Jäneda

We decided to branch out from Tallinn for the day and see a bit more of Estonia. We had read about 'The President's Hike' online so decided to give it a try and took a train to Aegviidu which is where the route begins.
The route's name comes from an annual hike which lots of people including an ex-president take part in to commemorate something or other. That usually takes place some time in winter when the Estonian countryside is snowy and is sometimes done on skis. In the middle of summer we found that we had the route almost completely to ourselves which was great for a peaceful walk in the forest, bogs and countryside. But it didn't take long to find out why nobody else was out walking, the resident mosquitoes are particularly vicious and the forest was thick with them. By the time we'd walked the first couple of kilometers every uncovered piece of flesh had been bitten, including Tom's face and the palm of his hand. We ended up power-walking the rest of the 10km route in the hope that a fast moving target would be less easy to bite.
Finally we came out from the forest into the town of Jäneda where there were far less flying bastards and we could relax again. We found a brilliant pub which served 'authentic north Estonian food' and had beetroot and horseradish soup, chicken and dumplings soup, pear cider and beer. Full up and recovered from our battle with the mosquitoes, we walked to the station to catch a train back to Tallinn.
Back at the caravan we had unfortunately run out of water, not ideal after a sweaty hike. We found a great solution though, signing up for a 3 euro trial at a fancy gym and spa in the city which meant we could spend the evening in the swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and most importantly have a shower. Perfect.Read more