Today my HC host, Irma, and I accompanied her friend Pluto on a road trip to the most northeastern part of the country. The flat landscape dotted with patches of woods here and there reminded me of car rides with friends through Ontario.

We passed through nearly deserted towns such as SOMPA which they joke, stands for ´´The Most Dangerous Place After America´´ (the acronym in Russian, that is). Though it is a joke, the emptiness of the town with its crumbling buildings and abandoned homes is not funny. Apparently it was mostly Russians that lived here when it was more of an active mining town. But as the work moved away to other parts of the country, so did many of the young workers. It is only the old and retired that remain.

Passing through other towns, we arrived to Oru Park near Toila. Pluto dropped us off (as he had work to attend to) with plans to meet later in the day. Irma and I hiked through the well-preserved park attempting to find an Old Manor House that apparently belonged to a former Estonian president in the 1920's and 30's. But instead we wandered aimlessly till we found a path close to the shores of the Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Finland, to be more precise) and walked along the pebbled beach.

We changed course and decided to hike within the forest. It was a beautiful sunny day but we found ourself 'off the beaten track' and lost, trapped between the sea and a cliff - impossible to climb. After getting both my feet soaked in mud and crawling over and under many a rock and branch, we found ourselves on an asphalt road. We walked along in the beautiful open countryside with the sea on our right (down below, for we had managed to find a route to the top of the cliff) and farmland on our left, with a road in front of us with no end in sight.

I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life as we did today. We agreed to try and hitch a ride and the first two times (the only times we saw a car going in our direction) I stood in front, with Irma behind me... the cars didn't stop. On our third attempt, and by this time we had walked quite awhile, I suggested to Irma for her to stand in front and lo and behold, the car stopped and picked us up. In any case, we had walked most of the way - we were attempting to get to the nearest town where we were meeting Pluto in a cafe - but we were glad to get a ride right up to the roadside cafe where we arrived 15 mins before we were to meet him.

After coffee and something to eat, Pluto and Irma drove me to Johvi where I got on a bus back to Tartu. I will stay here tonight and tomorrow, I get on a bus at 7 am to Riga!