Moving On

Day 189
I was up early for my bus. I was so sore from the day before that it was hard to pack, let alone carry my bag.

Luckily I was reading a good book and it kept my mind off of the painful bus ride. When I got back to Tallinn I was happy to find out that I didn´t have to wait long for my next bus. I wasn´t happy though to find out that there wasn´t anywhere to get something hot to eat. Pringles for lunch it is then.

The second bus ride was much shorter and I quickly found my hostel once arriving in Parnu.

Parnu is a beach town and it is freezing cold outside. The place was empty. Even once I dropped off my bags I was still stiff and walking wasn´t much fun. I ended up just making myself some dinner and then taking it easy for the rest of the night. I figured that I could see the town in the morning.

Long and Winding Road

Day 188
As horseback riding was out I decided to bike ride around Hiiumaa instead. On my map it looked so small. I thought that even an occasional bike rider like me could handle it.

When I was waiting for the bike rental guy to show up I ran into the Germans. They were going to be biking around for about 4 days. I had half a mind to ask if I could tag along, but decided not too. I knew that I could never keep up with them and I headed off on my own.

I soon questioned this decision, I recently read a book about a girl bike riding alone who was attacked. It was a little disconcerting. There wasn´t anyone else on the road.

About 5 kilometers later I came to the very creepy Hill of Crosses. There were two stories for this place. One was that when Sweden lost Estonia ethnic Swedes were stranded on this island and the crosses were in memory of them. The other is that two wedding parties met here and neither would give way. A fight ensued and the bride of one party was killed along with the groom of another. The two remaining married and had a happy life. Erecting a cross here ensures a happy ever after.

The rule was that the cross must be made out of natural things but without destroying anything. I couldn´t seem to get mine to stand up right so I just placed it on the ground. Either reason for the crosses sounded good to me and I was happy to leave my mark.

Back on the trail I had to beg myself to push though and get to the end. I was getting really cold but there was restaurant and a warm meal at the end. I skipped the town with a lighthouse and the church I had wanted to stop at was closed. I just told myself to keep going.

Eventually I got to Korgesaare. I was devastated to see that the restaurant was closed. I had to go to the supermarket. The biggest problem was that it was cold out and there wasn´t really anywhere to eat. I don´t think I waiting more than 15 minutes to get back on the bike.

My entire body was sore at this point and I found myself taking brakes every 5 minutes. I knew that I would never get back at that rate. I walked the bike for a few kilometers to give my bottom a break. When I realized that I was running out of light I forced myself on the bike and managed to get the last several kilometers finished in about 45 minutes.

Overall I had biked 36 kilometers in about 5 hours. I was exhausted. After making myself dinner I passed out on my bed hardly able to move another inch.

All By Myself

Day 187
I didn´t sleep well, people were in an out all night and it kept me up. Still, I got myself up and walked to the bus station. After three hours on a bus I transferred to a ferry and then back on a bus. Everything was in Estonian. The boat was practically empty and I was clearly the only tourist.

Part of me hates to travel with uncertainties and part of me loves it. Its nice to know that I have a place to sleep on any given night, but I don´t always care for being held down to a schedule. Here on Hiiumaa, the smaller of the two largest Estonian islands, in the largest town Kardla (population 4,000) there wasn´t anything online and I was forced to just turn up. It turned out to not be a problem though, I found a hostel with the help of the tourist office. It was only opened for another two weeks so I got lucky. I was the only one there. The woman at the hostel was shocked that I was alone

As I hadn´t had anything real to eat all day I headed right to a restaurant. I had a really nice lunch for only about $7.

My plan had been to go horseback riding, but when I went to the stables they told me that they only do large groups, and I was all alone.

I ended up just going to the grocery store for snacks and hanging out in my room with a book. I did manage to make myself some pasta for dinner though. Around midnight a German couple got to the hostel. It was too bad, I was looking forward to having the place to myself.