Tue05Jul16: Kingisepp, Russia – Saka, Estonia (101.4km, 252.7km YTD)

Another early-to-bed early-to-rise night, shut it down at 10pm last night but up at 4:15am this morning to the sound of dogs barking/fighting somewhere in the neighbourhood.  Bags downstairs at 6:45am, café opens at 7am with a good breakfast selection.  No rush today because some people are really nervous with border crossings and Gergo thinks we should cross together at about 9am.

Six of us cruising single-file through town at about 21kph, cloudy skies and the occasional shower, then out into the countryside, good highway, then warning signs that we’re in the Border Area followed almost immediately by a passport check point. 

Border town on the Russian side is the usual mess of apartment buildings at 24km, but the traffic flow is confusing:  cars to the left, pedestrians and bicycles (and some cars) to the right.  Construction fences and pylons add to the confusion but by walking our bikes and following the pedestrians, Wayne, George, and I enter the Russian immigration office. 

Nice young lady checks my passport & visa & immigration slip, 2-3 minutes and George & I are through and onto the bridge that links/separates Russian from Estonia.  Medieval forts on both sides of the river show that things have not always gone smoothly between these two countries.  Estonian Customs & Immigration are well organised, modern buildings, red & green arrows plus signs in English, another 2-3 minutes and we're in the European Economic Community. 

Quiet at 9am, the Tourist Info office is closed until 10am, banks closed, rain has started again so nothing to do except follow the orange marking tape. George was right behind me but has now disappeared, so a few zigs and zags and I’m out of town, on a narrow 2-lane road heading down along the riverbank toward the Baltic Ocean.  Turn left along the coast and it’s lots of tall trees and small well-kept houses on both sides of the road.

This road parallels the ocean coastline but that means I’m cycling northwest toward Talinn into a northwest wind of 30kph, not much fun at all whenever there's a clearing.  Fewer trees and more small acreages of farmland now, crops of grain and peas growing tall and green, lots of farm buildings along the roadside, wind is increasing to 40-50kph and now accompanied by rain.

About this time I realise that we were all supposed to wait at the Russian side of the border and cross as a group in case there was any difficulty having our baggage in the van.  Oops!  No wonder nobody else has passed me yet.  Our overnight campsite is at Saka Cliff Hotell and I pull in about 1:30pm.  Ozgur shows me where our tents should go, and where the toilets/showers are located.  However, I have to wait for my other bag to arrive because it’s got all my camping gear inside.

Riders keep coming into camp throughout the afternoon, but all the married couples seem to have chosen to get rooms in the hotel (!), all the single women/men are pitching their colourful tents together. 

Vilma and Ozgur are getting things ready for supper.  The wind is still strong and the frequent rain squalls are quite unpleasant.
Supper is spaghetti and salad, and everyone - including the hotel guests - group together under the canopy to enjoy the meal.
Internet not working well in the campsite so it's over to the hotel for some warmth, dryness, and better connections.