David and Camilla Taylor's slow bicycle ride through the Baltic lands

Conclusion and general observations

1. We were astonished by the number of pharmacies. There were about the same number as there were food shops. Are the residents of this area hypochondriac?
2. You have to buy bottled water to drink. The tap water may be safe but it tastes of bog or marsh nearly everywhere. The owner of Loode Talu. has his own supply of drinking water which is very good. He said that it was a spring but I did not see it. I suppose that the large proportion of the year when temperatures are below zero or when snow is on the roof make it uneconomic to collect rainwater.
3. Everywhere you see domestic greenhouses. Most are simple, plastic covered homemade structures. Apparently it is essential for tomatoes to ripen that they be under cover.
4. Nearly everywhere that we rode the surface of the road is raised between one and two metres above the surroundings. The fields and forests alongside look very boggy and this is obviously essential for drainage. The verges grow grass vigorously and we saw tractors mowing somewhere every day.
5. The use of mobile phones is increasing exponentially everywhere but here you can see it taken to extremes. Telephoning someone while at the same time knocking on their front door seems to me to be rather extravagant.
6. Cycling as we did on quiet country roads we passed many isolated properties. Everyone seemed to keep a large dog in his front yard. Mostly these dogs were confined behind the front fence and simply ran backwards and forwards barking furiously while we cycled past. In some cases the dogs were loose and harried us on the bikes until we were clear of their domain. In one case a young Malamute tried to run between Camilla's wheels to escape a passing car and brought her off the bike. In the Austatije national park a young Labrador followed us for ten kilometres. Beware!

What it cost us (July/August 2008)