21.8: To Värska!

Today I set off at 9.30 to travel a bit deeper into Setomaa, to the town of Värska, southeast of Räpina. The bus ride was only about 25 minutes so I was soon there. To start with, I thought a walk would be nice. I’d seen that there was a 5 km loop walk that started at the local school, so I walked there. I found a map of the trail but the problem was that there didn’t seem to be any trail markers, so I took a photo of the map and tried to navigate between that and the map on my GPS. This worked fairly well and I think I was on the right track. The only problem was that there were several private properties that I had to skirt around/quietly tiptoe through… I must have been going the right way though, as I ended up at the first information panel next to a derelict town hall, which must have been quite grand in its day. From there, the trail seemed to be much better defined and the rest of the walk didn’t pose any challenges. It was quite nice, with several boardwalks and views over the lake. I had my morning tea in the forest – a bun I had bought in Räpina and fruit salad provided by the forest – blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Yum.

Kindral Reegi maja

Woodpecker (1st I've seen/heard, did get a tad excited)

Blackberries 

Blueberries and raspberries

Once back in town I walked off in another direction to the Seto Farm Museum, about 2 km away. The museum included a restaurant selling traditional Seto foods made with local ingredients. I went for smoked pork with onions and I must say, I think it was the best meal I’ve had on this trip so far. The pork had a delicious smoky flavour and was so tender!! It’s making me hungry just thinking about it!! After lunch I had a wander around the museum, which was set out as a typical Seto farm, with barns, farmhouse, sauna toolshed and so on. I find the patterned fabrics that the Seto’s use and wear most attractive.

Lunch

Fish drying

Seto flag 

After this it was time to walk back into town and catch another bus, this time to the Värska Sanatoriuum, only about three kilometres but I was happy to skip that little walk. The sanatoriuum is a big holiday spa resort on the banks of Lake Peipus. The clientele seemed to be predominantly Russian and Estonian. It all looked a bit dull to me but I suppose it appeals to a certain demographic. Why did I come to this place then? Well, because it’s where the boat to Räpina harbour departs from! I bought my ticket and an ice cream and sat under a pine tree to wait for the boat to depart at 3pm.

Waiting to board boat

Värska Sanatoriuum

The boat itself was a medium size, capable of carrying about 12 people and had an upper and lower seating area. I sat on the top so I could get the best views and inspect Estonia’s eastern frontier with Russia. I was accompanied by a small family consisting of ema, vanaema and kaks lapsed (mother, grandmother and two children). The trip was most pleasant and at points the lake is quite narrow, meaning we were straddling the border (sorry Omi :P). We were also close enough to check out some Russian villages on the other side. I must say that I had been a bit naïve when I decided to take the boat, as I didn’t realise it only went to the harbour. This meant I had another 5km walk back into town. I still think it was worth it though.

Russian village with bird sitting atop border post in foreground

Lüübnitsa

I didn’t fancy walking from the hotel into town for a meal (~1.5km) so after freshening up I ate at the hotels restaurant again. Needless to say I slept well that night!