Froliking around Finland

Europe » Finland
September 1st 2007

Published: October 8th 2007

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td impulse

Me!

Couldn"t help myslef!

Hello, hello!

Finland - the land of Sauna's and nature! John and I arrived in Finland via ferry where we met Bogo (a friend of John's) and hung out in the town for only a few short days before we were too restless...

We jumped on a bus that headed north in general and bailed when we found a nice national park in the middle of nowhere. After investing in an incredibly expensive, but worthwhile topo map, we hit the hills. We started off on ski trails and wound our way deeper and deeper into the forest and nature of the land.

Of course, we had not really done all the necessary planning, so we were all but scant on food and into rationing mode, but it was a small price to pay for the breathtaking views, endless wild berries, and meandering reindeer! Not to mention, in Finland, all of the paths have varying sizes of huts for us to bunker down in each night - stocked mile-high with dry firewood and a few candles. This country really knows how to do the outdoors!

Speaking of which, we scouted out the options on our map and all

The boys...

being boys....

decided that the sauna by an arctic lake was our end goal. It was pushing it, but we knew the pay off, so we went with it. Of course, we had to ditch our pack on the third day to make the sprint out there, but I think it was one of my favorite moments in Finland! We had been backpacking for 3 days straight in cold conditions with smoky fired to warm us each night, and a nice sauna followed by some streaking to the lake and swimming in the arctic circle in the buff is impossible to beat! In fact, I went through the rotation (hit & sweat until you can't - run & jump in, swim around frantically and zip back to the sauna to heat back up) a few times before dragging myself back to the trail.

And, then after a two day hike out we found ourselves back on the bus going north towards Santa. As it turns out, we were going directly to Rovaniemi where Santa sits year round waiting for tourists, I mean, preparing for Christmas ;0) and looking after the post office and all the letters, so I jumped at the

Port city in....

Finland!

chance to visit Santa and then we decided just inside the arctic circle wasn't quite enough... so we aimed farther north, to explore the Arctic circle and aim for the famous Fjords in Norway!

Trish xxx

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