5 Days in Estonia - Day 5: Setomaa

As in many parts of the world, there are many small ethnic minorities scattered throughout Europe, peoples who have been left without a nation to call their own. In the south east of Estonia lives one such minority, the Setos. In fact, their historic lands stretch across the border into Russia. Following the break up of the Soviet Union, the Setos were a people divided with families torn apart by a border that did not define their actual settlement. Today, passage back and forth across the border has been made easier for the Setos allowing this small group with a unique language and culture to preserve and teach their ways. For the visitor, the entire region is a beautiful landscape of rolling hills, small villages, lakes, and forests -- the kind of place we could spend all of our time but, unfortunately, our time in Estonia had come to an end and we had to look west and head back to Riga.