It takes not much time till we are heading towards Valaam in an chartered water taxi. The story of the exile-Karelian has an lasting effect. The quay is crowded, we are not arriving alone. The whole monastery is embedded in nature. Besides the monastery, small chapels can be found on the different islands belonging to Valaam.
Epic walks are possible without meeting somebody else.
The monastery island Valaam is well visited, but there are plenty of quite places left. We are on the road again. The more we ride towards east, the less foreign cars we see. The surface gets rougher, maybe to rough for western coaches. Heading east we see a small wooden chapel on hill.