farm Saaremaa

This last weekend we hoped in our colleagues car, and drove to the Island of Saaremaa, on the west estonian coast. I thought we’d have to catch a ferry from Haapsalu or even Tallinn, which has one of the greatest ports of call in the country, but actually, the harbour which we left from was in Virstu, a small village, on the coast, between Haapsalu and Pärnu. Historically, it has been an strategic place, for it is extremely close to the Island of Muhu, itself, connected by a road to Saaremaa. In soviet times, one used to have to show his passport and have a good reason to go to Saaremaa (tourism was not a valid one).

The Ferry opened its great jaws of iron and swalowed the car, the adventure could start, we were finally going to visit Saaremaa, which we had been waiting for some time. Adventure we wanted adventure we had. Just a few moments after landing on Muhu, Merle, which was or official co-pilot for this trip, told us to get on a dirt road, and called it a “shortcut”. We followed it for what seemed hours, and found ourselves on shorter and unexplored trails, in the middle of the forest. When it had finally become impossible to continue any further, we finally turned back, hoping the car wouldn’t get stuck in the numerous mud holes.

The rest of our trip went more smoothly. Our two colleagues did a good job, taking us on many “shortcuts” in Saaremaa’s country roads, which enabled us to see and visit many small villages, with traditional houses, off the beaten tracks, where life would seem to freeze when our car passed slowly through, all eyes starring at us. TIme just didn’t exist here. Apart from the countryside, we saw some cliffs, north of the island, overlooking the Baltic sea. There was nobody exept us, no wind, a perfect blue sky, enough to let our minds wander past the horizon.

Autumn is an ideal season to visit Saaremaa, for all the highly visited areas in summer are just empty in fall. In Kaali, the 8th meteorite crater in the world, which is also a famous spot on the island, was deserted and left for ourselves and a little squirrel, wandering what we were doing in his territory.

I could go on for ages, but we do recommend Saaremaa, its a peaceful place to go to, you just have to know when to come and where to go, to escape the crowds… Thanks to our guides for showing us !