of the Kopu peninsula where there is a lighthouse.  It began to rain.  The short cut along a dirt road got stonier and stonier.  We had to change route and go a longer way round, passed this beautiful looking Orthodox Church. As with most churches it was shut. 

The orthodox community used to be very large but with the war, deportations and the closure of churches in Soviet times, it had dwindled.

We also passed signs of collective farming that has now been abandoned.

Cycling in the rain with the wind against you is very dispiriting.  The road seems endless.  We had booked a hut a a place called Surfers Paradise on the tip of the peninsula. We did eventually arrive, cold and wet, to a very basic site.  The hut just had beds.  Did we really need a heater?  Yes we certainly did.  The pit latrine was a little distance away and the one outside, cold tap quite a bit further.  But there in the hut next to the tap was not only a hot shower, but a sauna.  All was forgiven.

The next day it had stooped raining  and we could enjoy our surroundings.

On the island of Hiiumaa

We spent the morning in Haapsula, enjoying what remains of he old town, including the castle.  Castles in these parts go back to the Livonian order of Teutonic Knights.  As far as we can gather they came with the Pope's blessing to spread Christianity but, for them, much more to conquer lands.  The castles were ruled by the bishops, one if whom was the younger brother of the king of Denmark.  The history gets complicated as all nations round about tried to take over the lands: Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Russia, etc.

We now diverted to see the islands of Hiiumaa and then Saaremaa.  

On Hiiumaa we thought we would stay in a campsite in Kassari, advertising having barrels for huts.  They were indeed large barrels but seemed miserable things, so we went on down the peninsula to look for something better.  And there was a clearing in the forest and another free campsite.  The facilities were a semi-detached pit latrine, barbecue stand with plenty if wood to be gathered, an old fashioned village swing and the most amazing concert of bird song, both in the evening and the morning.  It was a beautifully sunny evening but very cold once the sun went down.

The swing was well used, by young children, then older children, followed by teenagers and, as the evening progressed, by young adults.  In the morning it was the turn of the oldies.

Continuing to Haapsalu

A railway line makes an attractive cycle path. There are no cars and the gradient is never too steep.  However 64 kms of straight line, with forest on either side, however beautiful, can get a little boring.  It is worse when it starts to rain.

The path is called the 'HealthTrail' and we did encounter some fast cyclists who soon left us far behind.  There were only a couple of stations with anything to see.  One seemed to be a youth club if some sort. There was a fire burning inside and rain outside, so it did seem attractive.  However, we really couldn't pass as Estonian youth, so eat our lunch on a bench outside.  The other was rather sadder as a memorial to the hundreds if Estonians who had been transported to Siberia in cattle trucks along the railway, in 1941 and 1949 by Stalin.

But there was also beauty along the way. We have been seeing these flowers in ditches and marshes along the way since Russia.  They are nearly over now.

We had fortunately booked an apartment for the night in Haapsula so were able to dry out and warm up.

A wet forest campsite to Haapsalu

.I don't seem to be able to save, only publish. I hope I don't lose this. iPads remain a mystery to me.

In the morning we were warmed by a fire, had breakfast and admired our surroundings.  Then on.  But after about 5kms there was a cafe. There are so few that it is a shame not to support them. We enjoyed a second breakfast if pancakes. On leaving we encountered a couple of Germans doing the route in reverse. Long distance cyclists are also rare, so we stopped for a chat. They recommended a change of route, going inland to a campsite at Kasepere, where they had arrived wet the previous night and been given a sauna and from there you could follow a disused railway line all the way to Haapsalu. This seemed attractive. The road we were on was fairly busy and there was a long unpleasant stretch of roadworks. We turned off onto a quiet road with the wind less against us. Regretfully there was no sauna that night but we did have a nice hut, an excellent supper provided and breakfast the next day.

The road the next day started well, but then disintegrated to a very stony dirt road.  The disused sectioned of the railway line started at Riisipere but we reckoned we could pick it up one station later at Turba. We stopped there for the supermarket and a little market outside with a stall selling biscuits and sweets, another clothes and another pototoes from the back of a van. The biscuits were good but we didn't try the potatoes.

Then it hailed.  Not a good omen for the rest of the day, but we were able to shelter in the supermarket.

I shall now publish this for fear of losIng it. 

Lack of blogs

We don't seem to be managing to keep up with the blogs.  We are now in Latvia and will reach Riga hopefully in a couple of days.  But the blog is way back in Estonia,  I wrote quite a bit yesterday but then pressed something wrong and the whole thing froze.  The only way out was to lose everything I had written.  It had  not been saved.

Next bit from Tallinn

This covers the same part of our journey a post that Katherine wrote about earlier.

We left, with George, Tom's brother and therefore Katherine's brother-in-law after our stay in Tallinn.  The exit from the city was almost entirely on reserved cycle tracks; they seem to take these seriously in Estonia. Stopped at a supermarket, and after this the amount of traffic grew less and eventually no more reserved cycle tracks.  Stopped at a cafe for [pancakes (which have become obligatory for us when we see them) and it began to rain.  The rain went on the wind was against ..... etc.  We were going along the cost Westward, but one did not see the sea much because of the pine forests.

Eventually, time to find somewhere for the night.  A campsite was marked on one of our maps, and when we got to it, it turned out to be a forest site with minimal facilities, called Meremoisa, basically a toilet and some places to light fires.  We stopped here, rather wet and cold and put up our tents.  It was near the sea.  Supper in our tent, during which one of us, don't know who, made a puncture in my air bed - as I found out later.  A restless and cold night.  I woke early when the other two were sound asleep, at about 06.00 and went for a walk to warm up.  The forest and the seaside were beautiful in the early morning and it looked as if a sunny morning was in store.  But still quite cold.  We made a fire and managed to dry out some wet things to some extyent5.  Then off on the next stage.

Tom

Cattle

On the whole we have not seen very many farm animals in Estonia.  Some, but a lot of grassland seems to be given over to harvesting hay and, presumably, selling it.  Quite apart from this, we saw a couple of highland bulls, just like in Scotland, and they came over to be talked to.  Were they imported for stock improvement, or just for fun, or do highland cattle come from the Baltic in the first place.