During the summer, the shores of Lake Peipus – the fifth-largest lake in Europe – fill with sunbathers from the Baltic states and beyond, said Oliver Smith in the FT. In the winter, the lake often freezes, and once it's solid, fishermen from the villages dotted along its Estonian side – the other is in Russia – venture out onto the ice to see what they can haul up from the dark water below.
On my trip here, I discovered that ice fishing is "a hypnotic ritual". You drill a hole, lower a gossamer-thin line into "the invisible underworld of shadows and reeds", then wait for it to twitch. "I caught 23 perch", the "flip-flap" of dying fish often "the only movement on the lake, apart from the eagles that sometimes swooped down to steal them". Ice fishing here is best done with a guide. Mesi Tare, "a cosy guesthouse" in the village of Varnja, offers excellent day-long "safaris" that include ice fishing, soup-making and a sauna upon return. You'll be taken onto the lake on "karakats" – weird, huge-wheeled cars that are "just as homemade" as the moonshine you may be offered while you're out there. And fear not: "the edge of Nato territory and the European Union is marked by 'STOP!' signs jammed into the ice".
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