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(2-day, the product package is
offered during the summer season from 1st June to 31st
August)
DESCRIPTION: On the first
day a group (an optimum number of 15-30 people) will arrive at the Võrtsjärve
Visiting Centre in Rannu-Jõesuu. On arrival a short overview on the activities
of the visiting centre and the area as a whole will be given by a tourism
organiser from Võrtsjärve SA, coffee-tea and snacks will be served.
After becoming
acquainted with the visiting centre, the Lake
Museum situated in Vehendi Village
will follow, where Estonian freshwater fish, including also rare and protected
species, can be seen. A model of the biggest fish ever caught from Lake Võrtsjärv
– a Grass Carp – is displayed in an aquarium without water. To see the
inhabitants of the pool through a magnifying glass will surely be of interest.
A kale sailboat with its jolly
two-man crew will be waiting for the seafarers at the jetty of the Centre for
Limnology. The kale sailboat will offer a genuine experience in its traditional
way. Eel soup will be eaten, stories of bygone fishing methods and fishermen
traditions and the life of the Lake
Võrtsjärv area in the
modern times will be told.
A kale is a traditional wooden trawling
sailboat used on Lake
Võrtsjärv, which, owing
to its graceful appearance, was often used also on cruises and regattas. A kale
sailboat with a slim hull has two triangular sails – a large main sail attached
to the mast and a small jib sail in front of it. When trawling, the sailboat
would always move leeward, side ahead, pulling a kale (trawl) on the side of
the sailboat. The name kale comes from a large-mesh net, or kale, used when
trawling. In better times, which were between the 1930s-1970s, 70 kale
sailboats altogether could have been observed on Lake Võrtsjärv.
At the end of the 1960s, introducing
baby eels in Lake
Võrtsjärv was started, as
a result of which trap fishing was beginning to be used more widely. One
fishing method would start to interfere with the other, and trawling with a kale
would finally be prohibited. After the ban the idea behind kales would be lost,
and they would perish little by little. 1985. In 1985 the last sailboat of Valma Village
was burned in the Midsummer Eve bonfire.
In order to revive the traditions of the
building of kale sailboats, MTÜ Kaleselts was established in 2007, where both
kales and rowboats are built, and it is possible to become acquainted with
their activities both on their homepage www.kaleselts.ee and in Valma Village
on the spot. The first modern kale sailboat on Lake Võrtsjärv
was completed with help by Võrtsjärve SA in 2005.
The kale sailboat will take the
travellers to the Port of Pikasilla, where a bus will be waiting and taking the
visitors to the Bagpipe Farm situated in Riidaja Village.
Where else could one get a better overview of bagpipe music and traditions than
on the Bagpipe Farm established by the legendary Tauls, at only 10 kilometres
from Lake Võrtsjärv. On the Bagpipe Farm the
visitors will be welcomed by the master, Ants Taul, who will introduce bagpipe
music and the traditions of instrument making as an important part of the
cultural life of the people of the Võrtsjärv area. The master’s hobby is
aviation, owing to which it is possible to have a quick look also at topics
related to aviation, in addition to the bagpipe music.
Dinner will be
eaten, the sauna visited, the night spent on the Bagpipe Farm.
In the evening
the visitors will have a chance to listen to a performance of authorial songs
by Anu and Triinu Taul inspired by traditional music.
On the second
day, after breakfast on the Bagpipe Farm, the Tarvastu handicraft workshop will
be visited, where the mistress will introduce local handicraft and Mulgi
culture from a wider perspective. In the handicraft workshop everyone will get
a chance to make a worsted ribbon (red ribbon decorating a Mulgi coat) for
themselves. Estonian national foods will be introduced and tasted, which is
also the last and conclusive activity of the product package. The group will be
taken to the next destination desired, if need be.
PROVIDERS: Lake Võrtsjärv
Foundation, Bagpipe Farm, Anutar Ltd., Tarvastu Handicraft Workshop 15 people in group 70,30 Euros per person
30 people in group 55,92 Euros per person
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