Kasmu: the picturesque beauty of the Lahemaa National Park
I shall always remember Kasmu. Not for its beauty and the welcoming hospitality, although the views are picturesque and the people extremely friendly. Unfortunately, I will remember the day our short walk turned into a much longer walk. And I will remember ants being everywhere. And I will never forget the bugs the size of birds that ripped chunks out of my skin and laughed at me as I cried.
Kasmu town
We arrive at Kasmu, a tiny village in the middle of the Lahemaa National Park, around lunchtime. After dropping our bags off at the sublime Laane Pansion, we set off on foot to explore the town.
Almost immediately, we find a beach. And on the beach is a little cafe. We stop for a bite to eat, nothing spectacular but do you need spectacular when this is your view?
A short walk
We study the only map in town and set off for a quick, well-signed 4.2km walk around the forest.
It starts well. We wander around the back of town, past an old church and what might have been a toilet. The structures are beautiful and, even though most people don’t speak English, everyone is really welcoming. The locals welcome us with a bubbly smile and a wave.
We walk towards the forest, as, after all, the guidebook tells us it is a forest walk. We ignore the large signpost that, in hindsight, we realise probably says ‘do not enter’.
Our walk takes us through beautiful tall-tree
Wandering through the forest, we end up at Lake Kasmu. Starting to question whether we are actually on a 4.2km walk, we stop to look at the lake, and it’s extremely pretty. Very quickly we forget how long we’ve walked.
——
And ended up at Lake Kasmu. Pretty! Although we should have realised by now that we weren’t on the 4.2km walk, but that this was the 14km walk (also suitable for bicycles).
The moment our short walk turned into a long walk
We then, somewhat stupidly might I say given that neither of us were wearing hike appropriate clothing, decided not to turn back but keep walking. We reached a beach, and thinking that we must be close to the town, kept walking.
And walking.
And walking. This was where we hit the ants. They were huge. And there were many of them. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the feeling that there were ants everywhere.
And so, with nowhere else to go and ants all over me, we kept walking. No idea what this was.
And walking. Or this.
Did some forest trails. This is where we met our bug ‘friends’. They sounded like mozzies but took a chunk out of you like horse flies. I was now bitten, sore and bleeding. I’m glad we didn’t run into anyone else stupid enough to do this walk.
Where we went wrong
Turns out that rather than taking the 4.2km light blue walk, we had taken the red route. And paid for it with some of our skin, and plenty of distraught Suze (did I tell you how much I hate ants?). At least it will be a walk to remember for the rest of our lives. I probably will have to apologise to Michael at some stage, but it won’t be now!
Most likely the best dinner I’ll ever have
Boy were we hungry. After our six hour walk, we nearly missed closing time for the only restaurant in Kasmu. Luckily they felt our plight and stayed open and we had an absolutely delightful seaside Estonian meal. We were so hungry that the only photo we took of the food was after we had eaten it.
Looking back, Kasmu was picturesque. I’m not sure whether I’ll get over the memories of the ants and the bugs but looking back at the photos, I can at least remember just how beautiful it was.
