We awoke to a find that Karin had turned up to
greet us again and to accompany us on the day’s activities. Breakfast had been
fully laid on and it was really excellent. We headed over to the local council
again and met Rein. He was expecting us and took us into a meeting room to
talk. We arranged to meet Karin again the next morning and said goodbye. The
council holds some papers about the mill and Rein was able to dig these out and
give us a photocopy. They detail all of the items that were taken from the farm
in the collectivisation of agricultural land after 1941. It gave a monetary
value to all of the items taken and was quite interesting to look at. They had
prepared a gift bag for us including a framed photograph of the church, pens
and postcards of a statue that had been constructed on our land. The mayor also
introduced himself and expressed his gratitude at the donation of the land to
the council. Rein said that he would be more than happy to accompany us in the
afternoon to visit the local sites that we wanted to see. In the meantime, Patsy
and I went for a drive on some of the back roads, only having to turn back once
because the road became too icy.
We met back up with Rein at the council and set off
on our drive. We started by visiting the village of Antsla, where my great
grandparents were born. We then continued on to Visela, an even smaller
village/locality. With Rein directing, we were able to find the house and mill
where my great grandparents lived and worked. During the Russian occupation,
the house was used for officers and it was somewhat altered, to the point where
it was very difficult for my Omi to recognise on her previous trip. The color
was changed and a balcony removed. Unfortunately the old mill building is
falling in on itself, presumably due to rot. The house, which was occupied in
2001, now lays empty and is also starting to show signs of dilapidation.
Although, it is not beyond repair - the roof looks to be in quite good
condition.
Rein and I did some bush bashing to get to the house, as we could not find the driveway. We also checked out an old fish smoker. Our next stop was the Tamme-Lauri Oak tree, near the village of Uravaste. This tree is Estonia’s oldest, planted in 1326, and still going strong. However, it has had to make use of some aids in its old age. It now has a concrete core and a spiffy lightning rod, meaning it should last for another 600 years.
Võru was our next stop. A town of some 14,500 people, it lies next to a small lake, along which a ‘beach’ has been constructed. We walked along the beach and also checked out the old town. It was not as immaculate as some of Estonia’s other centres; however it was still charming in its own way. Along the way we had discussed our interest in the Russian border so Rein offered to take us for a look. We followed the E77, arriving to see a large number of trucks queued up. We parked the car and Rein headed off to find out how far we could go. As it transpired, the Estonian border control is 300m from the actual border. To go to the border, to just have a look, we would have to fill out firstly a Russian immigration form to spend five minutes there and then go through the same process to get back again. As neither Philip nor I had our passports, we resigned to viewing it from afar. Of course it all felt very serious and it was a tad daunting with no photos allowed and sections where one has to keep walking.
Rein and I did some bush bashing to get to the house, as we could not find the driveway. We also checked out an old fish smoker. Our next stop was the Tamme-Lauri Oak tree, near the village of Uravaste. This tree is Estonia’s oldest, planted in 1326, and still going strong. However, it has had to make use of some aids in its old age. It now has a concrete core and a spiffy lightning rod, meaning it should last for another 600 years.
Võru was our next stop. A town of some 14,500 people, it lies next to a small lake, along which a ‘beach’ has been constructed. We walked along the beach and also checked out the old town. It was not as immaculate as some of Estonia’s other centres; however it was still charming in its own way. Along the way we had discussed our interest in the Russian border so Rein offered to take us for a look. We followed the E77, arriving to see a large number of trucks queued up. We parked the car and Rein headed off to find out how far we could go. As it transpired, the Estonian border control is 300m from the actual border. To go to the border, to just have a look, we would have to fill out firstly a Russian immigration form to spend five minutes there and then go through the same process to get back again. As neither Philip nor I had our passports, we resigned to viewing it from afar. Of course it all felt very serious and it was a tad daunting with no photos allowed and sections where one has to keep walking.
As we were driving to the border, we passed through
a section of countryside where a dialect is spoken. This is distinct from the
Estonian language and is only spoken by about 4000 people. Their culture and
most noticeably architecture are also distinct. Rein took us to look at some
Castle ruins at Vastoselina, in the heart of this district.
We finished the day with a visit to Haanja Mountain
or Big Egg Hill, so named because of its egg shaped appearance on the horizon.
It is the highest point in the Baltics, at a tad over 300m. We walked to the
summit, on a still icy path, to a tower that has been constructed which takes
you up a further 200m (fortunately via a lift) where one gets an excellent view
over the surrounding landscape, both Russian and Estonian.
We drove back to Roüge and said our thanks to Rein.
Omi had mentioned that he collects coins, so I prepared a set of Australian coins
for him. He was very pleased and exclaimed that we share similar hobbies, namely
fishing and coin collecting.
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