Next door to the ski resort town of Otepää lies the town of Pühäjärve, with its beautiful lake. Parks and a 13 kilometer long trail surround much of the lake, making it a delightful place to walk and hike.

In 1991, the Dalai Lama visited. The event was significant because he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize two years earlier for his efforts to free his own country of Tibet peacefully--something that the Estonians were just then accomplishing successfully for themselves.

Pühäjärve means "holy lake" in Estonian. After students unveiled the country's newly-created flag the first time in 1884, they carried it to the shores of this lake and baptized it in its waters.