Yesterday, I went to the centre of Estonia (Europe). Waw. What an experience! Breath-taking. Not because of the freezing temperature, but because of the silence. The landscape in Kakerdaja park is desperate and far away from all main roads. We even had a stressful ride to get there. My guide and companion asked me to take over the steering wheel, and drive us through the rough icy roads to get close enough to be able to walk to this place in less than an hour.
We were almost alone out there. Just to discover two other walkers after half an hour of walking. “Tere!”. “Tere!”. And we were back in perfect silence. You hear nothing but your own shoes cracking the icy snow. That’s it. I never experienced such a silence before on a plane area. In mountaneous areas one can be in such a silence behind mountains or hills that block the sounds of the next valley. But on a plane like this, hearing nothing is exceptional.
Some weeks ago, I wrote a post for this blog about another park in Estonia. A park that is near the number ‘1’ highway from Tallinn to Narva. There, the noise of the cars is annoying. You cannot ignore it. But here, the silence was perfect and omnipresent. Try it yourself and look at the photos and then click on the video. What you hear is me and the wind. That’s it. Wonderful.
FYI: Kakerdaja walking trail is what you have to look for on the map. But I advise you to check the road conditions – do not drive via Monuvere in bad weather.
Silence Diary 