Today we left the city of Tallin, and headed east for Lahemaa national park. We had a bog walk lined up that we wanted to do. It sounds gross eh, but it’s actually quite cool.
Viru Bog is one of Estonia’s most famous peat bogs, and it’s really neat. You walk along a wooden boardwalk that winds through twisted little pine trees, rust-red mosses, and dark pools that reflect the sky. It feels untouched, probably because you would sink and drown if you stepped of the boardwalk. But even if you did, you wouldn’t disappear completely. Keep reading and I’ll tell you why!
The bog here is ancient. The peat beneath is up to metres deep, built up over thousands of years. And it grows about 1 millimetre each year.
Even cooler, bogs are great at preserving things. Because the water is low in oxygen and packed with peat, things don’t rot like they normally would. Archaeologists have found ancient tools, animals, even human remains in bogs, perfectly preserved after thousands of years. So Viru Bog is basically a time capsule.
It’s also full of life. Tiny insect-eating plants, birds, frogs, and bugs all call this place home. It’s strange, peaceful, and a little bit spooky. But definitely not gross.
After our walk, we found a camping ground. It was only 1pm, and Mike said it was too early to stop, but I put my put down. We needed to shower, do laundry, and most importantly, empty our toilet!
It was a really nice spot overlooking the Baltic sea. And the sun had come out and it was toasty warm. We had our much needed showers, and put our laundry on. The washing machine had signs asking not to touch the buttons. So we loaded up, pressed start, and were surprised to see it would take 4 hours! Is this washing machine so smart it knows how dirty our clothes are? Was it like, FFS, I’m gonna need 4 hours to get that smell out! (We had been doing hand washing so I don’t think it was that bad) I’ve never known a wash to take that long before, but we just had to roll with it. The lady on reception didn’t speak very good English, and it seemed more of an effort to let her know. Just as well we stopped early!
We spent the afternoon lounging in our chairs, soaking up the sun and the view of the calm sea. It was hard to believe we were in a campground. It felt more like a freedom camping spot that we had to pay for. Apparently this place gets very busy in summer, so I think we got lucky being a Friday night and it being quiet. They even had internet, so I was able to upload next weeks video.
This is what I love about campervan travel. It’s the little things you learn to appreciate, like sunshine, clean clothes (eventually) and a nice view.