Baltic coastal hiking 2020 from Tallinn to Riga

Kristi Rohtsalu
My Baltic Coastal Hike: Tallinn -> Riga
Summer 2020
September 2020

1
Table of Contents
Foreword.......................................................................................................................................................3
Cliffs and waterfalls of northwest Estonia....................................................................................................5
Sunday, July 5: Home (Tallinn) – Muraste ................................................................................................5
Monday, July 6: Muraste – Laulasmaa......................................................................................................8
Tuesday, July 7: Laulasmaa – Paldiski .....................................................................................................11
Wednesday, July 8: Paldiski – Madise – Padise ......................................................................................15
Thursday, July 9: Padise – Vihterpalu .....................................................................................................19
Friday, July 10: Vihterpalu – Nõva (Rannaküla) ......................................................................................22
Haapsalu and villages of Coastal Swedes....................................................................................................26
Saturday, July 11: Nõva (Rannaküla) – Dirhami......................................................................................26
Sunday, July 12: Dirhami – Saare (Noarootsi).........................................................................................30
Monday, July 13: Saare (Noarootsi) – Saunja .........................................................................................34
Tuesday, July 14: Saunja – Pullapää........................................................................................................39
Wednesday, July 15: Pullapää – Haeska .................................................................................................45
From Matsalu National Park down to Munalaid plus a couple of West Estonian islands ..........................48
Thursday, July 16: Haeska – Laiküla – Lihula...........................................................................................48
Friday, July 17: Lihula – Karuse ...............................................................................................................53
Saturday, July 18: Karuse – Virtsu – Kuivastu .........................................................................................55
Sunday, July 19: Muhu island..................................................................................................................60
Monday, July 20: Kuivastu – Virtsu – Mereäärse....................................................................................66
Tuesday, July 21: Mereäärse – Kastna....................................................................................................70
Wednesday, July 22: Kastna – Munalaid – Kihnu island.........................................................................73
Thursday, July 23: Kihnu island...............................................................................................................77
Pärnu town and surrounding areas plus the pearl of the Gulf of Riga.......................................................80
Friday, July 24: Munalaid – Kabriste .......................................................................................................80
Saturday, July 25: Kabriste – Pärnu.........................................................................................................84
Sunday, July 26: Pärnu beach..................................................................................................................87
Monday, July 27: Pärnu & Going to Ruhnu island ..................................................................................90
Tuesday, July 28: Ruhnu island ...............................................................................................................95
Wednesday, July 29: Back to Pärnu......................................................................................................102

2
Thursday, July 30: Pärnu – Tahkuranna................................................................................................104
Friday, July 31: Tahkuranna – Krundiküla, Häädemeeste.....................................................................111
Saturday, August 1: Krundiküla, Häädemeeste – Ainaži.......................................................................114
The Vidzeme Coast....................................................................................................................................120
Sunday, August 2: Ainaži – Svētciems / Vējavas...................................................................................120
Monday, August 3: Svētciems / Vējavas – Tūja ....................................................................................123
Tuesday, August 4: Tūja – Lauči / Skulte...............................................................................................129
Wednesday, August 5: Lauči / Skulte – Lilaste......................................................................................134
Direction: Riga...........................................................................................................................................138
Thursday, August 6: Lilaste – Ādaži.......................................................................................................138
Friday, August 7: Ādaži – Riga...............................................................................................................141
Saturday, August 8: Riga .......................................................................................................................144
Summary & conclusion .............................................................................................................................150
Appendix 1. Summary statistics................................................................................................................152

3
Foreword
The summer came different this year. Since March, there has been the still ongoing COVID-19 (the
coronavirus) crisis… It effectively ruined whatever travel plans people might have had before. I tried to
book a few different flights, but always the flight either wasn’t available or was cancelled before getting
off the ground. To have a decent summer vacation nevertheless, I took my backpack and literally got going
(walking) from the doorstep of my home.
Initially, the aim was to be like a tourist in Estonia, while loosely following the recently developed Baltic
Coastal Hiking route1
from the Estonia’s capital Tallinn to the Estonia’s summer capital Pärnu. After that,
I had booked a trip to Georgia, a country that despite of the COVID-19 kept welcoming tourists from
Baltics. Well… At the end of July, my flight to Georgia was cancelled yet once again due to changed COVID
situation. The trip from the capital of Estonia to the summer capital of Estonia became a trip from the
capital of Estonia to the capita of Latvia. In other words, I walked all the way long from Tallinn to Riga.
It wasn’t the straightest way possible. It was at times a rugged way, following the coastal line of the Baltic
Sea as much as reasonably feasible, given at least some form of civilized accommodation option; carrying
a tent and a sleeping bag is just not my thing. The map following the signature shows the summary of my
route.
All that time I kept a diary which after slight editing for style errors and typos is in front of you now. In
here, you can find the walking path of each day plus accompanying description and selected photos. Some
days may look – and in fact, they were – pretty boring. That’s the way it is. Sometimes boredom is
necessary for gaining inner balance, peace of mind and broader perspective of all the optionality that lays
ahead of us.
Kristi Rohtsalu
September 2020, Tallinn
1
https://coastalhiking.eu/en

4
My route from Tallinn to Riga

5
Cliffs and waterfalls of northwest Estonia
Sunday, July 5: Home (Tallinn) – Muraste
My trip began in the morning of July 5th
, at 8:35 exactly. For the starters, the weather did not look too
promising: it was cloudy, just about to starting raining. The temperatures during the day ranged from 15
to 20 degrees Celsius. The good news was that I did not have to carry a lot of water; all I had to do, was
to stand with my mouth open and look at the sky .
Getting going: my selfie at 8:35 in Sunday morning, just out of home and around the corner
First, it was all about getting out of the town, getting out of Tallinn where I had been stuck for too long,
not least importantly because of the COVID-19 situation. The mission was completed by ten o’clock. It
took another 40 minutes to reach the actual hiking route near Tiskre. I did not see any trail signs… Only
the Navicup app confirmed that I was on the right track.
Followed walk through Tiskre.
“Do I like this house – or this one?” I asked myself when passing the houses in the area.
It’s always interesting to see how people are living – especially if you are looking for a new home by
yourself.

6
At one place the Google Maps seemed to lie: according to it, I was supposed to walk on a road which did
not (yet) exist. Fortunately, I found a narrow pathway for (approximately) getting where I needed to get.
Now finally, at around eleven o’clock, I turned to forest and started to see the trail signs. There was the
nice Aura Nature Trail. Despite of the light rain, I met several people walking in opposite direction. A
retired couple greeted me and I greeted them.
Followed walk on a quiet road and there I saw it, highlight of the day: strange buildings of mirroring glass,
with no decent road or pathway leading to them.
“Very smart!” I thought, getting closer and starting to see a mirror image of myself.
I really had not got from the road if these were simply constructions of iron posts or something else.
Maybe it was the modular house of someone. Maybe he or she was observing me from the house,
laughing at my stupid-looking curiosity. Let it be a mystery.
Highlight of the day: strange connected buildings of mirroring glass
Half past eleven I arrived to the crossroads. Here I had to leave the designated trail, this for a supermarket
to get some food stuff for lunch, for dinner and for the next morning breakfast as well. This part of the

7
walk included several easy kilometres till the Muraste Konsum, a nice supermarket opened from 9 AM to
10 PM even on Sundays.2
Ironically, the last three kilometres from the supermarket to my accommodation in Meriküla Sprodi- ja
Õppekeskus (in translation: Meriküla Sports and Leaning Centre) were the most challenging ones. Namely,
there was a road on the map which seemed not to exist in reality. The only road that I found, was a narrow
pathway through the forest. Naturally, I started doubting if that was the right way. Fortunately, I met a
retired couple who reassured me: this is the way to go.
“Thank you! Have a nice walk,” we wished each other when our ways departed in the next path crossing.
Soon I saw my destination of the first hiking day. The only problem was this: the gate was closed. That
gate was a small one too, leading directly to the forest (but shown in the Google Maps as the way to go!).
I had to take a wet ‘round trip’ to reach the right gate.
Checking in to the accommodation was full self-service: PIN code to access the room had been sent
beforehand and I did not meet any other human being there. This approach suited me well. My room was
actually meant for four people, but I had it all just for me, for 30 euros.
Below is my hiking day on the map, recorded with my Suunto watch.
My hiking map, day 1: 5 July 2020, from home to Meriküla Sprordi- ja Õppekeskus (20.15 km)
2
This is what I sometimes miss when travelling in Western European countries: supermarkets that are open virtually
all the time except when people sleep.

8
Monday, July 6: Muraste – Laulasmaa
My hiking day two started at 8 AM. For the starters, I got a little lost around the Muraste Natural Reserve
and the village next to it. Namely, at around 9 AM I found myself on a pathway which looked strangely
familiar. Yes, this was the same place where Google Maps seemed lying and where I had asked the road
to the accommodation yesterday! I looked around in the village and only found dead ends. Reached this
conclusion, I went back, and looked at the map and the signs more carefully this time. This ‘adventure’
explains the sig-zags at the beginning of my hiking map below.
My hiking map, day 2: 6 July 2020, from Meriküla Spordi- ja Õppekeskus to Samblatalu Homestay
(26.96 km)
Followed several kilometres of nice and almost smooth coastal pathways. The weather was perfect for
such a walk: it was a bit sunny and a bit cloudy, with modest temperature at around 20 degrees.
“What would I prefer to do: sit in the office or do some hiking here?” I asked myself.
The answer was clear: do some hiking here and now. I could not imagine any better / more suitable
entertainment for me at the time being.

9
There were several things to look at on the road: outcrops of sandstone from the Cambrian period unique
to Estonia, Suurupi Upper Lighthouse, Suurupi Freedom Monument, Keila waterfall, Keila-Joa Manor,
Keila-Joa Manor Mortuary… Every time I reached an attraction, the Navicup app made my phone buzzing.
When I looked at it, there was an explanation of the landmark. The following is my favourite pic of the
day: toilet like a lighthouse in someone’s backyard. Estonians have a peculiar sense of humour .
Toilet like a lighthouse in somebody’s backyard
There were some challenges on the way as well: sandy and windy beaches which weren’t all that easy to
walk on, muddy roads, streams of water to literally march through (no bridge!).
Then came a section of some still vivid memories, the Laulasmaa Ultra trail. I had participated in the event
in 2017 and in 2018. I recalled the path very well. It had been upgraded, though. There were several stairs
instead of dirt paths. Despite that it was Monday, there were many people walking around at Türisalu Cliff
and in the Keila-Joa Park.

10
Moments of vivid memories: arriving to the trail of Laulasmaa Ultra
Somewhere just past the Keila-Joa Manor Mortuary I turned to the main road. One important destination
of each or almost each of my hiking days before the hotel (or ‘hotel’ in quotation marks referring to
whatever type of accommodation I had booked) was a supermarket or grocery store to get some food for
the evening and for the next day. This time, it was the Laulasmaa Comarket. I happened to be there just
in time to skip a couple of occasional rain showers.
Followed another two kilometres of walk to my day’s destination: Samblatalu Homestay. I acknowledge,
I had been a bit hesitant at the time of booking: external bathroom, does this mean something outdoors?
What if the host is just too caring – assuming my time and attention? The accommodation exceeded my
expectations. First of all, the bathroom was still indoors and even ensuite! From the outside, the house
looked like a private house, but was fully reshaped from inside to welcome travellers like me. My host
said that I was not the first one there, doing the Baltic Coastal Hiking trail. This sounded logical: there were
other accommodation options nearby, but I had not found anything else as reasonably priced as this one.

11
Home away from home: Samblatalu building from year 1938
Tuesday, July 7: Laulasmaa – Paldiski
Right below is my hiking map of this day, the chosen road from Laulasmaa to Paldiski. I cut it short in the
Pakri Peninsula, as I have done a different hike there before. (I definitely recommend making a round trip
on the peninsula to those who haven’t been there! It may be a challenge to find an accommodation before
Paldiski, though.)

12
My hiking map, day 3: 7 July 2020, from Samblatalu Homestay to Paldiski Hotel (20.57 km)
Anyways, I got started just after eight, accompanied by the best wishes of my host. The weather was…
suspicious. During the day, there was all of this: rain, sun, wind. The temperature was modest, at around
15-16 degrees Celsius.
What a nice morning walk was there in the pine forest – and what a beautiful little summer village under
the trees! A big brown dog came to greet me.
“He is very friendly, he is only very curious,” his owner reassured me when we met a few minutes later.
I already knew that .
In ten minutes or so, I just happened to a control point of the orienteering sport. That’s how this sport is
practiced in these days of smartphones (and the corona pandemic): there are more or less permanent
control points which one can walk or run through, using one’s smartphone as a map, compass and
punching device all in one package.

13
I found a control point! It’s MOBO, the modern way to practice orienteering sport
The next sight was Treppoja where water cascades flow over the limestone steps. This place again came
familiar to me: I had been here with a group friends, in January 2019. It was nice to see the waterfall and
cascades now in July.
Treppoja in July vs. in January

14
Followed truly coastal part of the hike this day. The rain started and it was becoming increasingly windy.
Apparently, water level was higher than normal. I was wondering if I can take this path at all. For a while
I could, but then at some point, next to the cliff, the path was all flooded. (See the photo below.) I turned
around, walked a few hundred meters back and, for a kilometre or so, shared the road with the trucks.
A lot of water in the sea; I tried but could not really walk much from this point on
On my way to Paldiski, I passed a big wind and solar farm. There are more than one of those in Pakri.
Indeed, after being a top secret closed military town in the Soviet times, Paldiski has become an active
green energy town!
When I reached Paldiski, a gentleman not in his first youth asked if I knew where the church was. I shook
my head:
“I just arrived.”
Then, around the corner there was a church, the Orthodox Church Radoneži. Looking back, I saw the man
following me, so he found it too. I’m not sure if this was the church that he was looking for; there are
several churches in Paldiski.
The Paldiski Hotel, my destination this day, looked like abandoned. On the door there was a phone
number. I called and the voice of a youngish woman promised to come and open the door.

15
Paldiski Hotel looked like abandoned, but it wasn’t
Until I was waiting for somebody to come and open the door, another elderly gentleman was walking by.
“There used to be even a restaurant!” he remarked, stopping.
“But you can eat there,” he added and pointed to the Peetri Pizza just across the road, a couple of houses
away.
Followed a brief chat about my hike and what it costs, to stay for the night in this hotel.
My room turned out to be small but comfortable, with even tea and coffee facilities inside. Despite of my
initial impression, I wasn’t the only tourist there that night. As usual, I had reserved the entire afternoon
for enjoying the pleasures of the hotel, that is for planning the next day, for writing my notes, for reading,
for watching a movie…
Wednesday, July 8: Paldiski – Madise – Padise
After a good night sleep – this despite of my ‘croaking’ neighbour in the next room – and usual morning
routines my day started. It was a nice and almost sunny morning with modest temperature at around 15
degrees Celsius.

16
First, I made a short circle in Paldiski, took a look to the central square, to a couple of more churches and
to the main building of the Paldiski Railway Station. I also passed the tavern called ‘Tavern Peetri Toll’, but
skipped the Paldiski Local History Study Museum this time.
The main building of Paldiski Railway Station
Then, after passing the industrial section of the town, I soon reached the Laoküla beach. There was a
building which looked unfinished, with 1965 on it. I took a quick look back to the Paldiski southern port
and the coast of Väike-Pakri island, and moved on.
Followed several kilometres of paved road, just marching and thinking my own thoughts. The next three
attractions were in Madise. The first one on my way was the birthplace and commemorative stone of the
Estonian educational sector activist Bengt Gottfried Forselius. Indeed, the guy, born in ca. 1660 in Madise
and living only for about 28 years (killed in a storm in 1688), is renowned as the founder of public
education in Estonia. The second thing to look at was the St. Matthias Church. Interestingly, because of
the unique position on a high shore the church tower was once also used as a lighthouse. Last, but not
least, in the church’s garden there was located a small 2.2 m high waterfall.

17
St. Matthias Church in Harju-Madise
After Madise, there were a couple of more kilometres of asphalt; then I turned to a gravel road. At that
point it started raining, fortunately only lightly so. I saw more storks on the fields than ever before at a
time. Sounds of nature were occasionally disturbed by the military aircrafts in the sky. I wondered about
their doings: was it some sort of training?
At around 1 PM I reached Padise centre with its cloister (Padise Cloister), Padise Manor and Padise Castle
Information Point. Just a couple of years ago, in summer 2018, I could enter Padise Cloister for free, but
after renovation works this was no longer the case.

18
Before going to my Padise ‘hotel’, I looked for a supermarket – or for any place where I could buy some
food for the evening and for the walk in the following day. There turned out to be a nice little Padise Valla
Shop with everything necessary.
For the night, I stayed in the Kallaste Talu – Turismitalu & Holiday Resort.3
The place was located about
1.5 km from the Padise centre. On the way there, I stopped occasionally to pick up some wild strawberries.
Below is the map of my hike this day.
My hiking map, day 4: 8 July 2020, from Samblatalu Homestay to Kallaste Talu (20.83 km)
I had arrived just on time: when I had settled in my small cottage house called Hilja, it started raining in
earnest. In this little house there was everything, except WiFi (and it’s good to be offline sometimes!):
modern bathroom, fireplace, a microwave, tea facilities, king-sized bed… You name it.
3
‘Turismitalu’ translates as tourist farm, meaning a country house or farm that welcomes tourists.

19
My little cottage in Kallaste Talu – Turismitalu & Holiday Resort
Later in the evening the rain stopped and the sun came out. I could enjoy laying in the hammock, simply
wandering around (I even managed to get lost a bit!), picking strawberries and blueberries.
Thursday, July 9: Padise – Vihterpalu
As far as weather is concerned, July 9th
was a perfect day for the walk: modest temperatures (15-20
degrees Celsius), not much wind, sunny and cloudy at the same time. Well rested and motivated, I got out
of my little cottage and going already at 8:04.
Following is my hiking map of the day.

20
My hiking map, day 5: 9 July 2020, from Kallaste Talu to Puuna Öömaja (27.24 km)
The walk was mostly on small roads and paths through the Estonian forests. Still, in terms of road types,
there was all of this: paved roads (a little), gravel roads, beautiful walking paths in the pine forests,
difficult-to-pass grassy paths, muddy paths. On the way, I picked up and into the mouth quite a few wild
strawberries and blueberries.
Beautiful Estonian forests and golden rye fields
The journey was halved by a brief stop in Harju-Risti to get an ice cream from the local grocery store and
to replenish my food supplies. (It was the last grocery store that I saw till the next day.) The main tourist
attraction of the place was 700 years old Harju-Risti Church with its oldest church bell tower in Estonia.

21
‘Harju-Risti’ translates as ‘Harju-Crossing’ or ‘Harju-Cross’; there are no important crossroads in Harju-
Risti; the name of the place has religious origin.
At around quarter past two early in the afternoon I reached Vihterpalu Manor. The manor is currently
privately owned, fully renovated, and normally offers modern conference premises and accommodation.
At my arrival, the gates were closed and it was very quiet there. I did not call on the number shown on
the gate; for me it wasn’t the day to visit a manor, anyway.
Instead, I marched on towards my destination, accommodation called Puuna Öömaja. There in Vihterpalu
village were no shops, but a passer-by could have rented a mobile sauna or helped her or himself with the
honey.
Help yourself! Here is how you can buy honey in Vihterpalu. (Notice the slot for cash as well.)
Puuna Öömaja looked like yet another nice place to spend a summer weekend while in Estonia. However,
when I arrived, I wondered:
“Is there anybody at all?”
I wondered whether it was this quiet because of the day being Thursday or because of the COVID-19 or
both.

22
While just about starting to think of my next actions (call somebody), I saw a middle-aged woman
gardening.
“I have a room booked here...” I started.
She nodded:
“Wait here. I’ll go and find Priit.”
A little while later a friendly-looking man appeared.
“You booked via Booking.com?” asked he.
To my nod he continued:
“This is another house.”
We walked to the other house, just next to the ‘honey shop’. I got a nice twin room with private bathroom
and reasonably strong WiFi connection, all for less than 30 euros. As a bonus, there was a possibility to
use a common kitchen as well.
Priit was curious about my wanderings and let me know that I wasn’t the first one there doing this walk.
“How are your feet?” he asked after hearing that this was already my fifth day on the way.
There had been another hiker with the feet in such a bad condition that they had to spend a while to cure
them.
“Just fine,” I replied.
I had no issues with the feet. My little trick besides comfy hiking sandals was wearing two pairs of socks.
Followed the part of the day that I enjoyed the most: just being lazy. Ok, I still had to do some planning
for the next day, wash clothes and do certain other routine activities.
Friday, July 10: Vihterpalu – Nõva (Rannaküla)
This day, after another night well rested, I started walking at 8:08. The weather was sunny, with virtually
no clouds in the blue sky. During the day, the clouds appeared, however.
I decided to take a shortcut through the forest to catch up with the official trail in Alliklepa beach as, in
search of the accommodation, I had deviated quite a bit from the trail the day before.
First, it was a nice forest road in the pine forest. Then, all of the sudden, the road ended and there was a
river on the way.
“Well, if one follows the direction of the river, one is ought to end up at the sea anyway,” I thought.
Simply following the river did not seem a feasible idea, though: instead of the easily passable pine forest
there was now a rather difficult to pass underwood. I decided to turn around, go back a little and find
another way.
After some walk on that another way, there was a prohibitive sign, then another sign saying ‘private road’.

23
“One ought to be allowed to walk on private roads in the daytime when doing no harm,” I assured myself
and went on despite of the ‘No Walking’ sign.
At some points, that private road turned out muddy and difficult to pass even on foot. Had I known this
before, perhaps I’d have chosen yet another way. Somehow, I made it through.
Alliklepa beach turned out to be a peaceful and quiet beach – I mean, it was very quiet. For a short while
I stopped there to take a break and grasp some wild strawberries. Then my walk continued towards Keibu
village, now already following the designated trail. Keibu is a tiny yet picturesque village with a population
of about 40 people. I wonder if I had just spotted the village centre in the pic below.
What I thought of as Keibu village centre
The next major sight in my hiking guide was Nõva Church, one of the smallest churches in Estonia. The
legend has it that once upon a time (I think that ‘once upon a time’ might have meant the 13th
century)
there were seafarers in a thick fog, not finding the land anywhere; they promised that wherever they
finally land, they will build a church as a ‘thank you’ for the God – and so they did.

24
Before getting there, there was yet another quiet beach. As far as eye could see, I did not spot anybody
else in the horizon.
Beach walk between Keibu village and Nõva
Still, later this day I met him: a fellow hiker, the first fellow hiker during the entire trip! We met at the
information board of the Nõva Church – and as good Estonians, we simply recognised each other’s
presence from safe two meters distance, without exchanging a word. Then we departed: he went one
way, I another – just to meet again at the Nõva grocery store and say absolutely nothing.
About half past one I reached my destination point for this day: Nõva Madise Guesthouse. To my surprise,
it turned out a campsite. Anyways, I was just on time to meet my hostess before she left for a short
shopping trip or something. She got out of the car and showed me my house for tonight – a tiny little hut
called ‘Hobbit House’. I wonder if I was the only guest there that nigh; at least I did not see any other
tourists and had common rooms such as kitchen and bathroom like my own.

25
My Hobbit House (Päkapikumaja) in Rannaküla
The day’s walk is summarised in the following map.

26
My hiking map, day 6: 10 July 2020, from Puuna Öömaja to Nõva Madise Guesthouse (19.4 km)
Haapsalu and villages of Coastal Swedes
Saturday, July 11: Nõva (Rannaküla) – Dirhami
Early in the morning it started raining rather heavily; I literally had to run from my little Hobbit House to
the bathroom. For a moment I hesitated: should I take the beach path or a more decent road to my next
destination, Dirhami. I decided for the beach. There were several points of interest that I did not want to
miss, regardless the weather. Looking backwards, I’m happy with the choice. Below is my walk, depicted
on the map.

27
My hiking map, day 7: 11 July 2020, from Nõva Madise Guesthouse to Dirhami Guesthouse (17.3 km)
„Becoming antifragile,” I encouraged myself when packing my stuff properly for the weather.
At the time, I was reading the book “Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder” by Nassim Taleb. That’s
where the thought came from.
There was only about one kilometre, perhaps a little more to go before reaching Nõva Port. The port
turned out to be a really small one. Right there was also Toomanina Breccia, the Negrund meteorite crater
breccia which is said to be the largest in the continental part of Estonia.
“Something to see, but not too much,” I thought.
My impression, for sure, would have been much better, had the weather not been this grey, windy and
rainy. Good weather, I have noticed, adds a lot to the overall experience.
Then I turned left, to the beach walk. First, getting through the coastal vegetation was a bit wet
experience, to say the least. The subsequent part of the hike turned out better than I had hoped for, much
better. The sand was rather tense and therefore pretty easy to walk on. The rain stopped and the sun
came out. For a long while, I could enjoy the luxury of being the only one in the beautiful beach.
In Peraküla Beach I met another woman, looking for the peace of mind or something. Then there was one
young man trying to catch some fish. These were the only people that I saw for till the Põõsaspea cape.
Ok, there was a tent as well; someone had spent the last night on the beach, maybe the same fisherman.
My day’s favourite spot was the Uuejõe River Valley (picture below). The scenery keeps changing as many
strong winds bring piles of sand to the valley and redesign it; when you go and see it, chances are that the

28
place looks at least somewhat different. There is a truly beautiful and, at least based on my experience
(given the weather and given the corona summer!), very private Nõva recreation area as well.
Uuejõe River Valley (Uuejõe org) and Sand Dunes
My beach walk continued; sandy beach was replaced by gravel, pebbles, stones of different sizes. Then,
for a short while, I stopped at the commemorative stone for Estonian spies. Four names were engraved
on it, and under the names stood (translated from Estonian):
“They gave their lives for the future of Estonia.”
A piece of history that I did not know… Yet there was another commemorative stone as well, with no text
on it.
By noon, I reached the Põõsaspea cape. This is what the hiking guide says about the place:
“The horn is located at the westernmost point of the Estonian continental part and stretches far into the
sea as a narrow pile of stones which is a great place to observe the environs.”
Capes in Estonia tend to be windy, better be prepared for the weather! This time there was enough of
both, wind and rain. There were exceptionally tasty wild strawberries too . Before continuing my walk,
I made a pic of the westernmost house in the continental part of Estonia. (By the way, the text said that
the site was being reconstructed; chances are that it will look different next year.)

29
Westernmost house in the continental part of Estonia (Põõsaspea cape)
Even with rain and wind, it did not take too long before I reached Dirhami, a tiny little village with a
population of just 14 (that’s right: just fourteen, not 140 or 114!) people. Yet this small village has a port,
two cafés, a rather big guesthouse and a decent little grocery store. Miraculously, by the time when I
arrived to Dirhami, the weather had improved considerably. In my memory, Dirhami is a very beautiful
and welcoming village.

30
Entering Dirhami village
For the rest of my day and the night I stopped in the Dirhami Guesthouse. From the outside, the
guesthouse looked modest; I mean, it looked really modest. When booking the room, I had been
wondering why the night in this house cost me a fortune: 89 euros per night! It turned out that the
guesthouse was full; it was Saturday, after all! People had come here to enjoy their weekends. My room
looked like a modern hotel room as well. The service was absolutely perfect. When I said that in the next
morning, I had got to be gone by the breakfast time, a rich breakfast was brought to my room. Needless
to add, hungry as I was after the challenges of the day, I ate it all in the very same afternoon . (I still
had my own far more modest menu for the next morning.)
Sunday, July 12: Dirhami – Saare (Noarootsi)
Sunday, July 12, was mostly about keeping marching on. As I had not found any suitable accommodations
on the way, I had to walk straight to the Noarootsi peninsula. In summary, my walk, depicted on the map
below, was about 30 kilometres. Favourable weather conditions (19 degrees Celsius and sunny) most
definitely did not do any harm.

31
My hiking map, day 8: 12 July 2020, from Dirhami Guesthouse to Saare Manor (30.3 km)
As for sights, this was definitely the day of manors. The first manor on my way was the Riguldi Manor, a
one storey wooden estate built at the beginning of 19th
century. Well, this one manor apparently was
waiting for a good owner to take care of it… (As I learned, Riguldi Manor was on sale at the time being.)
The second manor was Pürksi Manor with its good-looking park. The last manor – but most definitely not
the least one – was also the destination point of my hike this day. It was the Saare Manor, located
somewhere deep inside the Noarootsi peninsula.

32
The three manors of the day (from upper left, clockwise): Riguldi Manor, Pürksi Manor, my room in
Saare Manor and outside look to the Saare manor
Other things to look at on the way were cosy bus stops and Noarootsi church, built around 1500 in late
Gothic period style. Nearby was also the old Hosby graveyard.

33
A cosy bus stop on the way to Noarootsi
From practical perspective, I had learned from the internet that the only grocery store in Noarootsi was
closed on Sundays. Since it was precisely Sunday, I had to carry my food for the afternoon all the way
along. I had also noticed that there are very few grocery stores in the area at all. One can find some cafés
however; even in my destination of the day, the Saare Manor, there was one.
My room turned out to be a cosy chamber under the roof. Strangely, I had ensuite shower but no ensuite
toilet which was located at the end of the corridor (private for me, though). I was supposed to have WiFi
connection, yet in practice (and I don’t know why) an authentication error occurred. Once again there
were no other tourists, except me; instead, the accommodation space was occupied by some workmen.
Later in the evening I walked a few more kilometres to the Saare observation tower – to see the Sutlepa
Sea (Sutlepa meri) and Silma Nature Reserve. This place is designated for birdwatching: mute swan,
cormorant, coot, bittern, white-tailed eagle, savi’s warbler… Reedbeds cover 21% of the reserve territory,
being the second largest reedbed in Estonia.

34
Saare observation tower
Monday, July 13: Saare (Noarootsi) – Saunja
Motherly woman who kept the house, prepared a delicious breakfast for me by the time I had asked for,
that is by 7:30: omelette with cheese, toast, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. While I was eating, she was
eager to chat with me.
She began with suggesting that when booking accommodations like this one in Estonia, it is better to call
rather than to book via booking.com which I had used for the reservation; for solo travellers like me she’d
give a discount (except on Saturday nights when the house was full anyway).
Next, she told me that from time to time walkers and bikers are passing by, staying in the manor for the
night.
“Last spring, there were two women with the dog. They had done the pilgrimage from Pirita Monastery to
Vana-Vastseliina as well,” she spoke.

35
Well, this was something that ‘clicked’ with me. In response, I said that for me this was the first time to
do a multiday hike in Estonia; for additional information, I added that I had done a couple of pilgrimages
elsewhere: Santiago de Compostela (Northern Way) and Via Francigena, Part I and Part II.
Now, out of pure curiosity, I asked what workmen were those staying in the manor at the time.
“They are working in the wind park. Some kind of specialists [and I do not know exactly what specialists!],
staying here for a month or so,” she explained.
“Not bad – staying in the manor almost like a tourist,” I thought, “at least if you are single and/or otherwise
happy with being away from home for a while.”
I learned that for more than a year there had been no grocery stores in Noarootsi at all.
“It’s simply not economical,” my hostess explained.
Locals themselves typically work elsewhere in the mainland and bring food from there. It is also possible
to pre-order food; there is some kind of delivery service once a week.
Finally, when I asked about the owners of the manor, she took me to the photographs on the wall (I had
finished eating by then.):
“Von Rosens. They bought the estate and built it up from ruins. It cost some three million,” she explained.
Without waiting for my reaction, she continued:
“This photo is very special: there are three generations of von Rosens on one picture… Plus president
Lennart Meri.”
Indeed, the work done in Saare Manor had been rather remarkable: the building had been built up from
ruins, literally so. The youngest of von Rosens looked handsome too – at least then at the time when the
photo was taken, that is sometime 15-20 year ago .
I also got an explanation to the private-looking airfield nearby. That youngest of von Rosens used to land
there with his private jet when visiting the manor. For me, that was another new piece of information: I
did not know that this kind of connections between Estonians and the descendants of Baltic Germans still
existed!
Off I went, sent by all the good wishes. The weather was sunny and warm but not hot; it was all perfect!
In the evening before, I had asked a local man from Saare village about a shortcut way out of the Noarootsi
peninsula and to the mainland. There was none, he had explained; there was sea all around, even if
overgrown and shown as land on some maps (such as Google Maps, for example). The only way out was
going back in the same way as I had come. Thus, as shown on the map below, I first walked quite a circle
before heading to my next stop in the Jaanilille Camping.

36
My hiking map, day 9: 13 July 2020, from Saare Manor to Jaanilille Camping & Sauna (27.22 km)
My definite favourite of the day’s hike was the gathering of cows and bulls just before Ingküla. One can
only wonder, how curious these animals can be!

37
Cows and bulls gathered to greet me on the way
I further liked the Linnamäe marketplace. This marketplace was constructed by locals in the frame of ‘Let’s
Do It!’ initiative in 2015. Locals wanted to build a marketplace – and they did it. Unfortunately, today there
was nothing else for sale than firewood – bad timing from my side, I guess. Look for dates!

38
Linnamäe marketplace: We did it 2015!
In Linnamäe, there was a grocery store! Finally, I could replenish my food supplies!
Just next to the store was a bus stop. Having done my shopping, I stood there for a moment to look at the
Google Maps from my phone: where is my ‘hotel’ located?
“You better ask me. Where are you going?” I heard the voice of a man who apparently was waiting for a
bus.
By that time, I had already figured the way out, but listened to his explanations anyway. I wasn’t in hurry,
after all.
“You have the Laulasmaa T-shirt,” he commented about my neon yellow T-shirt from the Laulasmaa Ultra
2017 and concluded, “you must have hiked a lot!”
Laulasmaa wasn’t too far from Linnamäe; his judgement sounded a bit funny to me even if the conclusion
was actually true.
“It’s just that I have participated on that particular run,” I modestly said, pointing to the self-explanatory
text on my T-shirt.4
4
Laulasmaa Ultra is the longest running and walking event in Estonia.

39
It looked as if I had made an impression; this definitely felt great for my little ego .
By 2 PM I arrived to my destination of the day: Jaanilille Camping & Sauna. The youngish hostess – about
my age perhaps – warmly greeted me, and showed my little camping house (on the picture below), the
outdoor kitchen and the rooms of necessity (toilet and shower). The toilet, by the way, did not have any
running water; instead, it was with sand.
I think, I was the only visitor staying in that campsite this night. It was Monday evening, after all.
My camping house in Jaanilille Camping & Sauna, named ‘Koit’ (‘Dawn’ in translation)
Tuesday, July 14: Saunja – Pullapää
As usual, I woke up early, before seven o’clock in the morning. No, it wasn’t the alarm clock that woke me
up in these mornings; it was my own eagerness to get started with the new day.
About an hour and fifteen minutes later, after my morning routines I was on my way again. Like the day
before, the weather was just perfect for the walk! I did not have anything too challenging planned, either:

40
just going ten kilometres to Haapsalu, looking around there, making a ‘shopping trip’ to the grocery store
and then continuing another six kilometres to my next accommodation, the Pullapää Holiday Centre.
The journey is depicted on the map below.
My hiking map, day 10: 14 July 2020, from Jaanilille Camping & Sauna to Pullapää Holiday Centre
(20.29 km)
Most of the way to Haapsalu went along a nice and smooth light traffic road – until I turned away from it
myself to see the Uuemõisa Manor and Park.
According to my hiking guidebook, the Uuemõisa Manor had first been mentioned in the historical
writings as early as in 1539. Apparently, the building has been reconstructed since then; according to the
records, major reconstruction happened in 1920. At present, the building houses an elementary school.
For a short section of my journey, I walked on the picturesque Haapsalu Promenade to enjoy the
panorama, and go and sit on the famous Tchaikovsky’s Bench. By the way, next to the Tchaikovsky’s Bench
there was yet another bench that attracted my attention; the bench had a label ‘Katrin ja Mart Laari
jutupuhumise pink’ (the translation from Estonian to English would sound something like this: ‘the bench
on which Katrin and Mart Laar used to chat’) on it. First, it may sound a bit of a joke: who are these Katrin
and Mart, after all? Yet it isn’t a joke. Mart Laar is the former prime minister of Estonia, and Katrin Laar is
his wife. So, the modest-looking white bench next to the Tchaikovsky’s Bench does have a meaning
attached to it.

41
Tchaikovsky’s Bench, and Mart and Katrin Laar’s bench
How could I have walked through Haapsalu without visiting the Haapsalu Castle? Initially I thought that I
could, but still ended up deviating my initially planned route to pay a visit. Only later in the evening I
googled about the White Lady and the window where she is supposed to appear. I learned that I had not
missed anything by not seeing her; it wasn’t August and most certainly, it wasn’t the full moon at the time
I was there.

42
Haapsalu Castle. According to the legend, on the Baptistery’s circular window built into the southern
wall of Haapsalu Dome Church a female figure appears during the full moon nights in August, who has
been named the White Lady.
Followed a ‘trip’ to the supermarket – or more precisely, to the mini version of a supermarket. I had found
out that Haapsalu Mini-Rimi was the last place where I could buy some food for this day before reaching
my destination, that is the next accommodation. The Mini-Rimi in Haapsalu looked pretty much the same
as Mini-Rimi close to my home in Tallinn; hence, finding what I needed was fairly quick and easy.
Right next to the Mini-Rimi was located the Haapsalu’s Railway Station, that is the railway museum and
the outdoor exhibition. As far as I know, no trains go to Haapsalu today.
“Well, those trains from the beginning of 20th
century probably do not run any more…” I thought when
looking at the exhibition.

43
The train that does not run anymore (Haapsalu Railway Station, outdoor exhibition)
There are more things to see on the way from Haapsalu to Pullapää. There is even a study path which I,
due to my extra bag of food, largely skipped. Still, I picked a few points of interest to look at (not least
importantly, because of their specific locations): Peetri Stone, The First Baptism Stone in Estonia (in
Estonian: Baptistide esmaristimise kivi), Paralepa Lighthouse…

44
As shown on the map of Paralepa-Pullapää study trail, there are a number of things left to see
between Haapsalu and Pullapää
After a brief lunch-picnic on the lawn near the lighthouse, I continued my walk towards the Pullapää
Holiday Centre.
On the way I met a few local men in their fifties or sixties enjoying their outdoor lunch.
“Hi, little girl, come sit with us!” their ‘spokesperson’ invited.
“I have other destination today!” I shouted from slight distance.
“Oh-oh, 100 grams in and then on!” he suggested.
I laughed:
“I don’t even drink such beverages!”
“We have non-alcoholic.”
This did not sound very convincing. I turned to move on. Seeing my decisiveness, the man shouted after
me:
“If you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
I turned around to shout in response:
“Yes, then I know where to find you!”
Then I continued my way as planned.

45
My accommodation next to the commemorative Sign to Czar Alexande III who frequently vacationed with
his family in Pullapää, was absolutely great. For the afternoon and evening, I had my very own little two-
bedroom house with fully equipped kitchen and reasonably strong WiFi connection.
Wednesday, July 15: Pullapää – Haeska
I started early, as usual. The gate of the Pullapää Holiday Centre was still closed. I did not bother about
this little issue too much and climbed over the gate. Before taking my day’s planned route, I walked a few
hundred meters to the Pullapää cape. There was a little resting area and a swimming place.
A summer morning in Pullapää cape
When planning for the walk this day in previous evening, I had once again considered locations of grocery
stores. I had figured out that there was only one more or less suitable option: in Parila. Thus, I got a 28.7
km walk from Pullapää to Ungru castle ruins to Ridala St. Mary Magdalene Church to the Parila grocery
store to Haeska Manor. Thereby, I preferred smaller roads to the bigger ones wherever available while
keeping the total length of the hike still reasonable. The chosen route is depicted on the map below.

46
My hiking map, day 11:15 July 2020, from Pullapää Holiday Centre to Haeska Manor (28.69 km)
Ungru castle ruins weren’t too far: it was less than four kilometres of walking from the Pullapää cape. I
wondered how I had not even known about such a sight before, visible right from the main road to the
Port of Rohuküla! True, these ruins are not so much promoted as a tourist destination; they are not really
restored and there are warnings about the risk of collapse. Still, they look impressive.

47
Ungru castle ruins
At one place, after having turned away from the highway a couple of kilometres before reaching Haapsalu,
I found that for a kilometre or so a later smaller road shown on Google Maps did not exist in reality.
Somehow, I still got through that grass. Once back on the road, I saw a little grass snake sunbathing – the
second one on my trip so far.
The strangest part of the day was my arrival to the Haeska Manor, where I had booked a room to stay.
When I reached the manor at around half past two in the afternoon, there was nobody but a dog in the
backyard to meet and greet me. The front door was locked. I tried to call on the number shown next to
the main entrance; nobody replied. Looking around, I found one door open and went in. Room #8 looked
as if it were prepared for me. I tried calling yet once again and this time a man, sounding Finnish, picked
up.
“Yes, yes, it’s for you. We will be there in a couple of minutes,” he answered to my inquiry.
I waited for half an hour, but nobody came. Well, ok. I moved in, took a shower, made myself a cup of
coffee and started planning for the next day.
Just before 5 PM, somebody knocked to the door. I opened. Apparently, this was the landlady, also
Finnish. She instructed me to move to another, much better room. I tried to say that I had already messed
up the first one, but she kept insisting.
“What could I have against this change?” I then thought.
Of course, I moved .

48
Haeska Manor: front and back, my first room and my second one (already inhabited)
From Matsalu National Park down to Munalaid plus a couple of West
Estonian islands
Thursday, July 16: Haeska – Laiküla – Lihula
I woke up at around five o’clock in the morning. There was something special that I wanted to do this
early, namely go to the Haeska Bird Watching Tower, located about 1.3 kilometres away from the Haeska
Manor.
“Hopefully the door to the yard is still open!” I thought while getting ready for going.
It was. I found a middle-aged man smoking outside, right next to the door.
“Morning,” I greeted.
He nodded. Somehow, I knew that this was my host, the Finn I had spoken over the phone the day before.

49
It was a very beautiful morning indeed. The birds were loud and when walking towards the tower, I saw a
couple of wild animals from a distance. I think, they were young goats, but cannot be sure. From the
information board next to the tower I learned that Finnish birdwatchers had once counted here 128
species within just 24 hours. I don’t know much about birds, but I did saw plenty of them – and from
different species. Getting up early had most definitely paid off.
Early morning walk to Haeska Birdwatching Tower
The following bit of the hike I ‘optimised’, meaning I asked my Finnish host to drive me to Laiküla which
he kindly did. Such ‘optimisation’ is even foreseen in the Coastal Hiking Guidebook; alternatively, one
would have to do about 25 kilometres of dull ‘asphalt walk’.
After breakfast (which I found both generous and healthy), we got going at around 8 AM. My driver turned
out to be pretty talkative, even though there was a slight language barrier: I did not speak Finnish and he
did not speak Estonian, so all the conversation was in kind of Finnish-Estonian mixed language.
Among others he told me that the local villagers do not like popular walking trails near their homes all
that much. (Estonians love privacy!) I heard that the Haeska Manor is open for tourists from April to
September; the place is perfect to welcome them, very peaceful and so one – only this year there are not
many of them (because of COVID-19, I bet). I got know that the manor was largely reconstructed in early
1980s, that before the hotel there used to be an elementary school.
While originally from Lahti, he himself had been in Estonia for 15 years, except 2-3 months each year
which he and his wife spent in Spain, in Las Palmas. When hearing about my walking plans for the day, he
said that he also likes taking long walks. He knew quite some about the birds. For example, I learned that
young storks stay for 2-3 years in here in kindergarten before starting their normal life.

50
I was dropped off precisely where I wanted to be dropped off: in Laiküla, at the start of the trail. The taxi
service cost me ten euros; I think, I got a bit of discount for I had expected something in range of 15 euros.
The hiking route is depicted on the following map. Basically, it is the path suggested in my guidebook.
My hiking map, day 12:16 July 2020, from Laiküla to Lihula (25.42 km)
The first point of interest on my way was the Kasari Old Bridge, in its time (early 20th
century) the longest
concrete bridge in Europe and Russia with a foundation cut from granite blocks. Paved with land stones
and apparently deserted by now, it indeed felt like a road from the past.

51
Kasari Old Bridge
After walking about ten kilometres or so with nothing particular to see (during this time I tried the walking
meditation, by the way), I sat under the Linden of Karusselja (Karusselja pärn) for a rest. Those little
annoying insects called mosquitos did not allow me to sit there for long, though .

52
Under the Linden of Karusselja
Soon I reached other manors and ruins to see and take photos of: Penijõe Manor, Lihula Manor, Ruins of
Lihula Stronghold… In Lihula, the church was open for the casual visitors like me.
In no time, I reached my destination of the day, an accommodation called ‘house with a unique design’.
It turned out to be a fairly reasonably priced Airbnb accommodation in the area.5
My hostess wasn’t there
(she was working in her gallery a few houses away), but her husband in their family’s antique shop kindly
showed me the way to the house in the courtyard. Then I enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in my own
company.
5
For the record, I paid about 25 euros per night for the entire one-bedroom apartment.

53
Friday, July 17: Lihula – Karuse
The walk on this day was a fairly short one, less than 18 kilometres. Here I cut the Baltic Coastal Hiking
Trail short indeed by skipping a large chunk of the Matsalu National Park. (There must be something left
to explore in future as well .) The practical reason is that for the coming night, I had not found any
suitable accommodation on the ‘right way’; it was Friday, after all! Thus, I decided to go to Karuse instead.
The map below illustrates my journey.
My hiking map, day 13: 17 July 2020, from Lihula to Karuse former railway station (17.73 km)
As a bonus, I did see and experience some things that I would not have seen and experienced otherwise.
Next to the Risti-Virtsu road near Karuse, I found a stone bench reminding 300 years of local school history.
It was good to sit there, have a light brunch and ‘read’ the stone book.

54
The school desk, memorising the 300th
anniversary of primary school in Karuse
Another place to stop by was the Karuse Margareeta Church. Karuse church is one of the oldest sacral
buildings in Läänemaa: it was built in the 1260s as a fortress-church for the Livonian Order. When walking
around in the churchyard one can see the trapezoid headstones originating from the 13th
century and
wheel crosses dating back to the 17th
century.
In front of the church, somebody was selling smoked fish. I passed him and stepped into the church. After
all, I had about an hour extra before my indicated check-in time in the next accommodation.
By one o’clock I was in my day’s final destination, the Karuse former railway station which now offered
cosy accommodations for travellers like me. When googling, I learned that the last passenger train run
from this railway station on 25th
May 1968, i.e. more than half a century ago.
I let my hostess know that I was there, and a tall woman of about 10 years senior to me came to meet and
greet me. She said that she was living in the same building, in the room of former stationmaster. She also
showed me around a bit and explained that that there had once been five flats in the building, two on the
first floor and three on the second floor. I got one of the flats, i.e. one big room for four.

55
Since I had the entire afternoon free, I looked around a bit. Among others, I found an old map of the
Estonian railroads. Clearly, rail transport once used to be much more popular than it is now, given so many
other options!
Karuse former railway station offering cosy accommodation for travellers
Saturday, July 18: Karuse – Virtsu – Kuivastu
My next hiking day started at 7:38. It was another day of perfect weather, maybe too warm even. For the
first eight kilometres I followed the old railway dam where there were no rails anymore.

56
Morning walk on the former railway dam (apparently, now it’s just a straight path)
Along the way, I passed the Laelatu Wooded Meadow, formed during the last 2000-2300 years; about
2500 years ago this area was under the water all together. From the information board, I learned the
following about the wooded meadows:
“Wooded meadows are historically established mixed ecosystems of woods and meadows, formed by
felling and kept open by mowing or slash-and-burn management. Wooded meadows are consolidating a
complex of suitable conditions, giving the potentiality of flexible ecological buffering while being of
extended botanical interest.”
Well, I found the text a bit difficult to read and understand… Somewhat more clearly, it was also said that
this particular meadow is one of the best examples of wooded meadows of coppice type in Europe and
that the species richness is remarkable.
I continued my walk to Virtsu. I learned that Virtsu was an island till 19th
century. Then two things
happened: a) the land raised, and b) Virtsu was connected to the mainland via connecting road and
railroad dams. My hiking map below provides an illustration of the status of Virtsu as former island and
today’s peninsula.

57
My hiking map, day 14: 18 July 2020, from Karuse former railway station to Virtsu Port (20.35 km) and
a small bit from the Kuivastu Port to Kuivastujaani accommodation (1.1 km)
Note: For some reason, my watch did not capture the remaining path to the port which I obviously had to
walk too, but it did measure the distance correctly.
Typically, the reason for someone to come to Virtsu is to take a ferry ride to Muhu/Kuivastu. The port was
in my mind too, but first I turned left to visit Puhtu-Laelatu Nature Reserve. On the way there, already on
Puhtu peninsula, I stopped in the Vanaluubi Recreational Park and climbed the sightseeing platform.

58
A view from the Vanaluubi Sightseeing Platform in Virtsu, Puhtu peninsula
The nature reserve featured a hiking trail and several things to see: a couple of tagged trees, a
commemorative sign for Friedrich Schiller, a commemorative stone for the nature scientist Erik Kumari…
The most interesting object, though (in my opinion) was the Puhtu Birdwatching Tower. What made it
interesting, was the little ‘house’ in the top (see the pics below).
“I thought there are no suitable accommodations available in Virtsu for tonight, but you see – there is
one,” an entertaining thought crossed my mind.
The door wasn’t locked and there was even a sleeping bag ready to be used!

59
The main point of interest in Puhtu-Laelatu National Reserve for those looking for accommodation in
the area : Puhtu Birdwatching Tower
Ok, I did not stay in the bird watching tower. Instead, I progressed according to the initial plan: I went to
the Virtsu Port, caught a ferry from there and half an hour later landed in Kuivastu Port of Muhu island.
The remaining walk to my booked accommodation in Kuivastujaani was just a bit more than a kilometre.
At first, I did not see anybody to meet and greet me. So, I explored the camping area on my own. In one
house which looked like breakfast room in the mornings and coffee bar in the evenings, I saw a little boy
of four or five years old taking a nap on the sofa.
“Young landlord,” I thought smilingly.
Back outside, I spotted a middle-aged woman in bikinis, enjoying summer and sun.
“Isn’t there anybody to check me in?” I asked the woman who turned out to be another guest.
“The landlady just was here a few minutes ago. I think, she is in the greenhouse,” she kindly replied by
pointing towards the greenhouse a bit farther away.
Sure enough: I found the landlady working in the greenhouse.
“Estonians do not take vacations; they are working all the time,” I recalled the words of another host.
That’s a stereotype about Estonians – and here I saw the stereotype in action.
“Oh, there is so much to do,” she sighed.
I nodded, I got it: having such a nice farmstead to welcome visitors apparently takes a lot of work! Indeed,
they even had a diploma confirming the beauty of the farmstead on the wall.
She showed me around, and let me pick and choose between a few camping houses. (I was the first one
to arrive this day, so I had a choice.) I ended up taking the house that she recommended. It wasn’t the
biggest one, but from my perspective, it was strategically best placed: the closest to the WiFi hotspot, the

60
closest to the toilet and bathroom facilities, the closest to the kitchen. I believe, it was kind of win-win
solution: she could accommodate her other guests who were calling and asking for a bigger house, into
the bigger house that she had initially thought for me.
My house for the next couple of nights
As it turned out, there were a couple of limitations. First, the WiFi connection was very weak and secondly,
one had to apply some force to get the door properly closed. Otherwise, I fully enjoyed my stay.
Sunday, July 19: Muhu island
Welcome to Muhu! This day was meant for discovering the island which people, on their way to the bigger
island Saaremaa, often simply drive through.

61
Welcome to Muhu! This woman greets arrivals next to the main road, a couple of kilometres from the
Kuivastu Port
After a good night sleep and my usual breakfast in these days (that is apple, yoghurt and muesli bar), I got
going at 8:36. For a brief moment I hesitated: which way to go? I decided for a decent circular walk of
close to 30 kilometres with one reason: I definitely wanted to walk on the Võiküla cobblestone road
(Võiküla munakivitee) which was not part of the alternative route.
On the way, I passed several little Muhu villages and other areas with a bit odd names: Või (meaning:
‘butter’), Oina (refers to the animal ‘ram’), Rässa (it doesn’t mean anything in particular but sound like
something messy), Mõega (derives from the word ‘sword’), Võlla (it makes me think of certain medieval
way of killing criminals). I wonder, where such names originally came from.

62
The hiking route is shown on the map below. In Hellamaa, there was a little ‘shopping trip’ to the grocery
store, that’s why a bit back and forth.
My hiking map, day 15: 19 July 2020, circular walk in Muhu (28.89 km)
Võiküla cobblestone road was the very first attraction on the way; it was located rather close to my
accommodation in Kuivastujaani. The about three kilometres long cobblestone road was built in 1914-
1916 with the reason that just before the World War I, Tsarist Russia had been afraid of the enemy
attacking Sankt Petersburg via West Estonian islands. I learned from the information board at the
beginning of the road that it was all manual labour; the builders were local men and women, guided by
the military engineers. Now, more than 100 years later, Võiküla with its population of less than ten people
at least has a solid road .

63
Võiküla cobblestone road with the total length of about 3 kilometres
After Võiküla, I enjoyed quiet forest roads, great for practicing walking mediation, for example. I noticed
that rough stone fences were very typical around the houses in villages like Rässa and Simiste; I cannot
recall any other place in Estonia where the stone fences are this common.

64
Passing through Rässa village
Next point of interest marked on my map was, of course, a popular tourist attraction on the island (given
that the tourist has already stopped in Muhu for the sake of Muhu ): the Pädaste Manor. It so
happened that I only got a glimpse of the manor – and even that from a distance, just scratching the
surface. The story was as follows.
When I approached the gate, a flawlessly dressed young person stepped out from the gatekeeper’s house.
“Can I simply go in and walk a bit?” I asked.
“No, there is a ticket.”
“And how much does the ticket cost?”
“Four euros.”
“Ok,” I nodded, reaching for the euros.
“I’m sorry, but it’s closed right now,” the gatekeeper said, seeing me getting some money out of the
pocket.
Now I saw a paper on the gatekeeper’s house with a clear message:
“Open 12-18”
It was just 10:45.
“Ok,” I said for the second time and turned to my planned following route.

65
There was no point to argue with the young and apparently flawless gatekeeper on duty. My interest
wasn’t enough to climb over the fences, either.
Later I searched for the Pädaste Manor from the internet. The manor is now converted into a five-star
hotel. Had I been a hotel guest, the story would have been different: for the guests, the hotel is open
24/7. It’s only that it would have cost me about 400 euros to stay there for just one night. No, thanks; I
started to appreciate my little cosy Kuivastujaani camping house even more (which I had got for 70 euros
for two nights).
Anyways, I moved on. Next, very close to Mäla village (another village with a rather strange name!), there
was the Mäla prehistoric graveyard. For some reason, I was almost mesmerized about the place. The
information board read:
“On the old pasture lands of Värava farm in Mäla village, one can find Ussimätta (Snake Sod) burial site.
The older part of it dates back to ca 500 BC. It is remarkable that this burial site has been used consequently
throughout a number of different cultural periods. […]”
Well, there were a bench and a recycle bin to make a little break after some 15 kilometres on feet .
Mäla prehistoric graveyard on 19 July 2020

66
Followed the walk to the local grocery store in Hellamaa. The store was just fine, even though I could not
find one particular article that I tend to be specifically looking for whilst hiking: a bag of M&M’s. I replaced
it with a chocolate bar.
My way back to the camping house wasn’t straightforward, as can be seen from the map above. I had
tried to find a more interesting route – and I did. At some points, the path was very narrow and grassy.
Still, people lived in those villages one of which seemed to be accessible only on foot or by bicycle – or,
perhaps, by horse.
Monday, July 20: Kuivastu – Virtsu – Mereäärse
In the morning I rushed to the ferry and caught one at 7:55. This was good: the walk was planned to be
rather long and the weather forecast had promised a hot day ahead; thus, I wanted to get started as early
as possible. Before moving on from Virtsu, however, I dropped into the Virtsu’s supermarket as there
were no further grocery stores till my next stop in Mereäärse.
The weather forecast did not lie; the weather quickly became hot, well above 25 degrees Celsius and
barely any wind blowing. One might guess, what it was to walk 27.7 kilometres with a backpack on such
a day! Yet I did not saw any problems here. Other way round, making one sweat is good for one’s health,
at least to certain extent so.
The first five kilometres starting from Virtsu were about going back to the Laelatu Forest Meadow where
I had already been a couple of days ago. Then I turned towards Pivarootsi.
There was the Pivarootsi tuulik, a Dutch style windmills built in 1869 to take a look. Around the windmills
there were camping houses and the door of the windmills was open. Inside, I found a big kitchen table,
proper kitchen corner and a bar next door. I did not see any other people; maybe someone was upstairs,
though. When returning to the road, I noticed an information board that said: the windmills and the
camping were for sale. It made me wonder if this was yet another a sign of the COVID-19 induced crisis.

67
Pivarootsi windmills
The next points of interest on the way were three manors: Pivarootsi Manor, Illuste Manor and Paatsalu
Manor. They all appeared to be in private ownership and not very welcoming. Thus, I only took a look
from respectful distance. Further, there were a couple of nature landmarks: the Nehatu Nature Reserve
and Tamba Area juniper forests.
Before going to my accommodation place, Niida Jahimaja6
in Mereäärse village, I enjoyed a picknick in
seafront. From there on, it was only about four or five hot kilometres to go – and these were hot
kilometres indeed, hot in terms of weather.
Mereäärse village (‘The Seaside Village’ in translation) is a village in the middle of the forest – and, as the
name implies – very close to the sea. Just before turning away from the big road I found a nice resting
area. A few hundred metres into the forest, there was a little old wooden house looking like a fisherman’s
house. This turned out to be the entrance to the tiny Mereäärse village with a population of just 14 people.
I walked through the village, looking for the GPS co-ordinates provided in the confirmation of my
accommodation reservation. I had to go on, past the village… When reaching the location shown in the
Google Maps, all that I found was forest and what used to be forest before logging sometime in the past.
I began to wonder if there was a trick here, if an accommodation called Niida Jahimaja actually existed…
By slowly walking on, I arrived to a private road with a sign prohibiting entrance. Below the sign, big and
red, there was a smaller text:
“Only with the permission of the owner.”
I assumed that, with the accommodation reservation confirmed, I had the required permission.
After some more walk I saw a big red wooden house.
“That’s it!” I thought.
6
’Jahimaja’ translates as ‘hunting lodge’.

68
I was pretty sure that this was the right place, Niida Jahimaja that I had been looking for.
Initially it all seemed very quiet, but from there they came! They arrived with a buggy, right from the
beach: a young woman with a little boy who looked like her son. The woman showed me the house that I
had booked, that is the sauna.
After moving in, I realised that there was a new thing for me to try out during this trip: one more type of
dry toilets, namely the peat toilet. There were instructions on the wall of how to use the toilet, spiced
with a sense of humour:
“… Decide what you want to do: number one or number two…”
Welcome to Mereäärse! From left to right: resting area next to the paved road, the fisherman’s house
and my sauna house for that night
The day’s hike on map is depicted below.

69
My hiking map, day 16: 20 July 2020, Virtsu – Niida Jahimaja (27.69 km)
My hostess had, among others, informed me that the water in the sea was very good. Later in the evening
I decided to go and check it out, do a little bathing.
Right in the beach I saw a middle-aged man sitting on a stone, open laptop on his knees.
“Hello,” he said in English, when noticing me passing by.
“Hello,” I replied automatically also in English.
“What language: English or Estonian?” he now asked.
“Estonian,” I smiled.
Then we switched to Estonian. In translation, our conversation was something like this:
“Oh, sorry, there is this tourist farm…. That’s why I automatically greeted you in English.”
“I’m also currently visiting this tourist farm, but I am Estonian,” I said.
“Ah, ok,” he turned back to his laptop.

70
I walked till the coastline, threw off extra clothes and dived into the modestly warm water. After the hot
day, it felt good and refreshing!
Tuesday, July 21: Mereäärse – Kastna
As usual, I woke up early and got going already at 7:36. Basically, I had only those two simple aims for the
day:
a) visit a grocery store for I had eaten my last instant noodles for the breakfast and had also run out of the
drinking water, almost so; and
b) get to the destination point Kastna Holiday Centre which was about 25 kilometres away.
The hiking map is shown below. The day turned out as planned, with a few surprises on the way.
My hiking map, day 17: 21 July 2020, from Niida Jahimaja to Kastna Holiday Centre (26.37 km)

71
The morning was cloudy.
“Good – not too hot!” I thought, looking forward to an easier day than the previous one had been.
I was also prepared for a slight rain which indeed came. If anything, it felt refreshing.
7.5 kilometres from my starting point at Niida Jahimaja, there was the Varbla grocery store. I had intended
to pay a visit, but found it closed at my arrival. I glanced at my watch; it was ten minutes past nine.
“Hmm, it was supposed to be open by now,” I thought.
At least this was the impression that I had got from Google Search last night: the store would be opened
at nine o’clock. Yet the information on the door said something else; it said that the store would be opened
only at ten o’clock. Waiting for fifty minutes did not fit into my plans, so I went on; my only hope was that
I can get my stuff from the Saulepi store, another seven kilometres down the road.
Still near Varbla, I passed the Uus-Varbla Manor and Park. Other attractions in Varbla – the museum, a
couple of commemorative stones, Varbla reserve, Varbla Church – I skipped this time.
The good news was that after nearly 15 kilometres of walking, I found the Saulepi store indeed open! Now
I really needed to get some drinking water; what had dropped from the sky, i.e. a little bit of rain, wasn’t
really a replacement.
Followed six or seven kilometres of ‘asphalt walk’, after which I turned to the gravel road. Meanwhile, the
sun had come out and it was time for a small picnic next to a ‘freshly made’ straw ball.
“It’s quite remarkable how fields have changed just during those two and half weeks that I have been on
the way!” I noticed.
Greenish fields had become golden yellow fields and now many fields were harvested already, that is
golden fields had become to straw balls!
After lunch, I once again looked at my map. The road to the day’s destination, Kastna Holiday Centre,
looked rather straightforward. Ok, there were a couple of turns as well.
In real life, about a kilometre too early, the road ended with a house surrounded by a fence. The gate was
closed and I did not see anybody to ask for an advice or direction. It was just that: the road ended with a
house. I browsed Google Maps yet once again from my phone. I had not made any mistakes there: one is
supposed to get through from here even with a car!
For a short while I wondered, what to do next. As no better idea came to my mind (using alternative road
would have been too long of a round trip), I made a half-circle around the house and garden, walked over
somebody’s field or meadow or whatever that was, until reaching the next road. This next road was a dirt
road yet a road anyway.

72
At another crossroads there was a sign post indicating that I was very close to a point of interest: Kastna
oaks were just 200 meters away, even if in wrong direction. I decided to walk a few hundred meters extra
to take a look – and I did not have to regret my choice!
Destination point Kastna: One of the Kastna oaks and a view from the Kastna lookout tower
Soon I was in the Kastna Holiday Centre. Apparently, I was the first one to arrive this day – and there were
no guests from the day before. My kind hostess showed me around and we had a good/informative chat.
Among others, I learned about the best sandy beach nearby. I also heard about the WiFi connection: the
signal had been a problem in the area during the last few weeks. That’s why in a number of
accommodations earlier on my way, WiFi had been promised in the booking confirmation but in reality,
there barely was any WiFi if at all. My unexpectedly poor experience with the WiFi wasn’t really to fold of
the accommodation service providers; the problem was elsewhere, most probably on the side of a big
telecommunication company.
By the way, I was only charged 25 euros even though in my booking confirmation via booking.com there
was shown a price of 45 euros. For that money, I got a big room for four. The point is that for solo travellers
in Estonia, booking.com is not the best idea (as I had already heard in Saare Manor); one should better
call to the accommodation service provider directly and ask for the offer. In booking.com, the hosts most
often sell rooms, not beds. Furthermore, booking.com charges a host with a 12% fee which their
customers will end up paying, even if indirectly, as part of the price for the accommodation.
Anyways, after having checked in, I went for a quick swim in the suggested beach. Friendly and playful
dog of my hostess accompanied me on my short walk to the sandy beach.
Later in the afternoon the weather got windy indeed and stayed so for a while. I had to be very careful
with opening the door… My take was that now it was really the right time to enjoy evening inside.

73
Wednesday, July 22: Kastna – Munalaid – Kihnu island
This morning I woke up a few minutes after half past eight. Given that the ship from the Port of Munalaid
to Kihnu island was scheduled to depart only at 17:45, I had plenty of time to do my walk of about 25
kilometres. Right when I was having my usual breakfast, it started raining in earnest. I waited until the rain
was over – at least for the moment of my start – and then got going.
Two or three kilometres from the Kastna Holiday Centre (I chose the other road, not the one where I had
got stuck the day before), a man stopped his car.
“Are you going towards Pärnu? I could give you a ride,” he offered.
“Yes… I’m actually hiking,” I replied a bit hesitantly.
“I know: you stayed by us last night,” he smiled.
“He is probably the husband of the nice woman who greeted yesterday,” I concluded in my head.
“And you are not afraid of rain?” he continued.
The sky looked threatening; more rain was imminent. Yet my answer was firm:
“No, I’m not afraid of rain.”
“If the willpower is strong…” he understood my determination and drove on.
Sure enough, about half an hour later it was raining heavily.
“This is the test to my body and willpower,” I thought and marched on.
Soon I reached the main road to Pärnu, wet through and through. I was thinking that nobody would give
a ride to someone this wet. A few minutes later a youngish man stopped his car and asked if I he could
take me somewhere. (Somebody still would have given a ride to someone wet as a cat in the washing
machine .)
“I will walk myself – I’m hiking,” I replied firmly.
“Ookay…” he said.
Probably thinking something in lines ‘she must be crazy’, he drove on.
Maybe I am a bit crazy – or simply determined once having decided to go on my own feet. Regardless of
relatively high temperatures (around 16 degrees Celsius) it started feeling cold. I was wearing just a T-
shirt, a very light waterproof and really light pants, after all.7
I thought of the other similar experiences in
my life; there had already been a number of walks in rain and in cold rain; this one most definitely wasn’t
the worst one.
Fortunately, heavy rain doesn’t last long. In half an hour, it was almost over with only dripping remaining.
At the same time, I reached Tõstamaa where I quickly found a shelter to put on a warm sweater.
Immediately, it felt better – much better. Next on my way was the local supermarket. I went in to purchase
a bag of candies; glycose always helps to lift one’s spirits in dire circumstances.
7
Ok, short underwear too, but this doesn’t give much warmth anyway.

74
As expected, candies worked just perfectly! The rest of the walk felt fairly easy. It did rain a couple of
times more, but that was already a small rain. Soon my clothes were dry again.
In Tõstamaa I also found an ATM to supplement my cash reserves which I had used in previous days.
While hiking, I always keep a small just-for-the-case cash reserve for one-night accommodation plus for
one visit to a grocery store. Although cards are commonly accepted in Estonia, there are still smaller places
which only accept cash. Also, sometimes cards simply don’t work – and I do not want a network error or
connection issue to ruin my holiday.
I largely skipped sights in Tõstamaa Parish; my priority #1 was keeping moving and keeping the body warm
enough. Yet some points of interest were right there, on the way. For example, there was the beautiful
Seliste village with its Seli Orthodox Church, a non-traditional, strictly ascetic wooden building from year
1864. Another interesting place was Pootsi with its 19th
century stonewall windmills and 16th
century
manor. In several places, including Pootsi, I noticed signs of Romantic Coastline walk (Romantiline
Rannatee) which is yet another 250 km long walk, running along the coastline of Pärnu county through
the juniper fields of Virtsu to the sandy beaches of Ikla.
Sights on the way (clockwise from upper left corner): Seli Orthodox Church, Pootsi windmills, a sign of
Romantic Coastline and Pootsi Manor

75
In Pootsi, I visited the local grocery store to purchase food for this night and for the next morning. The
store was kind of old-fashioned with no self-service; pretty much everything that I wanted, I had to ask
from the clerk. She was very nice, she even told me that the tomatoes which I had asked for, were stale
already. (I purchased apples, instead.)
At around half past two in the afternoon I reached the Munalaiu Harbour – about three hours too early.
Anyways, I pressed the ‘Stop’ button on my watch to end recording of the hiking trail. I had no intention
to move from there before the ship arrived. My hike until this point is shown in the map below.
My hiking map, day 18: 22 July 2020, from Kastna Holiday Centre to Munalaiu Harbour (26.11 km)
Arriving too early definitely wasn’t a problem for me. There was a nice little port building with the free
and working WiFi access for me to stay for a while. I used the slack time to work with my photos and make
some travel notes. As an added bonus and free entertainment, I could listen to the local gossip, a
conversation going on between the harbour employees and a couple of residents of the Kihnu island. Oh,
damn, how difficult lives those women lead, given the stories I heard this afternoon!

76
Personal stories aside, among others I heard that this year exceptionally many people – mainly Estonians
– were visiting Kihnu.
“Every day, about 150 people go to Kihnu. Yesterday there was even a bus! I wonder if there are indeed
these many mainlanders that still haven’t been in Kihnu!” one of the port women said.
“Well, here right in this room there is at least one person who has never before been in Kihnu,” I thought.
This one person was me, of course.
The ship called Kihnu Virve in honour of Estonia’s 92 years old folk singer, arrived and departed on time.
The voyage took about one hour during which I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and read from a readily
available pamphlet about sights in Kihnu island.
Kihnu Virve, the ship
For the following two nights, I had booked a single room in Kihnu Sadama Öömaja (‘Kihnu Harbour
Accommodation’ in translation), just three minutes of walking from the port. There I was greeted by an
about 13-14 years old boy who introduced himself as the son of the owner. He showed me my room and
other ‘points of interest’ in an accommodation place, such as kitchen and bathroom. My home away from
home for the next couple of days turned out to be modest yet functional.

77
At first glance, Kihnu island appeared more touristy than most – if not all – other places where I had been
during this trip so far. Already in the port, I was welcomed by a couple of guys who were eager to rent me
a bike. Also, to my liking, WiFi worked just fine in my room, and at least one of the local grocery stores
was open till 10 PM. In the port I heard a party going on till late in the night.
Thursday, July 23: Kihnu island
23rd
of July wasn’t a hiking day, at least I did not consider it as one. Instead of getting up and running early,
I spent a rather long morning in the hostel and only then went out to slowly circle the little island. My way
is shown in the map below. I took the Kihnu Travel Wheel Kihnu Reesuratas – official tourist route – as a
guide, but did not strictly follow it. For one thing, as I did not have the official map with me, I simply
messed up a bit. On the other hand, in some places I indeed wanted to do it differently. The main
difference from being a tourist is perhaps that I was oriented to walking rather than spending time (and
money) at every attraction recommended. Going deeper with things to see and do is subject to some
other sort of trip.
My hiking map, day 19: 23 July 2020, Kihnu island (18.87 km)

78
I started from the eastern part of the island and walked all the way down to the lighthouse. On the way, I
briefly stopped at the stone of Kihnu Jõnn (1848-1913). This guy (Enn Uuetoa with the citizen’s name) was
a legendary Estonian seaman and captain; he did not have much formal education, yet he had the legal
right ‘to steer all ships in all seas’, given to him by the Russian tsarist government. Like a true captain,
Kihnu Jõnn died on the sea. His home had been here, at the place of the stone.
The lighthouse looked like a major tourist destination by Estonian standards. Most definitely, I wasn’t the
only one who wanted to get up even if it cost four euros. When I was climbing up, a boy of eight or nine
years old came down way before his father.
“What does it mean: you come up and I cannot hold the handrail?” he demanded from me.
“Sounds like future boss,” I thought smilingly.
“In fact, you can hold the handrail if you want,” I replied.
While showing up some care about his safety, I took the riskier side of the stairs and let the handrail go.
Up there, it was rather windy even if warm.
Kihnu lighthouse and a view from the top
Followed a peaceful walk, occasionally disturbed by oncoming groups of cyclists.
Kihnu and residents of Kihnu leaved the impression of being very welcoming for tourists indeed: it looked
as if almost every local family was offering a farm accommodation! The roads were good, definitely bicycle
friendly.
There were many beautiful gardens to enjoy for a passer-by. One of them was even this beautiful – like a
small botanic garden – that the owner had to put a sign next to it:

79
“This is not a public place!”
Sure, I stopped to take a photo of the garden (see below) .
Garden like a botanic garden on Kihnu island
As was advertised in the tourist guide, I indeed saw quite a few older ladies in the traditional Kihnu skirts,
bicycling or making their daily purchases in the local grocery store. I could not any other way but wonder:
“With tourists staring at them, aren’t they feeling themselves like tourist attractions? And if they are, do
they like being in the spotlight? Or maybe they are this accustomed to the attention that they do not even
notice the curious looks?”
I did not take any photos of these women; for me, it would have felt like intruding other person’s privacy.
Instead, I walked on, passed a few more sights, had a lunch-picnic in the Linaküla beach, made my
purchases for the evening, walked to the port of Sigatsuaru in the northern part of the island…

80
Selected pics from the road (from upper left corner, clockwise): good roads, cute animals, golden
fields and port of Sigatsaru
Then it was the time to return to my accommodation, wash the clothes and start planning for the next
day.
Pärnu town and surrounding areas plus the pearl of the Gulf of Riga
Friday, July 24: Munalaid – Kabriste
This morning I got an early start, even earlier than usual: the ferry departed from the Kihnu Suaru Harbour
already at 7:00 AM. I used the hour on the sea for breakfast and for some reading. The hiking day started
at 8:00 AM exactly. Weather conditions were perfect: it was partly cloudy and the temperatures remained
between modest 15-20 degrees Celsius.
For the starters, I had to go back to Pootsi where I had already been a couple of days earlier. While not
wanting to walk the same way again (it had been just a straight paved road, after all), I chose the road

81
which made a small circle and also happened to be the official route of the Baltic Coastal Hiking Trail. Sure
enough, this path was more interesting and a lot nicer one. Among others, I walked through the little
Peerni village where there were hints of sailors in the village.
Hints to sailors in Peerni village
Pootsi looked exactly the same as two days ago, so this time I did not stop there. Now I followed the paved
road. Soon there was the Pootsi-Kõpu Church to see. Pootsi-Kõpu Holy Trinity Apostolic Orthodox Church
was built in 1873 and is said to be rather unique in Pärnu County in architectural terms.
Quite unexpectedly, I reached yet another sightseeing tower on my trip – and not just a tower but the
Lindi Nature Reserve as well. From the distance I had been wondering about the cars stopping there. Now
I knew: the cars were there because of the tower and the reserve! At the same time with me, there was
a German couple to climb the tower as well. From the top of the tower, the view to Lindi Bog opened.
According to the nearby information board, the bog began to develop approximately 5,000 years ago.

82
Lindi Nature Reserve sightseeing tower and a view from the tower to the Lindi Bog
On my way to this day’s destination, the Sassi Talu Horsefarm, there were a number of inviting farms. I
wondered how creative can people be with displaying the names of their farmsteads.
Displaying names of farmsteads: some examples along the way

83
As for birds, I saw two stork nests. In the first nest, there were two and in the second one four storks.
The nest with four storks
This was basically my hike on this day; the map is shown below. At around two o’clock, after a lunch-
picnic, I reached Sassi Talu. My hostess was a friendly slender woman. She kindly showed me around,
accompanied by her two Boxer dogs. There were nice small houses built for tourists, and one big house
called ‘Bar’. I got one of the small houses.

84
My hiking map, day 20: 24 July 2020, from Munalaid to Sassi Talu Horsefarm (23.73 km)
Saturday, July 25: Kabriste – Pärnu
When I woke up in the morning at around half past six, it was raining.
“Oh, nice,” I thought with a little bit of sarcasm.
Fortunately, the clouds moved fast and, at the end, the weather turned out just right: not cold and not
hot, not rainy and with no burning sun.
Just a little before half past eight, I was ready for the breakfast. When entering the house called ‘Bar’, I
heard my hostess already in the kitchen. She met my special request of getting an early start even though
they typically had breakfast on a later time. While I ate, we had a good chat about travelling and travellers,

85
and their – her and her husband’s – life in Sassi Talu. I only wondered how much this slender woman could
carry on her shoulders! Most definitely, the corona crisis, while having effectively ‘cut off’ their Swedish
customers did not make their life easier.
Ten minutes past eight, I was on my way yet once again. This time the destination was pretty close: Pärnu,
the first big town after twenty days since I had left Tallinn. The main stop just before Pärnu was
Valgeranna, a beautiful sandy beach near Pärnu City. Beside the beach, there were also a golf course, an
adventure park, picnic area…
My route is depicted on the following map.
My hiking map, day 21: 25 July 2020, from Sassi Talu Horsefarm to Laine Guesthouse (21.66 km)
These were fairly easy twenty plus kilometres. It so happened that I indeed needed to know the location
of the Valgeranna’s golf course which I had just passed. Namely, two foreigners – most probably from the
neighbouring Latvia – did ask me the way!

86
A perfect road to walk on
Having reached Pärnu, instead of going directly to my destination of the day, the Laine Guesthouse, I
wandered around a bit. For one thing, it wasn’t check-in time yet. More importantly, the outlooks of
walking through the Pärnu’s downtown and next to the River Pärnu just felt this appealing.
“Instead of walking alongside Thames or Seine, this year I’m walking alongside the River Pärnu,” I thought
smilingly.
Pärnu River Walk definitely looked different than Thames Walk or Seine Walk. The water in the river
appeared much cleaner, to start with.

87
First pics from Pärnu
Finding a nice spot for my lunch-picnic turned out to be a bit of a challenge as I did not know Pärnu very
well. The place that I had chosen based on the map was already occupied by a smoking couple…
“Why do they smoke? Can’t they just sit here, enjoy the nature and each other’s company?” I thought,
feeling disturbed by the smoke.
At the end, I simply sat in the grass a bit farther away. It wasn’t bad, either.
This was the day when I finally could visit a real supermarket – and there is no lack of supermarkets in
Pärnu. Further, I could enjoy the pleasures of an anonymous ‘hotel’ with strong WiFi connection even if it
was only a guesthouse. Yeah, being in the town has its own benefits… One only understands it after having
lived for a while without conveniences like no worries about the locations and opening times of grocery
stores…
Sunday, July 26: Pärnu beach
There is not much to say about my moves on this day. The map below is self-explanatory: I went to the
Pärnu Beach. It was a perfect beach weather, warm and sunny. The water was neither too warm nor too
cold, but a modest 20 degrees Celsius.
“I could not have chosen any better time to take a day off in the Estonia’s summer capital!” I thought,
being happy about how it all had played out with the timing.

88
My ‘hiking’ map, day 22: 26 July 2020, beach walk in Pärnu (10.91 km)
On a dressing cubicle, there was an ad pointing towards my direction after the short break: Ainaži. Indeed,
further on my way, I planned to stay for a night in Ainaži. Funnily, the ad was the one of SuperAlko Ainaži.
“A major destination for Estonians!” I smiled.
The ad reminded me a summer theatre a couple of years ago, where jokes were made about Estonians
and SuperAlko Ainaži.

89
Pärnu beach in the morning and the add pointing towards my direction
After bathing, I walked along the sandy beach. Even though there had been very few people in the
morning, by noon the crowds had magically appeared.
At some point I noticed a naked middle-aged woman walking towards me.
“What a heck?!” I thought, a bit confused.
It turned out that without knowing it, I had entered the Pärnu’s Ladies Beach, that is a nude bathing zone.
I have to admit: I did not have a clue that such a beach exists in Estonia at all! Later in the afternoon, back
in the hotel, I googled a bit and found that for decades, men had been prohibited there. Apparently, the
rule no longer applies. I saw every kind of people: men and women, naked and in swimwear.
In addition to the sandy beach, I also made a short walk on the Pärnu coastal meadow hiking trail and
climbed a couple of towers on the way. While on top of the birdwatching tower (see the pics below; the
birdwatching tower is in the middle), I wondered:
“Which one am I observing from here: the birds or the people enjoying the summer day?”
I did not see many birds, but I did see quite a number of people.

Baltic coastal hiking 2020 from Tallinn to Riga

Baltic coastal hiking 2020 from Tallinn to Riga

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Kristi Rohtsalu

More from Kristi Rohtsalu (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (14)

Baltic coastal hiking 2020 from Tallinn to Riga