Day 27, Saturday 9/4:

We awoke today to a very relieving sight – blue sky. We started by visiting the nearby town of Viljandi, walking around the 13^th century castle ruins and admiring a very handsome suspension bridge, gifted to the town by a wealthy manor owner in 1931. We then drove to the Soomaa National Park. In order to reach the visitor center (which was closed) and a walk that we wanted to do, we had to drive for about 20km on a dirt road. With the melting snow it was quite muddy and slippery in places, meaning progress was slow. This park, of some 359km², is made up of mainly boggy marshlands, floodplains and some forested areas. As we were visiting fairly early in the season, and with all the unseasonal snowfall that had occurred, there was not much wildlife to be seen, as it was too cold. However, the landscapes were still very picturesque. The main trail that I wanted to walk was the Riisa bog trail. This is a narrow boardwalk loop of 5.2km that leads you through the marshes and into nearby forest. This was a very interesting walk as you could clearly see the varying landscapes and how these meld into one another. There was still quite a bit of snow on the trail in parts, making for some very pretty photos.  

Afterwards we decided that it would be worthwhile to try and reach Karstna again. This time we had no trouble reaching the town and we didn’t have to search to find the Manor house, it does stand out from the dull communist cement block apartments. The Manor, now used as a school, was looking very pretty with some of the wild flowers just starting to pop up, adding to the effect. I had thought that another attraction, a 19^th century bronze statue atop a massive boulder in memory of General Reinold von Anrep of the Russian army, would be located at the manor. However, it was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, there was a geocache placed at the statue, which was also nearby the Manor’s family mausoleum. I was able to find the statue after a short walk through some snow and along a little track. This is said to be one of the best examples of classical art in Estonia.