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Helsinki - Jyväskylä, many woods

When we wake up we find game behind our cabin: a wild squirrel who is just minding his own affairs. But when we come too close, he runs away.

Soon we have packed our car and are on our way to the north. First we visit Heinola, a small town with a pleasant market. The weather is nice, it is quite warm and we have a cup of coffee on the market square, we buy some fruit, and then we start looking for the water tower. From there one should have a superb view over the surrounding area. But when we finally find the tower, we have to pay a fee because there is an orchid nursery garden in the tower. We look at the trees around us and they seem to be pretty high, maybe as high as the tower. So we don't climb this tower and go on our way. Our Dutch neighbours (as we call them now) tell us later that day, it really isn't worth the climb nor the money.

From Heinola we drive back to the south a bit and then take all sorts of small roads. According to the map we are in a region with lots of lakes, but we don't see much of them. It's mostly woods, woods, more trees and more woods, with a lot of bare trunks. Acid rain? Or a consequence of the nuclear distaster at Tsjernobyl? Well, it doesn't look very healthy, that is for sure. A Dutch man, Bart Braafhart, who is living in Finland for years, sent us an email, saying: The bare trunks are generally not a result of acid rain, but many people keep thinking that. They are bare because the lower side of the trees don't get much sunlight. Dead trees mostly have died a natural death of old age (not in the woods which are being cut, of course). And Tsjernobyl had almost no consequences for Finland.

We drive around to find a nice picnic-place, but everywhere there are houses and traffic goes on and off. After dozen of kilometres on sandy paths we finally find a nice spot near a lake, but even then a car is passing every five minutes.

We are glad we like woods, otherwise this country would be unbearable after a few days. But it is amazing that in a big country with so few people we see habitation everywhere. We make a fantastic trip through the woods and sometimes we see a real village. But despite all the lakes that surround us, according to the map, we don't see much of them.

It is still quite warm when we arrive at Jyväskylä, where we have a cabin near a lake. Until 12 at night people jump into it, as if it were high summer. Well, it is, certainly for the people here. Our Dutch neighbours have also arrived. We have a short talk with them and get to know they are from Purmerend, somewhere near Amsterdam. They keep to themselves, as we do, so we like them. But it is quite funny how people slowly can learn about each other on a trip like this.

At night it doesn't get dark anymore and we screen the windows with quilts, blankets and towels. But it is quite late before we turn in, because it is still very light.

Travel through Europe and Africa

with Elisabeth and Teije