19.8: Riding around Räpina

Today I didn’t really have any set plan of what I wanted to do, so I rode around and made it up as I went along. I suspect you might call Räpina a large town, by Estonian standards. It’s certainly bigger than Rõuge but smaller than Võru. It has two medium sized supermarkets, several places to eat, a small area of the typical soviet-style apartment buildings and then lots of detached houses with gardens spread out over a large area. All of this is set out around several lakes.

In the morning I rode to Räpina harbor, on the banks of Peipsi Järv, the large lake on Estonia’s eastern border. Compared to the mountainous Võrumaa region (well, there were a few bumps in the road), Põlvamaa, where I am now, is much flatter. Cycling around is very easy and enjoyable. The harbour is about 5km to the east of the town. Upon arrival I caught my first glance of Russia for this trip, just over the other side of the lake, about 15km away according to my GPS. There’s not a great deal there, the customary viewing platform, a small sheltered harbour with a few boats and a café, which wasn’t due to open until 2pm. One of the information panels displayed a cycling route which I was very pleased to see as this was just the sort of thing I was hoping to do today. I took a photo of the map with my phone for future reference and off I went.

Fake bolt geocache

View from platform to town

View over lake

The route predominantly followed little farm tracks, which varied in condition from well used and graded to very rarely used and completely overgrown. One way I could tell that some of the overgrown tracks were not frequently used was the film of spider webs that I accumulated as I rode along. Side note – apparently Estonia has many species of spider but apparently only one is actually capable of biting humans.  I wasn’t complaining though as the views were great and it was another bright sunny day. 

Eventually I ended up at another viewing platform, this one a little more rickety than the last. The land around this area is very low lying and was apparently drained by the soviets so it could be utilised for agricultural production. The result is many mosquitos and marsh flies. It was scenic but I didn’t hang around for too long.

Views from second platform

All of this low-lying area is now a bird sanctuary and is rated as one of the most important in Europe, with migratory birds passing through at certain times of year. I did indeed see many birds. As I continued riding, I was able to channel my inner David Rabbit-Burrow as I saw some more wildlife. The first creature I saw was a little dog-like thing standing on the road ahead. Naturally it ran into the undergrowth as I lifted my camera to take a shot. How rude. On further research, I determined this must have been a raccoon dog, a species introduced by the soviets for fur production. Thinking of it now, I imagine it would make a nice hat. These are now a feral species which have spread across most of central Europe. The second creature was a much more polite Bambi. It let me take some photos before it too bound away into the distance. I then went back into more open cropping country, away from the lake. Many farmers were out making hay while the sun shined (literally). I also rode through some thick forests. I had a picnic lunch downstream of a small hydroelectric plant. In all it was a most excellent ride passing through some very diverse scenery.

Deer

Run away!!

I don't think he can see me now...

Farmers plying fields

Farm dog

Bees

Horsies

Goat

Järv

Pretty farmhouse

By the time I made it back to town the tourist information centre, located in the local council chambers, was open. A lady there has most helpful and came away with lots of ideas for what I would do in the coming days. In order to digest this information, I rode back to the harbour and had an iced coffee.

It was now late afternoon so I finished the day by having a walk around Räpina Park, which is really more of a botanical garden, taking in the various gardens around the grounds.

French garden in front of Sillapää Manor 

English garden

Some of the college buildings

For dinner I went to a small place called Chillin and had a hamburger and beer. The beer was good but the burger not so. One place left so hopefully that’s good.