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.
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.
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