Goodbye Norway, Hello Finland!

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After a good night at the sled dog place, I woke up early to catch a bus to Finland. The guy from France that stayed in the same cabin as I did was on the same route, so we ended up travelling together for a couple days. We got on the bus in Karasjok, and within 20 minutes we were in Finland. Our destination was a town called Sodankyla which would break the long to journey to Rovaniemi. There was very little to see in Sodankyla, but one of the best things I did see was smaller prices at the supermarket. Norway bashed me to pieces in terms of budget, but I could tell Finland was going to smooth things out a bit. We spent a pretty uneventful night in Sodankyla and woke on Sunday morning to catch an afternoon bus to Rovaniemi.

On the drive to Rovaniemi I couldn't help but think how much Finland looked like northern Canada. Lots of spruce trees, quiet lakes and smooth straight roads. And then.... I saw something that instantly put a huge smile on my face, and made me know that I was going to get along just fine with Finland and the Finnish people. An outdoor hockey rink. In all it's glorious wonder sitting in a small village in a forest, I was only lucky enough to see it for about 5 seconds, but it instantly made Finland feel even more like home.

The bus arrived in Rovaniemi, and Simon and I grabbed a hostel room for the night. The next morning Simon was catching a bus to Sweden, while I was staying in Rovaniemi. I had managed in the days previous to line up a place to stay with a university girl that lives here. It's from a website called couch surfing in which willing hosts let travellers stay at their place, thus cutting costs big time, and allowing to better get to know the city you are in.

The past couple days I have spent with Chris from Switzerland (another guy couch surfing at the same place), and Ramona a girl from Switzerland I met at the hostel. Also in our company is a guy from Italy who Ramona met at the hostel. We spent Tuesday hiking in a lake area on cross country skiing trails.

I will have one more night in Rovaniemi and on Thursday I will catch a train to a town called Sotkamo where I will stay with a couple that I met in Svalbard. I'm enjoying Finland a lot, not maybe so much due to the landscapes (it's pretty flat and mainly forest), but I get the feeling that the Finnish way of life is a bit more relaxed than other places.

As a side note, it's beginning to look like I may have a few more destinations added to my travels while in Europe. I still have one more month to be in Belgium, and I am considering adding a trip to Barcelona to see my photographer buddies, along with another side trip to see my 2 new Swiss friends. It's getting harder to plan, but it's definitely doable. For now I will continue enjoying Finland and keep making plans to go and see more than I ever thought possible....

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Photos

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Rovaniemi is just south of the Arctic Circle

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river crossing

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Ski Trail

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Hiking Crew

Comments

[Boyder]

Nice wing span!