Winter Holiday - Days 3-5: North Eastern Estonia

Although we've visited many, many places in Estonia, we haven't, until now, had the chance to visit its far north eastern corner. Out there, things are pretty wild as Estonia and Russia blend and, eventually meet, at Europe's fifth largest lake, Lake Peipus. Along the Estonian shore, a string of villages is home to the Old Believers, escapees from persecution in 17th century Russia when the Orthodox Church saw several reforms. On the Lake, we had our most rustic cabin experience ever, staying in a tiny cabin made entirely of wood and, amazingly, branches! From there, we traced the edge of the lake all the way north to the city of Narva at which the bridge over the River Narva is Estonia's prime passage into Russian territory. The fortress on each side of the river are testament to the territorial tension present here for centuries.