Kuhmo was our next stop, a small town, about 80 km from the Russian border. We enjoyed a two night stay here, in another idyllic campsite ‘beside the lake, beneath the trees’.
This area was devastated by the Winter War which took place between Nov 1939 and March 1940, when Russia invaded Finland. A museum has been built and is run by the local council in honour of the thousands of local people who lost their lives. Excellent photographs with good English translation, show the true horrors of war. . . . . all displayed in a very modern building which blends into the countryside. Indeed any war is ghastly, as is summed up in the words of Uuno Tarkki “War is not a heroic story. It is a physical and mental struggle for your own and the enemy’s life in awful conditions”. Never a truer word . . . .
Gorgeous sunny weather encouraged us to walk out along a spit where we found a peaceful little beach. The silence was ‘deafening’ – no bird song, no traffic, no wind – utter peace . . . .until we were rudely interrupted by the Finnish Airforce doing an afternoon training run straight down the lake in front of us – F18’s for anyone who wishes to know!
Continuing north, we needed to stretch our legs, so drove across some islands which necessitated using bridges, causeways and another ferry, before stopping for a walk in open woodland where there were plenty of lingonberries – the locals eat these like a blueberry.
Small farmsteads appear in the middle of the bush – such a lot of effort must have gone into clearing these areas to produce arable land.
Instead of watching out for moose (a very common road sign here), we are now watching out for reindeer! We’ve seen several on the side of the road – they don’t seem to be spooked when a huge lorry or a motorhome invades their quiet space. (No chance of getting a photo from a moving vehicle)
We could tell that we were approaching civilization again when the traffic began to increase as we approached Rovaneimi, the capital of Lapland. The campsite here was fairly busy – perhaps with locals taking advantage of the weekend?
It bucketed with rain through the night, and the temperature dropped – this IS Lapland after all! The Arktikum museum gives very good coverage of life in the Arctic over thousands of years of history. Rovaneimi is a very modern town (mostly apartment blocks) having been rebuilt after the Germans destroyed 90% of the buildings in 1944. We were pleased to visit the Lutheran church, also destroyed by the Germans, but rebuilt in 1950. It has a huge altar fresco (14 m x 11 m) which took our breath away.
We crossed the Arctic Circle today (another tick for the bucket list!) and just HAD to visit Santa Claus village! All the usual souvenir ‘tat’ that you would imagine, but fun to do, and made all the better with such friendly Finnish staff. We had an interesting chat to a chap in his 30’s, who confirmed that conscription is very much still the norm here – one year at the age of 18, and then a two-week refresher course every two years. 27,000 conscripts are trained every year. Makes you think . . . . . .
We’re now on the Finland/Sweden border at Pello, on the river Tornio, having driven north-west from Rovaneimi. The autumn colours are much more advanced up here, and we are expecting the temperature to plunge tonight.
Fingers crossed that we see some Northern Lights whilst we’re up in this area.
Molly's Folks 