Take Me to Munamägi!

A dialogue well known to all from Latvian film classics - "Uncle Ērik, take me to Munamägi! - Don't call me uncle! - All right, Ērik." - has prompted many a Latvian to visit this place in Estonia. Our choice too, in marking our fifth wedding anniversary, fell on Munamägi (given that the main initiator and driver bears the name Ēriks :) ).

And so on a sunny Saturday morning we set off by car from Riga, past Valmiera, through Valka/Valga, through Antsla, to Võru and then to Suur Munamägi. The day was hot, so a pleasant refreshment was provided by stopping in Võru town and swimming in Lake Vagula. Its sandy beach was full not only of holidaymakers, but also of astonishing works of sand art.

We arrived at the foot of Suur Munamägi in the late afternoon. A climb followed along the constructed path up the hill. At its top stands the observation tower. Admission 35 EEK if prepared to climb on foot, 60 EEK for a ride up by lift. Convenient is the ability to pay by Hansabank credit card both for the climb and for souvenirs (the Latvians in the queue ahead of us with a Parex bank card did seem to have some sort of trouble). So on this trip we didn't even handle Estonian money.

We recommend climbing the tower on foot, as along the way one can enjoy the views through the tower windows and linger on each floor, admiring the photographs and artworks displayed there, and taking photos oneself.

Estonia's greatest hill is located next to the populated place Haanja, in Võru County (that makes it easier to find on a road map). Suur Munamägi is the highest point in the Baltic states. Height above sea level - 317.6 m, together with the tower - 346.7 m. From here the view extends over a radius of more than 50 km. Information of this kind can be read by every visitor speaking Estonian, English, German, Finnish, Latvian, or Russian on the admission tickets issued.

At the upper open viewing platform everyone can explore in which direction one can see, for example, the forests of Latvia, or how far Berlin is from Munamägi, etc. Riia, i.e. Riga, is 200 km from Munamägi.

Down at the foot of the hill there was another sand sculpture to be seen, this time made by one of our fellow countrymen, with an Estonian title we could not decipher - "Munamägi – maa suudleb taevast. Karlis Ile. Lati."