Fly to Kihnu to see a Russian sidecar

The reason I decided to go to Kihnu Island in Estonia was a video on the internet. In fact, I hadn't even known the existence of the island. In the video, ladies in scarf and traditional striped skirt rode on a classic Russian sidecar and ran about in the island. Then I googled on the words of Kihnu. I got dozens of images of Kihnu ladies and the old Russian sidecar. It's enough for me to fly to Estonia.

Kihnu in the Baltic sea has been fisherman's island. Therefore in the most of time in a year, men are away from the island. Eventually the culture of the island, from a life style to a handcraft and dance, was made and conserved by the women who was left in home. Of course, it's necessary for the residents to have a transportation as an important lifeline. Then the sidecars came to the island from the mainland in the Soviet era.

In the video Kihunu ladies told about the sidecars "Years has passed since the dissolution of the Soviet. Now it's quite hard to get replacement parts for the sidecar. One critical problem means the end of the life for the old sidecar" Suddenly I felt I gotta go there ASAP. I'll visit the island and watch Kihnu ladies who is on the Russian big bike.

Actually, it didn't take a long time after I landed there to see the Kihnu ladies who's wore the scarf and skirt in traditional way. Yes, it's just I had expected. How about the sidecars? I saw them here and there in the lawn yard of houses or beside a barn. Some of them were already scraped. "Apparently, it's Red Data Animals. My decision to come to see them must be the right"

However I've never seen the sidecar was actually moving. There was a sign to be rode. Because the one which was parked beside the burn in the morning had gone in the late afternoon. I wanted to talk to the owner. So I had waited her, or him, beside it for almost half an hour. Nobody was appeared.
Instead of that, I saw in the Island many time was the Kihnu ladies who rode the bicycle. When we passed, I was also on the bike, we salute each other "Tele(Hello)!" No, I didn't expect the situation in this travel.

Aftar all, I had never met Kihnu ladies on the sidecar during my stay. Or is it only for long winter when the gravel road is covered with snow? More worse, the side car has already retired and has a second life as an art object in the yard. Of course, the resident has a modern four wheel now a days. And tourist's cars come to the island by ferry every day.

Now I lost the main purpose to come to the island. But the island itself, people and nature, was more attractive than I expected. So I'll talk about other story than the sidecar on Kihnu in the next issue.