Sloth .... but not really

Delays, delays.

We are back in England now and have been fro nearly 2 weeks.  This blog has been sorely neglected and (I think) the whole idea of a blog is that it should be written with immediacy.  Still there it is  -  what happened next?

From Lapeenranta, we continued for our last day actually on the Iron Curtain Trail.  But we were not on the trail; Lapeenranta is not on it and we had gone there partly for the paucity of accomodation on the actual trail at that point, and partly because the canal-side ride was appealing.  So back to the trail.  This was an ordinary road out of Lapeenranta, but a good one with separate cycle tracks until past the suburbs and with very light traffic.  We rejoined the offical route short of the place on the border where the main railway crosses, Varikaala.  We had memories of this place; in 1988 we crossed the border here in a train from Leningrad to Helsinki.  The train was rather old carriages and stopped for a long time both sides of the border, in Vyborg and here.  The station canteen was full of cling-film wrapped delicacies at high prices.  Now there were a couple of super-modern trains, going each way, with Allegro written on the side, completely inaccessible from the road, since the platforms were "sealed off" by high fences in the name of security (of course), presumably Schengen security this time.  The canteen was there, and we could get to it (the train passengers could not) and it is now the local cafe.  Not a big range of things to buy, but tasty and we sat for a while to look at the trains. 

In the sidings, there were quite a lot of assorted goods wagons, in typical railway style.  There was one train of timber wagons full of ... timber.  This was intriguing, because neither Russia nor Finland are short of timber, so which way was it going?  No movement.  I reckoned in the end that the contents may belong to a commodities speculator in London who will have it move as appropriate when she has settled a deal.  Or maybe the speculator is just waiting for the timber price to rise and this is a convenient place to store it......

On from the station on a dirt road in reasonable condition, and if we thought the South had less steep hills we were wrong.  At one point, on an exceptionally steep dowen hill, I turned to avoid a pot hole and my front wheel began oscillating left-right-left-right... and it was quite scary.  Could not safely brake and to come off at this speed on gravel would have hurt and required use of the EHIC card.  I did not come off.  Katherine also found this hill quite something.  Eventually we joined to main road from Lapeenranta to Virolahti.  Well graded, gradients smoothed out, not too much traffic.  Basically a relief, though one does accept the fascination of dirt roads that seems to affect route planners.  They (the roads, not the planners) are quiet, they go through countryside one feels much more in touch with one's surroundings and actually some of the best cycling moments of the whole trip had been on dirt roads. 

We got to a jewellery centre at Ylaama.  The musuem was unfortunately closed, but there was a cafe and several shops.  Ylaama is in the centre of an area where there is a certain rock, recently discovered, that has unusual diffractive qualities, so it gleams in light and diffracts it into a range of colours.  They named it spectrolite and with splitting and polishing it makes a gem stone.  We bought, but not extensively. Then on.  The rtoue officially went to the right to a war-time museum and then on another dirt road.  I was getting tired and was concerned I might be over-doing things from my heart's point of view - I had had slight twinges at the end of the dirt road, on a particularly strenuous bit.  So we just went on on our current main road until we got to the Helsink-Petersburg main(er) road very near the border.  We then made a map reading error, confusing a snow-mobile track with a real road.  We were aiming at the campsite recommended in the route guide.  The actual specified route took us on a loop on a dirt road with hills....  well, I just took it easy and we got there.

End of this section of the Iron Curtain Cycle Trail.  The intention is to come back next year and do the bit through the Baltic States on the other side of the Gulf of Finland.

The coastline here is full of estuaries and inlets, so we never saw the broad expanse of the Gulf of Finland.  The campsite was by an estuary, with slightly salty water but no rise and fall becuase the further reaches of the Baltic do not have tides!  But we had done "sea to sea".

I am short of up-to-date images on this computer, but here is what a road looks like when you still have a long way to go

To come - more photos, the museums of the Salpa Line, and what we did next.

Imatra, the Saimaa Canal and onwards

Imatra was famous for its waterfall until the lake was dammed, for hydroelectric power.  To compensate the dam is opened for 15 minutes every evening and people admire the rushing water to the strains of Finlandia.

There was a campsite in the centre if Imatra marked on the map, but there were no signs to it on the road. We almost didn't find it, as it looked as if it was a site for a rock concert, with loud speakers, a stage, refreshment tents, etc all in the process of being set up. But having got that far we asked and were told that a motor biking group had hired the whole campsite for the next day but we could stay that night, as long as we were out by 10. We assured them we would not be staying that long, put up the tent and enjoyed a swim in the lake.

The route onwards was described in our guide as 'challenging'. The challenge to start with was to understand the directions and as Tom described in the previous blog, we failed and went many kms out of the way. A pleasant ride along the Rusian border but not as intended. Our diversion up the Saimaa Canal seemed like a pleasant change of scenery and a break from hills. It was on a national cycle route and Tom said canals don't have hills. When we eventually found the way on to the canal at Nuijamaa, the cycle route was sign posted. It was signposted again when the cycle path diverted from the gravel road and went along a narrower, sandier, gravellier path by the canal. very pretty but you did have to be careful not to lose your balance and risk falling in.  Another sign at the end of the path seemed to indicate that we rejoined the road and up a very steep hill. Puffing and panting we arrived in someone's garden. We had misunderstood the sign. Back down the hill and a careful look around. Then Tom spotted the pontoon. It was one of those ones you pull yourself across with ropes. I was slightly concerned that our bikes would roll off half way across but a chain across each end made it seem safer and away we went and were rewarded with a picnic table on the other side.

From now on there were no signs to say we were on the right route. We were on a narrow strip of land between the main channel and a lake. The path was quite sandy and a bit churned up by horses hooves. Since I couldn't imagine horses crossing on the pontoon I reasoned that the path must come out onto a better road somewhere and 20kms and 3 locks later it did. It was a nice ride even if the path surface was not always that good and a worthwhile diversion. From then on ithe road was signposted in to Lappeenranta, our next stop. By now we had learned the Finnish for town centre and had less difficulty in finding our way in than in Imatra. Big towns are always a problem to get in and out of, though Finalnd is quite good at cycle paths and signs, as long as you know what you are looking for.

One of the attractions in Lappeenranta are the sand sculptors. We just had time to look at them. The theme this year was music, though inso me cases the connection was a little obscure.

We had a very pleasant campsite In wooded area and were lulled to sleep by ...a rock concert across the bay.  It seems to be the time of year for them.

porridge

features in every Finnish breakfst we have had in hotels, B&B, etc.  Excellent.

From Simpele to the canal

Maybe time for another straight account of how it went.  No photos.

When we got to Simpele, we found that the accommodation mentioned in the route guide was actually another 10km on and our informant, a girl in a news kiosk, either was not sure how to explain where it is or simply was not sure herself.  But she had a local map with ads and one was for accommodation in the town, with an address.  We went there.  Shut.  But a phone number on the door and we phoned that.  They could offer us use of an appartment and gave details over the phone of how to get the key.  We followed these and very comfortable it was.  Paid the next day.  Then on to Imatra.

The route to Imatra goes down what is named in the guide as museum street.  It is an old road, dating from the time of the Swedish/Russian border and we naively assumed there would be museums about this bit of history.  It was only quite a distance down this road that we realised the road itself was the museum.  Quite convenient for road bnuilders really; it had some quite exceptionally steep gradients that elsewhere would have been eased by a bit of cutting and banking - but this would have altered it and you can't do that to a road that is a museum.  A bit like a tree preservation order; this is a road preservatkion order!  Anyway, we never found a real museum, about the border, at the end of museum street, and eventually got to Imatra where we rewarded ourselves with a restaurant meal. 

The last "official" section of the Finland bit of the route is from Imatra, but it is long one and recommended to do it in two days.  We did this, and also varied it to take in a canal that runs from Lake Saimaa to the sea.  We left Imatra and pretty soon found we were on the wrong road, though we could rectify this and did.  But directions from the route guide were not easy to follow and we made more mistakes.  We ended going past a very modern looking gas pumping station near the border, then along the border, and then dithered a bit until we got back on track and arrived in Nuijamaa, on the correct route and where the canal leaves Finnish territory and enters Russia.  There was supposed to be various services in Nuijamaa, a shop and cafe in particular, but we never found these either; but we found the church (locked) with the most wonderfully peaceful churchyard that made it all seem OK again.

Then to the road starting alongside the canal, which also took a bit of finding, and on.  It was actually marked as a national cycle trail, which was something of a treat.  As I have said this was a variation from the described route for us, but seemed an attractive option.  It was and will be in the next post in this blog.

Tom

A nice spot for lunch

It can be hard to find somewhere to stop for lunch when the road is separated from the trees by a large ditch and there is nowhere to sit down.  Ideally you want somewhere to prop your bike, sit down, in the shade but with sufficient wind to keep the flies and mosquitoes away and you want this to appear just at lunch time.  Yesterday we got the perfect spot when our route took us next to the 3 km exclusion zone. There was a patrol hut (locked) but with a bench on a verandah and a pit latrine close by. All mod cons. Trees are marked with yellow bands so that you don't wander where you are not wanted. The Cold War is over, but boarder patrolling is still very evident.

Ask and ye shall find

In a town called Perrikkala, our guide book said there was an old wooden church built in 1817 (that's old for this part of the world), a handicraft centre and a dairy museum. We asked the girl at the supermarket check-out, who spoke good English. No she had never heard of them. This produced a debate amongst the other customers and one knew where the church was and said to ask there about the handicrafts. The guide book said the church was in the town centre, actually is was a km out but fortunately in the direction we were going. Yes the girl at the church knew about the handicrafts, there was a workshop and shop behind the church and at the handicrafts they knew about the museum because they had the key for it and it was just behind the workshop. None of this was advertised. No wonder ventures go under here. Anyway we enjoyed out afternoon and got some useful onward directions.

This is for anyone doing the route themselves. After you leave Perrikkala you rejoin road no. 6. A short way along there is a sign for a picnic area and kiosk, on the left. Turn in and park your bike. If it is lunchtime they were doing a smoked fish soup, but regretfully we were too late. But having parked your bike go back across the road the way you came in, there is a little footpath by a stream, follow it for a very short distance and you come to duckboards arranged by a spring, witht the water coming out of a pipe. Fill your water bottles. It is excellent water.  Back across the road, at the other end of the picnic site is a sculpture park, free but donations appreciated. It is worth going into. Quite extraordinary. Photos below, plus one of a lake famous for the numbers of birds who stop over during migration. Wrong time of year for that, but you could see why they stopped.

We are now in Simpele. The accommodation our guide book suggested, turned out to be 10km out of town, in a rather vague location. Fortunately we did get somewhere to stay. But that is another long story.

P

Some photos

There was a wonderful downhill stretch o,f nearly 2 km coming into Vartsila. The country opened out and suddenly there were field of hay. Oats and barley are also grown a lot. 

Art outside the community project witht the great cafe.

Cycling passed a lake with a swimming place. Quite tempting but we waited for the campsite, which didn't disappoint us.

Wood Fires are popular in campsites. This one was in the general common room.

You never know what you are going to find

You plan your journey hoping that places are where they are supposed to be, especially when it comes to finding somewhere to stop for the night. This does not always work out. At a place called Hattuvaara the map, our guidebook and the road signs indicated accommodation at a place that is also a museum. We got there at 7pm with no sign of any accommodation , or anybody. We were just wondering what to do when the man running the museum arrived back to do some extra work. No, they no longer did accommodation. He looked worried. We said about camping  and he brightened, we could put the tent on some grass behind the museum. He let us in to use the toilet and we enjoyed our supper on the cafe verandah. 

Next night we came into a town with a campsite and museum and stopped to look at the map to find where they were. A man stopped his car to ask if he could help. This is most unusual for Finland. When we said we were camping he looked doubtful but agreed there was no where else and that we would probably be alright. Up a narrow path with little indication of exactly where it was and we finally arrived at what had one been 'reception' but was now a bit of a junk yard with two very yappy dogs. The owner arrived and looked doubtful about us staying. He hadn't turned the water on for showers and toilet. Eventually he thought he could do so, but then had the brighter idea that we could use the facilities in one of the huts. This included a sauna. The place must have once been lovely but was now rapidly returning to forest. A path had been mown to some of hey he bigger huts and for half the camping area, but smaller huts, the children's playground etc were just peeping above the undergrowth. The man told us that he had been in the secret service. We had all sorts of images about what now went on in those overgrown huts. A perfect setting for a spy thriller.

The next day there should have been shops at various places along the route, but they were no more. By the time we arrived at our destination, we feared that supper might be a tin of tuna, some sliced cheese and chocolate biscuits. Oh and a bar of chocolate. A pension 'with camping possibilities' was mentioned in our guide book, and there it was signposted a km ahead and with a restaurant. Someone going in to the building and who spoke some English, said he would go and ask but we should stay outside. Oh dear, here we go again. He came out and said there were difficulties, something to do with linen. We said bedding wasn't a problem we had sleeping bags. The man went in again and this time came out it was alright. We were shown a nice room, nothing fancy but definitely OK. We asked about the restaurant. No that wasn't there any more. We asked about a shop. No that wasn't there any more. We asked about food and yes he could give us something. We had a nice meaty soup and bread and cold meat and grapes, and coffee. There is always coffee. Next morning we had a good breakfast and all meals were in the very reasonable price. I think the owner was a little wary of these foreigners but by the time we left he was getting quite communicative.

That day we did alright for food. We were cycling through a pretty remote area when there was a sign at a building for something which looked to include the Finnish for coffee. It turned out to be a community project to provide work for young people and some income for community projects. It was in an old house and full of second hand goods for sale but also had a cafe with good homemade food and a girl working there who was dying to chat in English.

You just never know what you are going to find, which is one of the joys of this sort of travel.

Today we have had a day of doing nothing in a campsite by a lake in a place called Uukuniemi. Well not quite nothing, we had a sauna and a swim and tried to catch up on diary writing. Last night there was a big thunderstorm with great flashes of lightening and thunder that rocked the hut. We had fortunately decided to have a hut as it was very cheap, so were under a roof rather than the tent. 

If all goes to plan we have 4 more days of the cycle route.

onward from Lentira to Kittee

After a magnificent breakfast in the Lentira holiday village, we seem to have abandoned telling our story.  It was all rather a long time, or a long way, ago but here is an attempt to catch up.

From Lentira we went to Khumo Not a very long distance, so we set off relatively late and did not arrive early.  Nothing exceptional about this bit of road.  Khumo is a bit of centre for all things (North) Karelian, with a village on the way in called Kalevala village, where our guide books etc said there was a really good exhibition of Karelian village buildings etc and a camp site.  This was our intended destination, and next day we would do a guided tour of the exhibition, also mentioned in the guide book. We got to this village before the town.  No sign of the canmpsite, and when we enquired in the next door (expensive) hotel, we were told it was there no more, neither was the exhibition, as they had gone out of business.  The hotel receptionist suggested two B&B's and we went for one which was fine.  The next day was a day off; apart from anything else we were physically tired and needed a break.  Not having the exhibition to go to, we did go to a place devoted to Kalevala and Karelian folk tradiations and saw some interesting videos about it all.  We then went to another Windter War museum, which actually complemented to one we had already seen  And had a good lunch.

Next day was a long one on the road, to Lieksa, and without much in the way of distractions excpet that both bikes made protests.  Mine (Tom's) shed a bolt holding on the back carrier, but another could cannibalised from elswhere on the bike.  Katherine's suddenly decided it did not like the rear arm of the back derailleur and sort-of chewed it up.  This happened outside someone's house and he helped pull and lever it back into some sort of shape.  I say "helped" but I think he did most of this!  In Lieksa we had another day off, since daily distances were considerable over this part of the route.  We took a ferry over Lake Pielinen to Koli, where there is what thy call a mountain round here (about 340m) and good walking trails etc.  Had a good lunch in a hotel there, more than walking, but did some of that too.

Next day another long one, to Hattuvaara.  This was distinguished, by the fact that the road which our route guide said was an easy one turned out to have a long section with an appalling surface, followed by another secion of dirt road.  I should add that nearly all Finnish roads we have been on have been excellent.  But this bit was not. Anyway, got to Hattavaara, found the intended place to stay had become a museum, but were allowed to camp in the grounds.  After this, a shorter day to Mohko.  Some of the travel here was on dirt roads.  These were not on as part of main roads and very quite, and in parts in really beautiful surroundings.  Mohko is the site of an old iron works, used to have a blast furnace to get iron out of lake rock, and this is now an interesting museum.  This area was part of Russia when it was most busy, and much of the pig iron produced went to St Petersburg.  Mohko is a nice place.

From there to Vartsila.  Another long day.  We had now done several days in excess of 80/90 km, sometimes more than 100.  The terrain is hilly, and roads do not eschew strong upward gradients that are demanding and sometimes reduce me to walking (Katherine is made of sterner stuff!).  This was another such day. They have been demanding also because there has on the whole been little different of interest on them.  There have been good diversions, such as when going to Hattuvaara, before the lousy surface bits, we stopped for coffee at an extraordinary establishment that was full of art and fascinating bric-a-brac of really high quality and the coffee and cakes were very good.  But by Vartsila, we had spent a lot of mileage being not vastly interested. 

From Vartsila, to Kitee and in the way there stopped at another interesting establishment that again had good coffee and eats, and was full of things for sale that seemed to belkong to a local "exchange" scheme.  In all these places, the people we have met have been really nice, and fascinating.  The Finns are not a dull people!

Kitee was supermarket and bank, followed by an abrupt change to cycling on main roads with more moderate gradients but more traffic.  But I will stop now.  Although we are further on, it is getting late and one of us will catch up next time.

Tom

The demise of electronics

First my phone gave up, several weeks ago, then a few days ago the camera. It says it has trouble with focusing, I guess we all have that problem sometimes but just have to keep going. The camera though will do nothing. I am now reduced to taking photos with the iPad. Not always very easy to take around with one. I trust that doesn't come out on strike in sympathy.

Katherine

Place names

Finnish place names are difficult for others (us at least) to remember.  Mnemonics are useful, such as: we are now in Uukeniemi, which I rememeber by thinking of ukelelies.

When we turned a corner the other day, the signpost was to Korkiakangas.  This put me in mind of the Dandy (or was it the Beano?) in the 50's and a character called Corky the Cat.  Then there is Kanga in Winnie the Pooh.  And there you have it.  This place was clearly a big centre for children and childish things. We did go in the direction of this place, but turned off before we got there, so my suppositions were never put to the test.

Not only Corky.  This is Corny

Tom

two more photos; Ukrainian was memorial and a notice

We are very aware of neglect of this blog over the last few days.  Infrequent access to internet is themain reason; Finland may be one of the most internet-savvy countries in the world, but it is huge and the more remote area are, well, remote!

The last time I uploaded photos, there were two I did not get to, and here they are:-

This is the Ukrainian war memorial on the Raate Road, which I wrote about.

We were struck by the way this memorial, and many, many others we have seen, have fresh flowers on them.  The war is very strongly remembered here.  It was,of course, devastating, not least to ordinary people totally displaced.  And that displacement lasted; the Finland / Russian border was moved in the final peace treaty, with Finland losing territory and many familes and friendships divided, cut.  During the cold war, the border was then totally closed, though that is not so now.

Sometimes, I think it is terribly important to keep these memories alive.  We could so easily slip into forgetfulness.  We could so easily slip into the sort of xenophobia that makes another European war more likely.  We are often so ready to oppose, and to consider the foreigner to other.

The next is  about the borderas it is now. This notice is on approaching an open crossing point.  We did not go top the crossing point; we dod not have visas for Russia anyway, so could not cross

Tom

Some photos

Have lagged on this.  But trying to catrch up ....

Here is Katherine gold panning.  Minimally productive, but more than zero; the same went for Tom

We did meet a bloke in the bar who said he got regular findsand made enough to make it worth while.  How long is a piece of string?

The next day, on the road

They are, by the way, reindeer, not sheep

Here is a big ski jump, which looked built for people who do no know the meaning of fear (as kin Asterix?)

I commented earlier (I think) that the road can get monotonous, with continuous forest, etc.  Well, for one brief stretch, there was some Art

It takes time to load these images, so one more for now, and more later.  This to redress the balance on matters of natural beauty and monotony - no monotony here

More to come!

On to Lentiira; history of war

Sorry still no photos.  They require copying from camera to computer, and this needs the cable and I never seem to have it at the right time.

Anyway, to continue, and we got a bit of a history lesson, and a sad one, in the second day I am writing about.  After Hossa, we cycled to Suomussalmi.  Nothing much to report on that stretch, except in an intermediate village, Juntusranta, a building that turned ou tto be the community centre did coffee and really good doughnuts.  Ths woman serving was Thai, her husband is Swiss and is some kind of EU agent and had a hand in negotiating funds for the centre.  Quite a bit of chat, then on.  It was a fairly hard day - long distances and several quite taxing uphills, but we arrived first in Suomussalmi kk, ten anmother 5km to the campsite.  (They have or had "church villages" here, and we think this what the kk stands for|).

Here, we met up with an American couple, Brian and Janet, who we had originally met at Oslo airport, while waiting for bikes to come through the "outsize luggage" conveyor.  They are touring Scandinavia and the Baltic States over the summer, on a tandem and we had kept in touch (just) by email.  Nice to have a good chat on many things.

The next day took us to the Raate Road.  There was an important battle here in the Winter War, which took place over the winter of 1939 to 1940, when the Soviet Union invaded Finland - and started in November, when it is not warm.  In this part of the invasion, the Soviet troops were Ukrainian.  They werre not issued with full winter kit, because party propaganda said the Finns would welcome socialist liberators.  The Finns did not and their army fought back.  Having local knlowledge, winter kit, including skis, they turned back the Soviets, who did not know the forests and kept to the road - this road - isolated them into pockets and ,massacred them, though the cold and lack of supples did its bit in that too.  Something like 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers perished and quite a few (though less) Finns as well.  We saw a touching memorial to the Ukainins in the woods and there was a museum about these events, which was very interesting, with a touching memorial consisting of a central sculpture and a field of rocks, one for each person, Soviet or Finn, who died.  A large area.  In the museum, one touching exhibits was from a Ukrainian son of one of the soldiers who did not come back and was buried in a mass grave.  He came many years later to trace his father's remains.  The story is that he stood with a white cross on the site of the mass grave and did feel much more fulfilled.  It was very touching. 

Why did the Russians attack then, and so poorly equipped?  They must have known winter in the North.  Well, one factor we have read is that Stalin had purged all his generals a few years ago, and military decisions were now made by much younger party cadres, who knew not, and of course by himself, who may have known but may not have cared.

We cyclkd the road, an unsealed road, and in a way it was just another road, but evocative.  It ran to the border zone (a strip of lands about 3km wide that runs along the border on the Finnsh side).  At the end was a reconstructed border post.  Then there was another unsealed road going South that was the offical route. Whereas the Raate road had been well graded and not sto"ny, this one was very stony and rather hard cycling.  But got to a more regular road an it was "on and on again.  Stunning natural beauty, but we have done a lot of that.  This was our longest day so far,  We arrived at Lentiira holiday village after 122km (about 85 miles), at about 22.40 ands very tired.  Put up tent, supper with whisky and water, and bed.

Tom

Catching up

Well, it has been a fair while sonce we last wrote anything in this blog.  The main reason is that we have not been connected for quite a time.  We have been, and still are, in quite remote areas and an internet connection is more ofter than not just - not.

After Sonankyla, we stepped up the daily mileages (should I say kilometre-agers?  It is all metric here, of cojurse.  I actujally like measring distsnces in kilometres rather than miles, becuase they reel off more quickly and give a better buzz).  We now typically do 70-80 km a day (that is up to 50 miles). We got to a place called Savukoski on the first day.  Here there was a campsite that said it belonged to Mrs Santa Claus.  But we arrived on Sunday evening, and clearly Mrs Claus was elsewhere.  So we camped anyway, and I inadvertedly left and gave them (her?) the bag with my toothbrush, toothpaste and other such things, which will have to stand instead of regular payment, because no-one was there and there was no honesty box!  It was a gorgeous site,next to a big river.  Next day on to Salla, a very good pizza and a campsite another 10km on.  The cycling along these roads was (is) becoming a bit monotonous.  Glorious scenery, wonderful forests and lakes, but going through these all day long can make them - monotonous.  One is on roads, not separatre cycle tracks, though generally there are so few cars it matters not. 

After Salla, another day much in the same way.  We joined a more busy road, the E63, but this was still not heavy with traffic.  We also crossed the Arctic Circle, and in theory it now gets dark at night.  Actually it does not really, we are told, but we are usually in bed at midnight.  Camped again, this time in a delightful camping ground by a lake (like all of them, actually, but more delightful here). had a fire going by our tent and this helped with insects.  Biting insects are a Scandinavian special, that I won't mention further, except to say they are a pest and various chemicals to put on the skin are essential.  Then we got to Ruka, which is a ski place, and if you get up the hill to Ruka village, it is pretty much the same as ski villages normally are anywhere in our limited experience.  We took the chair lift to the top of the hill and nearly got blown off.  Then on, to Kuusamo, before which intense rain developed.  And this was accompanied by more and more traffic, till it was really oppressive.  We ended up in the cafe of the bus station sorting ourselves out then went for a hotel, but which did not have wifi. 

Next day, on to the where we are now, Hossa.  We started on the main road, the E63, and stopped at a cafe for coffee and, as it turned out, blueberry cake.  The woman running it was very welcoming.  She is Korean, her husband is Dutch and here they are running an establsihment in Finland, so there you are.  It was a day of rain on and off.  Part of the route was on a section of dirt road.  Harder work on a bike, but so peacefujl after the main road.  After that, continued on a different paved road with little traffic.  Had lunch at a picnic site with a memorial to some people killed by pro-Russian partisans in the early '40's; one can be very aware of a violent history in this part of the world and we shall see more of that further on the route.  This road developed the same monotony factor, but brought us to Hossa and this beautiful lakeside camping ground.

Sorry no pictures.  One can't have everything.

Saturday 28 June

We are now in Sondankyla. Two days ago we sat in our nice warm cabin in Tankavaara, eating our breakfast, with bags packed, when it began to snow. Somehow staying an extra night seemed very attractive. We spent a pleasant day at the gold mining museum, which included a look at the history of gold mining throughout the world. What people will do to get it is just amazing. Now they even have underwater equipment to Hoover up the soil from the bottom of rivers and spend many hours scuba diving for it. We were also lured into the activity and spent an our with our hands in freezing water, panning. Surprisingly we got a few grains, which have been carefully transferred to small bottle of water and can be seen if you look closely. Tankavaara is also on the edge of a large nature reserve and had an interesting little museum about the region. That was where we discovered that we had been in Finland for 6 days without realising that there had been an hour's time change. It explained why everything seemed to close an hour early.

The extra day in Tankavaara meant that we did a long ride of 102 km yesterday. We were about to leave our hut with the cycles loaded when the snow began again. This time we just waited 15 minutes for it to stop and left to an icy wind but fortunately the road was good and reasonably flat, and the wind was behind us. Today we have a day off to catch up on washing, emails and anything else and to see something of the town. The weather is now supposed to warm up. The downside of that will be the mosquitoes and midges. We have so far been spared them most of the time. It's been so cold that the contents of our anti midge spray solidified.

From now onwards we turn East towards the Russian border and we are told that the road gets very hilly. Up to now we have we quite far from the border because of the wilderness and nature reserve. There have been a few dirt roads that we could have gone down but they all come to a dead end and then you have to cycle back again. So we gave them a miss.

Attempting to find gold

An alternative building material to wood. This house is made from empty bottles. Gold miners must have drunk a lot.

A walk in the nature reserve. 

Leaving our hut. It was still snowing.

Wednesday 25th June

Ivalo to Tankavaara 61km.

We have done a total of 372km (232 miles) since the start of this trail. Today was characterised by a very cold north wind. We were going South so benefited from it being behind us. It was cold though. We have been told that this is the coldest summer for 20 years. Last year it was 30 degrees at this time of year. At least we are not getting biting insects! We are now crossing a mountain range that is the watershed for water draining into the Arctic and now it is draining into the Baltic. We went through Saariselka, which is on the edge of a ski area. No snow now, but the trees were very sparse, so we must have been quite high up. 

Tankavaara was a gold prospecting place from the mid 1800s and again in the 1970s when the price of gold went up. Now there are people panning for gold as a hobby. It has also been developed as a tourist attraction with a rather good museum about gold mining and its history and a big mineral collection. You can also pan for gold if you don't mind the freezing water. There are apparently people still doing it in the winter, mainly Russians.  We could have camped here but a log cabin with a wood fire seemed much more attractive.

One more photo; Santa this time

The last photo following the previous post.  After the quiet road we joined a more busy one, the E75.  On a rest area, there was an interesting stall; outside it were Santas hanging on stgring in a number of contexts.  Here is one.of them

Photos from frist bit of Finland

Here are some for the psrt of our journey described in thre last post.

Starting with something in the supermarket just after the Norway - Finland border.  Then, the road on was very quiet and local animals crossed when they felt like it.  The next one is evening sun (there is no sunset at this tiem of year) in one of the campsites we stayed in.

 I will post these and then come back with one or two more; best to get things sent when the internet connectgion is variable.

Friday 20th June to Tuesday 23rd June

Friday:  Kirkenes to Neiden, low ebb day. Raining, strong cold wind against us. Started with a bit of downhill to a bridge. Large puddle where road joined the bridge. A coach overtook me fast just as I passed the puddle... Up 2 long, steepish hills. Had to walk up. At top there was a pleasant ride then a steep descent to a fjord, which we then followed for some distance, now with the wind behind us. Lots of up and down but nothing too steep and rain lessening. Stopped for lunch at a picnic lay-by. There was a sort of bus shelter with a bench that was at least out of the wind. Also a toilet that Tom said was called a VIP latrine in the trade (ventilated improved pit latrine). Clean dry and toilet paper, so no complaints. One more steep hill and we came down into Neiden with a camping hotel. Camping not an attractive idea but a room in their 'house' was cheap, had a bath, a radiator that gave the sound of gently running water all night, a toilet that flushed after Tom did some basic plumbing, a nice meal in the hotel and wonderfully thick light duvets to put over our sleepy bags. Plumbing totally forgiven, it was a great stay.

Saturday: Neiden (Norway) to Sevettijarvi (Finland).  Things looking up. Pleasant weather, sunny off and on and only a gentle breeze. Good cafe just before the border and a Supermarket just after that which Norwegians frequent as Finland is much cheaper than Norway. There was an excellent stock of English beer but could only find one Finnish, which we enjoyed. There was Finnsh cider as well, also good. Very little traffic after the supermarket but many more reindeer in the road. We saw no road kill, so presumably they survive modern life quite well. What they don't survive is the man made borders. The region is lived in but the Skolt Sami who traditionally fish and herd reindeer, who range over a large area, fought over by Norwegians, Finland and Russia, and probably Sweden. At the end of the last war those living where the new boundaries were moving had to choose between Finland or Russia. Most chose Finland but we're not able to get to their old lands, or relatives left behind till the end of the Cold War.  Another problem was that the Russians moved all those that were left far inland. wolves and bears who were predators of the reindeer then found it easier to cross into Finland for their food.  Campsite had a sauna, great after a day's cycling. The Rough Guide said that after your sauna you should rush taken to the nearest lake and jump in. We did not take this advice, even though we were beside a lake.

Sunday: Sevettijarvi to Hierajoen.  The latter is not a place as such just a campsite by a lake with a sauna. No we still didn't jump into the lake but we did have a sauna.  sevettijarvi had an interesting little museum about the Skolt Sami people. Also a trade store with a nice little cafe. We nearly missed all this as we expected it obvious along the road and cycled out of the place and had to go back. Things were off down dirt roads and we learnt the Finnish word 'kauppa' meaning a trade store. A pleasant day of cycling, passed lakes and forests of birch trees and conifers. Being more sunny the midges came out. Avon 'Skin So Soft' worked a treat till the nozzle blocked on the third use. Fortunately we had another. 

Monday: campsite in the middle of nowhere to Inari.  Slightly windier and a little rain. It's a shame that the wind is from the North, Arctic, or East, Russia. Both areas being rather cold, the wind can be icy, even if we were there only a week ago and it did not always seem that way, Continued along a road that had very little traffic and not so many deer till the end. It has been the same road most of the way and house numbering has been working down from the 10,000s. Actually I don't think there have been that number of houses. They seem to miss out chunks of numbers every so often. Half way (30kms) we turned left onto a slightly busier road, a car every 5 minutes instead of every 10.  Still gently up and down by lakes and forests. We have met one other cyclist since we left Norwy and that was yesterday. A man from Spanish Catelonia, cycling on his own. He stopped us because he was pleased to see other cyclists. We have found here that campsites are used by camper vans with the owners keeping to themselves. A GB one in a campsite spent the evening watching English TV. A waste of stunning scenery and that night there was the midnight sun. 

Inari has an excellent museum and is a cultural centre for the Sami people and their parliament. The museum had a lot about their life and also traced the arrival of people into the region from the last ice age and comparing it with what was happening in the rest of the world. Like many minority peoples their language was suppressed for many years, thus the translating of Donald Duck into Sami took precedence over the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. Also of interest was a display about the flora and fauna of the area throughout the seasons. I liked the way mice and other tiny mammals were able to sure to winter amongst the grass and moss under feet of snow, safe from the freezing temperatures and predators.  

We stayed in a campsite just on the way out of Inari, which was by the lake, a beautiful location and a wifi server that gave us total grief.  Tom's computer cannot be persuaded it is not still there, but maybe it will come out of its sulk sometime.  It gave endless trouble to us in other ways and we should really have turned our backs on it rather than get obsessed .....   But a good night, warmer in the tent with the reindeer pelt Tom had just bought. 

 Next day, Tuesday, we continued on the same road, the E75, to Ivalo.  Continued with scenery of endless woods and lakes. I sometimes think one can get a super-scenery overkill, but it has not come yet!  Now in Ivalo river camping.

Sorry about the lack of images.  For reasons of our resources, both human and equipment-related, we can't do these until the other computer comes out of its sulk.  and we are in a place with wifi.  These area are really remote!

We have had 2 days of good lunch stops, when just at the right moment there has been a picnic site with a Sami trade store serving food and souvenirs. No room to carry souvenirs but they are nice to look at.

Well, we left Honnigsvaag on Tuesday on the "Hurtigruten" boat to Kirkenes.  Hurtigruten are expensive and we were disappointed compared with our previous experience of them, but that is another story.  Kirkenes is one of two possible starting points for the Iron Curtain route, the other being a tiny village, called Gremse Jakobselv where the Norway/Russia border comes to the sea.  We saw Kirkenes (fascinating museum aboout World War 2, which just about obliterated the town; very moving on the suffering involved) and then took a cabin in a local campsite.  Next day (Thu 19 June), we cycled to  Gremse Jakobselv, since the bus does not run until July.  It is tiny, and seems the main population is people from many European nations in campervans.  But  ....

It is where we started the Iron curtain trail

We did a ceremony of putting our bike wheels in the sea.

After all, what else can you do in the circumstancces, and it is becoming traditional for people cycling between seas (our next one is the Gulf of Finland).  I did not mention before that the weather was atrocious, but the strong North wind drove us back, up over the mountains and realised its mistake and changed direction only when we were about half way back.  Near the border is a restricted area

and we saw watchtowers over on the Russian side (photography not allowed).  Then climbed out of the river valley that contains the border, and over the mountains.  The road went past a very old mountain

The sign reads "Norges eldste fjell".  The rock formations are fantastic.  But also these mountains are much more rounded and eroded than the ones further south. 

I am writing this on the next day, when we have cycled from our campsite near Kirkenes to Neiden, the last stopping point in Norway - Finland tomorrow.  The distance to and from Gremse Jakobselv was 118 km, or about 74 miles.  We never intended to start with such super-exertion and although our milage today was much less, we are wacked!

Tom

Tom did not do justice to the weather in his report above. Yesterday, on the way there the wind was strongly agianst us, up and down over mountains. That wouldn't have been too bad if it just kept to the wind. Those who are young at heart may remember the Raymond Briggs Father Christmas story, and the weather forecast as he prepares to go out on Christmas Eve, "rain, hail, sleet, snow, fog," we had it all except fog. We had to stop for the hail, it was just too painful. It had more or less stopped raining by the time we got to the coast, so had our picnic lunch sheltering on the beach. The weather forecast for us, incidentally had been light cloud and sun.

Katherine

Here are the photos mentioned in the last entry; not in that one for technical reasons.  This on is Nordkapp as seen on our walk.  The walk was to Knivskjelodden (razor shell point)

Here is the midnight sun seen from Nordkapp

and here it is seen from the campsite when we got back, actually at 0050.  However, the lack of reflection in the sea does mean it is "any old photo!

And here are some reindeer, seen at about 2am in our campsite (the building in the background is an hotel).

Nordkapp, the end of Europe and the wind

The debate is where is the furthest north point of Europe. North Cape was so named by an English sailor in the 1600s. Cooks ran their first package to tours there in the 1850s. The tourist were landed on a nearby beach and told to climb the 300 metre cliff. Package tourists were hardier in those days. In 1956 a road was built followed by tourist centre and so on. Now there is just a steady stream of coaches bringing people to view the further north point of Europe. Actually though the next headland is slightly further north but it doesn't have a cliff or a road. We attempted the 2 and a half hour walk over rough paths and snowdrifts. We are slow walkers so expected 3 hours. There was a strong north wind against us, sometimes it brought horizontal hail or snow, a few times the sun came out, but not for long. The route was marked with cairns but in a snow storm you had to be careful to get the right path. A party of Norwegian youth strode past and a couple came the other way. Towards the end the route went along the rocks by the sea and we couldn't find any more markers. It must have been about half a km before the end when we realised that we had been going for 4 hours and might be missing are onward bus and frankly were getting quite tired. Further we were not enjoying the battle against the wind and we had seen North Cape from below and had gone further north. We turned back and took two and three quarter hours to return. We could feel the wind blowing us along and, though the sun didn't come out for long, the visibility improved and we could see where we were going.

To some though, neither point should be considered the furthest north of Europe, because they are on an island, albeit connected by an under sea tunnel. There is a point onthe mainland that requires a 25km hike each way. We are not attempting it. Or Svalbard, the furthest north island off Norway. And we are not going there either. Right now we are on our way by boat to Kirkenes, where we start the Iron Curtain Cycle Trail, which in the end is what this trip and this blog are really about!

If I knew how to add photos to this blog from the iPad, I would put on the one of the North Cape (Nordkapp) and also one of reindeer at our camp site. We will attempt to put them on separately from Tom's computer. One day I might meet someone who can tell me how to do such things.

Katherine

A couple of photos, one from Alta, the other from the botanical garden in Tromso.  We actually went to these places in the other order but I am unsure how to get blogger to keep them in order!  We have lots more photos from both places.

Weather

Everywhere we have either caught the last day of the good weather or been told that it changed yesterday. Wednesday we arrived in Tromso to hot sunshine but a cold wind. We camped in a wood, so we're protected from the wind but out came the mosquitos. We had to cover ourselves with Avon 'Skin so Soft'. Dreadful name but it did seem to work. That night we went to a 1/2 hour midnight concert of classical music plus some Norwegian folk songs, soprano, cello and piano/organ. It was awfully good, in an ultra modern church, the Ishavskatedralen or Arctic Cathedral, made of high sections of triangular concrete and gives a feeling of an enormous icy peak. The 'east' wall, which we reckoned must have been south, was an entirely stained glass and the midnight sun shone through from the entirely glass opposite side. We came out at midnight and the sun hung there, where a sun shouldn't be, far too bright to look at, and well above the horizon although it was at the bottom of its circle, an amazing sight.

We woke in the morning to cold and rain.  But never mind, the sight of that midnight sun will last us for several days of rain. Then by bus to Alta, arriving at 10.30 pm, we had a 1/2 hour cycle ride to the campsite and found the reception still open. There was a cold wind but still the sun shone for us. Alta has ancient rock carvings done in several phases between 6000 and 2000 years ago. We saw similar ones in Sweden and South Norway on our North Sea Ride. We had planned a day there but found there was no onward bus on Saturday. So now we are at the North Cape, staying in a camp site in Skipsfjord, part way between Honningsvaag and the North Cape. And the weather. Last week the temperatures were up to 30. Today it is between 4 and 7. Cycling from the bus we had a strong cold North wind and for a few minutes hail. I feel just a little hard done by.

Today we had to acknowledge that 30 degrees is not the norm this far north. We set off to cycle the 26km to Nordkapp (North Cape) and struggled against a strong north wind bringing icy rain. You know the wind is really strong when you have to pedal hard in bottom gear when going downhill. This was not fun so we gave up and cycled into the small town Honningsvag, where we enjoyed a small museum and a meal of king crabs. The museum showed, among other things, the devastation of Northern Norway by Hitler's scorched earth policy in 1944. When people returned in 1945 only the church was left standing. The king crabs come courtesy of the Russians who introduced them into Northern Russia for food; they actually come from the Kamcatcha peninsular; they are spreading West. They have migrated to Norway. Perhaps the Orkneys will be getting them next. They were good.

The weather forecast for tomorrow and Monday are equally bad. I thnk we will be taking the bus.

Katherine

Lofoten Islands to Tromso

The Lofoten Islands were characterised by cloud and light drizzle. Some rock climbers said the temperature had been 23 degrees a few days ago and too hot for rock climbing. Not too hot for me, a shame we missed it. We cycled 8 km to a camp site by the sea and encountered the first hill we had to push up, mainly because we were unfit and getting breathless. The campsite was in an idyllic location and never mind the mist. Occasionally it lifted a little to reveal yet more mountains and rocky peaks behind. Art galleries and a rather good aquatic museum with an amazing range arctic species of fish, kept us occupied till it was time for the boat onwards to Tromso. 

So far one puncture from going over a sharp piece of metal. The tube of glue in th puncture repair kit had dried out but fortunately we had a spare tyre and we're able to buy more puncture repair glue in Svolvaer.

Now on the boat. It acts as both public transport and a tourist boat. Excellent breakfast and our 'inside' cabin turned out to have a porthole looking out onto the life boats and beyond.  Took advantage of facilities to get clothes washed. The washroom in our cabin had underfloor heating, so we laid out the clothes on the floor.

Last night at around 11.30 pm they did a tourist diversion into a famously dramatic fjord, the Trollfjord. The boat could only just fit in and there was one place where it could just turn round. On either side rose high rocky peaks, with snow on the more sheltered ledges. It was not dark but cloudy so no midnight sun. In the campsite the previous night I went to the loo at 1.30 am and the birds were making quite a racket. Was this the dawn chorus? One gull took exception to my presence and did a series of dives at me veering off at the last minute.

Time to leave our cabin now. The clouds have lifted and the sun is shining. It's just so beautiful.

This was Wednesday 11th.

The iron curtain bit still to come.  As our entries to this blog show, we are anyway enjoying the Norway bit very much, and getting through a fair-ish amount of money.  But a lack of photos.  Here are two, one a Viking ship in Oslo, the other a river view in Trondheim.

In Bodo

Spectacular train journey from Trondheim to Bodo, over two mountain passes, with snow on the mountains. Over the second pass the snow was at train level. The land was boggy heathland where the snow had melted, or should one call it tundra at this stage? Then down to the valley with rushing streams over rocks and waterfalls coming from caves in the rocks. Arrived at Bodo in the early evening and treated ourselves to the luxury of a hut at the campsite, as it wasn't much more expensive. hot water and an electric ring all in our little room.

We are now on a 'hurtigbaat' to Svolvaer, on the Lofoten Islands. We are going past the shoreline with a chain of rocky, montainous islands, with spectacular scenery of mountains and fjords, as well as tiny islands of just a lump of rock covered in moss or lichen. There is still snow on the mountains and today there is low cloud, which gives quite a mysterious feel if not quite the breathtaking scenery of the tourist pictures.

To add to Katherine's last post, here are a couple of photo's from Tronheim cathedral.  The first is what appears to be an organist's grave in the churchyard and the second is the West Front of the cathedral with a brass band performing (which you can just see)..

Indidentally, Katherine has been pointing out numerous spelling mistakes in my last submission.  I accept them.

Tom