11.8:

After yesterday’s strenuous activities, I had a bit more of a relaxed day. I Skyped my Omi and she was able to say tere to Laili which was nice. I also did quite a bit of writing. In the afternoon I wandered to the other side of town to check out the cemetery. I’ve been a bit remiss in my cemetery visitations so far on this trip as I find visiting them, on the whole, to be most interesting. This cemetery, along with others I’ve seen in Estonia, is set amongst the forest. It makes for a very tranquil setting. Some sections of the cemetery were very well manicured and it can be seen that people regularly rake the ground and tend the plants. Meanwhile some other sections appear to be in the process of being reclaimed by the forest. From what I could see, these graves seemed to be older, from the mid-late 1800’s and the names seemed to be German - perhaps that has something to do with it, I don’t know.

Rõuge Kirik

Estonian war of independence monument

If you look closely, there's graves in there

Ruin in/near cemetery 

I was quite keen to check out the tourist information centre but it was closed. I also got a bit confused as it appears that a large observation tower that was present last time I was here is now gone. I walked back home via some more lakes, past the local hydraulic ram – an ingenious yet inefficient type of pump which uses the power of water to pump water. This particular pump has been working continuously since 1939, pumping 5 kL/d.