Following the border…

From lake to lake and forest to forest, we continued our route south through Finland. This week, we left Lapland to enter (briefly) Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, passing through one of the most impressive places we have seen so far: the Oulanka National Park…

Accustomed to the rivers of Norway or Sweden, we must admit that the Finnish rivers that we have crossed so far lack a bit of… dynamics. It must be said that the country is flatter than its neighbors and, therefore, it is not easy to find rivers that “roar”…

So after a short detour south, we finally redirected our search for a nice weekend spot towards Lake Aapajärvi, a fairly large lake that, at one end, is regulated by a small hydroelectric dam. Around, it’s all forest and, of course, herds of reindeer coming out from everywhere.

Aapajärvi… (13/07/2024)

The weather was overcast when we arrived and the place seemed a little “meh,” but as soon as the clouds cleared, the landscape completely changed. In the morning, before the wind began to pick up a little, the lake was completely smooth and reflected every detail of the sky, clouds and trees around it. Interestingly, even with no wind, there were no mosquitoes this morning. So we had our first real Arctic summer day, sitting on the pontoon right next to Marvin, doing some work and reading in the sun. We were even able to have lunch there, before it got too hot to stay in the sun.

In the afternoon, we walked around the lake before returning and continuing with our work/reading, but this time in the shadow of Marvin… A nice summer day in short, with temperatures that were around 21ºC, and that do not drop much in the night since the sun only sets less than an hour (we are still above the polar circle, but the further we go in the calendar, the shorter the days become and therefore, there is no longer a midnight sun at this latitude at this time of the year…).

Following the Polar Circle (15-16/07/2024)

After two last photos of our lake in the morning, again smooth as a mirror, our mission for the day was to “return to the city” for 24 or 48 hours to do everything we have not been able to do up to here. Northern Lapland is beautiful, but it is a bit limited in terms of infrastructure and services… 😉 So we were counting on Rovaniemi, the administrative capital of the region, to solve much, if not all, of our small “problems” before continuing our journey…

The most important thing was to swap Marvin’s wheels, which, from the beginning, wear more on the outside than on the inside of the tire. To do this, we went to Euromaster Rovaniemi who, with a professionalism that would make those at Pyrénées Industrials green with envy, unmounted, remounted and rebalanced Marvin’s wheels in less than an hour, without any appointment (and for a price equivalent to what we would have paid in Andorra). An hour later, we left with the swapped tires and, it seems, much better balanced than until now…

Second important mission: to find a hairdresser (no joke! It really wasn’t a luxury,!… 😅). After a few fruitless attempts, we finally found a hairdresser who was on his lunch break, with the salon completely empty, and who agreed to give us a haircut as soon as he finished his burger… The only drawback was that his level of English was a little limited, but hey… the result is quite acceptable (it doesn’t matter… it grows back quickly!… 😜)

We also took advantage of being in the city to do a big laundry and shop for at least a week, because our idea was obviously to spend as little time as possible in contact with civilisation and return to our forest as soon as possible…

We were lucky enough to manage do it all in one day, so without waiting any longer, we set off for about twenty kilometres (on a dirt track… two of which a little… in worse condition and narrower than the others, let’s say… 🤓), to the shore of Lake Turvakkolamit, a small lake lost in the middle of nowhere, in a Finnish landscape postcard-perfect setting… Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places we have slept in since we entered Finland. A very small lake surrounded by a large forest and a wetland that prevents any path near the water. A real slice of wilderness, with the added bonus of a small group of reindeer grazing peacefully around Marvin the next morning… 😍

To conclude this stay in Rovaniemi, it was evident that we could not leave without passing through Santa Claus Village, a true paradise of capitalism where a photo with Santa or his wife costs 20 EUR in digital format, 30 EUR in paper format and 40 EUR for both (and just talking to them costs 5 EUR), where seeing, petting and feeding Santa’s reindeer costs 7 EUR per person, where a postcard to send from Santa’s post office costs 3 times more than the same postcard purchased in the center of Rovamiemi, and where a simple filter coffee costs 3,50 EUR (although in this case, for once, that is more or less the same as in the rest of the country… an espresso costs 4 EUR, in Finland 😮‍💨)…

The most curious is that Santa Claus Village is located right on the polar circle (or is it the polar circle that was strategically moved to Santa Claus Village?…). So we had to stop there to take the mandatory photo, on the official line that marks latitude 66º 32′ 35” N of the Arctic Circle in Finland. Those who follow this blog will know that in Sweden, the polar circle passes a little further north, at 66º 33′ N, the same as in Canada (we have proof from our neighbours from the B8)… Strange… Strange… 🤔.

After an “Abbey Road” moment crossing the polar circle in both directions, and given that the heat seems to continue (21ºC at 11 in the morning on the polar circle today…), we did not dare to take the final step towards the south. So we decided to follow the “northern side” of the Arctic Circle to return not far from where we were two days before, with the idea of ​​arriving the next day at Oulanka National Park… At least, after a day in the city and after seeing Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village, we can be totally sure that the beauty of Lapland is not in its cities!… 😜

Only 5 km away… (17/07/2024)

We must admit that, beyond the lies about vanlife that you see on Instagram, there are places more spectacular than others. Our little lake from two days ago was one of those places, and this one, right on the edge of Oulanka National Park, is definitely another!…

It’s always a bit silly to describe places by comparing them with others (each country or region has its own characteristics, which are enough on their own), but frankly, when after 26 km of dirt track in a forest that doesn’t seem to have seen the hand of man or a chainsaw in decades, you reach a river bend with a small sandy beach and, right on the other shore, are the beginning of the National Park and fir trees more than 20 m high, it is difficult not to think that this looks a lot like Canada or Alaska… Plus, we were in bear country (or Kharu, in Finnish). I think it will be difficult to find a more idyllic place…

Oulanka National Park is located in the southeast of Lapland (and therefore in the east of Finland), and we were located to the east of the National Park. It is, therefore, not difficult to do the maths: we were only 5 km away from Russia and 2 km from the border exclusion zone, that “no man’s land” between Finland and Russia, on both sides of the border. In the screenshot below, the blue dot is us, and the blue line on the left is the border (the green side is Russia)…

So yeah, obviously, that afternoon we went to see what this forbidden zone thing was like. In fact, along its border with Russia (and in reciprocity of the same zone established by Russia along its borders), Finland has established an exclusion zone, with prohibited access (subject to a special permit issued by customs). This zone follows the border at a distance of at least 3 km on land and 4 km on sea (but in practice, it may be wider or narrower in some places, since the two lines are not necessarily parallel , and varies from 400 m to more than 5 km). Where we were, it has a width of 2,5 km and is delimited by a series of posts with a yellow band, planted every 10 or 15 m, and explanatory panels somewhat more widely spaced. Evidently, any access to Russia is closed by a barrier (in fact, Finland closed all its border crossings with Russia on 30 November 2023).

The funny thing is that we came across a van from the company that organises kayak tours on the river where we settled, just as we were approaching the limit of the exclusion zone. The driver saw us and, after passing us, turned around and came back to ask us if we were lost… We explained to him that we were hiking and that we were settled on the beach next to the river, and he left calmer… We came to the conclusion that, with the psychosis of immigrants supposedly sent by Russia to destabilise Finland (and Europe), the local population probably feels the need to participate in border surveillance efforts (even if we really don’t look like refugees seeking political asylum in Europe 🤓)…

Back on our beach and given that the weather had been very hot for two days (up to 26ºC today, but with all the water everywhere, the air becomes heavy and suffocating and… that is a joy for mosquitoes and other biting bugs !…), we couldn’t resist the call of a swim in the river! The water was a little cold at first, but you get used to it quickly. Also, biting flies suddenly appeared, and that helps to get into the water faster!… 🤣

Heat wave… (18/07/2024)

Without wanting to rub it in too hard, our small beach on the edge of Oulanka National Park will undoubtedly remain one of the most spectacular places we have slept in Finland (and probably in many of the countries we have passed through so far).

And since we are already in mid-July and just below the polar circle, we still have 24-hour days (without night), but we are starting to have an hour or two, between midnight and 2 in the morning, where the sun disappears below the horizon. And this gives beautiful sunset colours (like the ones we had before, in the south 🤓)…

That morning, instead of the vans that come to pick up the kayaks a little further from our beach, we saw a huge truck arrive loaded with an entire metal structure (like to set up a tent, a stage or something like that). We didn’t want to ask what they were planning to do, but we decided it would probably be best to leave before seeing what the metal structure would be used for (in case someone had the great idea of ​​organising a concert by the water or a party celebrating the good old days of Greater Karelia)… 🤔

So we went about 160 km further south, in the province of Northern Ostrobothnia. The truth is that the landscapes are not very different, and after about twenty kilometers of dirt track, we found ourselves once again installed in a forest, with views of a large lake and reindeer wandering everywhere (in fact, we came across Rudolph, the one with the red nose, this morning 😜). We are in the central part of the Kareli Mountains, near the town of Kuusamo, where the population density is 1,7 inhabitants/km². Needless to say, we come across more reindeer than humans around here! 🤣

We have had three very hot days (although in reality the thermometer does not exceed 26ºC), and the problem is that the wind tends to die down in the afternoon, and then millions of mosquitoes appear from nowhere and any outdoor activity becomes… an obstacle course, covering oneself in Autan and waving arms in all directions to keep the bugs away… We also invested in something that seems to work quite well: a Thermacell. It is a gas system that repels mosquitoes in a radius of 20 m² around the device. It seems quite effective for preparing the barbecue or having a drink outdoors, but obviously it is not very suitable for walking (although there is a special model that can be hung on a backpack…).

Since yesterday, we can see that the reindeer also have a hard time dealing with the heat. They are usually seen on the side of the roads, eating or just walking around. But since yesterday we see them more and more in the middle of the road, standing still or lying, with their heads down and their gaze lost, as if the road offered them some shelter from insects (which tend to flee the heat), although the price to pay is to suffer even more heat themselves… Driving then becomes a gymkhana to avoid groups of reindeer changing lanes while giving way to cars coming in the opposite direction… Fortunately, here, further south, most of them have already completely lost their winter hair, but even so, they seem better adapted to the cold than to the heat (and I feel totally identified and supportive! 😉)…

The music of the forest… (19/07/2024)

Crew logbook – July 19, 2024: This morning we found the fruit that makes all Finns salivate and that adorns many sauces and desserts around here: cloudberries. After a few steps in the forest, we came across a small swampy area full of cloudberries and, of course, we tasted them… For those who have read the book “Into the wild” by Jon Krakauer (or have seen the movie of the same name based on the book), this is exactly how Christopher McCandless’s story ends, when he dies of poisoning in his bus, lost in the middle of Alaska, after having eaten berries he had found around there. At the moment, we don’t have any alarming symptoms but… in case we were wrong and tried something else than a cloudberry, at least this testimony will remain as an explanation for our disappearance (and will prevent us from having to dirty the walls of Marvin writing, with cloudberry juice, something like “a cloudberry killed me”)… 🤣

Jokes aside, today was a rainy day in Northern Ostrobothnia, so we decided to go a little further down, to the neighboring province of Kainuu. We began our route along a long and beautiful dirt track in the forest and shortly after joining the main road, we came across a strange place.

On Highway 5 outside of Suomussalmi, over one thousand figures stand silently in a field near the road, colourful clothing billowing around their still bodies, faceless heads all facing the same direction. The figures are made up of peat heads covered in straw hair and simple wooden bodies draped with colorful clothing. This immobile army seems to be watching over the road or the curious people who approach it.

The Silent People (or Hiljainen kansa in Finnish) is the work of Finnish artist Reijo Kela and the meaning of the installation remains a mystery. The artist refuses to give any explanation about the figures, preferring that the viewer use their own perception to define them. These “scarecrows” are both sad and disturbing, perhaps evoking a forgotten people. A popular theory is that they represent those who lost their lives in a brutal battle that took place nearby during the 1939-1940 Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. An invasion of Finland by the USSR sparked a three-and-a-half-month war between the two countries, in which the Finns initially managed to keep the Soviets at bay despite freezing temperatures of up to -43ºC. After falsely claiming to want to negotiate a ceasefire, the USSR reorganized and renewed its offensive in February 1940, eventually defeating the Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus. The war ended in March 1940 with the signing of the Treaty of Moscow according to which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the USSR in exchange for retaining its independence.

And from silence to music since, for this weekend, we have settled right next to Soiva Metsä, the “Musical Forest” of Suomussalmi, a forest full of musical instruments that are at the same time works of art. The instruments are made of wood and metal and are scattered in a beautiful landscape overlooking a pretty little lake. We are right on the edge of this lake and, when the wind blows a little stronger, we can hear the light tinkling of the metal plates of the giant xylophone suspended between two trees, about a hundred metres from here. The ideal place to spend a relaxing weekend by a lake, lulled by the music of the forest… 😉

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In Northern Ostrobothnia, as anywhere else, LEAVE NO TRACE!

– Always travel on public ways and respect the signs.
– Limit noise and interfere as little as possible with wildlife.
– Respect the other users.
– Leave rocks, plants and other natural features as you found them and respect historic sites.
– Take your waste with you and throw it into the appropriate containers, in the nearest village.
– Do not camp inside protected areas and do not make any fires.