In Estonia, besides the DIY 🗼, we also visited an official one, in the village of Tindi, near the town of Rõuge. The Pesapuu watchtower is built in the shape of a bird's nest, or rather two. It's 30 meters tall, and with lakes all around, there's plenty to look at. Fun fact — there's a small notice hanging at the entrance. The gist of it is that the construction contractor, having received money from the client (the municipality), didn't pay the subcontractor who did the work. The amount is approx. 100k euros, and visitors are asked to donate to compensate for the scam. A weird move, of course, but understandable. Nevertheless, I didn't donate. I do that quite rarely, usually in person and directly to the individual. True, I am subscribed on Patreon to two guys, the writer Alexander Wales and the YouTuber Grisha Mastrider with his channel "Book Guy".
Not far from the tower, we found an eatery with some difficulty and had a bite. Aside from the usual grilled veggies and meats, they also offered large beans stewed in a cauldron over an open fire. In Latvian, for some reason, they are called pig beans (cūku pupas), while in Russian they are horse beans. My brain is slightly broken, so I immediately started thinking that the expression "horse-sized" originated from the size of a horse's genitals. The beans were very tasty, albeit for a totally European price — 5 euros for a small plate. More of a tasting than a full meal. Having had lunch, our teams split up. One headed to our campsite along the MTB route, and the other on the asphalt. As you know, the motto of the "Snowdrop" tourist club is: "It's time to split up."
On the way back, we unexpectedly spotted some long-distance gravel race. First there was one biker, and then a whole pack. All with bags, meaning you can tell they're coming from afar, with plenty still left to go. This is trendy among gravel riders right now, these "rely on yourself" style events (For example, the Lithuanian https://www.borderepic.lt/). Self-reliance is one of the key points in the Burning Man manifesto, by the way. Many people think that Burning Man is just about crazy installations and a freaky crowd. No, there's a whole idealistic philosophy. https://burningman.org/about/10-principles/ Which, like all utopian ideas, withstands the collision with real life with some difficulty.
