29th of July, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Finland.
Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your butts! What I am about to tell you, it will ruin your world and you stereotypes (if you have any, hopefully not.).
Before I came to Finland, I have heard from some people that it was very difficult for them to hitchhike in Finland and that Finnish people are not very friendly and more introspective people. And when I was doing my volunteer work in the South, I’ve heard and felt from Finnish people and foreigners who live here for a long time, things like “for how many days I would stand on the road”, or that they were not optimistic at all about me getting anywhere in Finland by hitchhiking.
Well, if there is anything I like to break is stereotypes, so here we go!
I walk for about three kilometres outside of Hub Feenix, just because I wanted to be “out of its grounds”. I am taking small breaks in between the bus stops, where I stand for about 20 minutes, hitchhiking, and if nobody stops, I walk to the next stop, and keep going like that.
On my third stop, a car with a lovely family pass by me but turn around to pick me up. Sabina, her husband Ivan and her gorgeous son Ion are from Finland, from Karis, and are going to have some Sushi in the next town. And they will drop me off in a roundabout / shopping mall just before that town.
Now, I am chatting with lovely Sabina, and she tells me that Ion was a bit uncertain about picking up a hitchhiker. But I can see that he is actually interested on talking to me and hearing what we are talking about it, because when Sabina asks him if he would like to hear it (taking out his earphones and stopping watching his phone), he immediately do it, without needing for her to ask twice. But I can see also that he is shy. Totally normal.
Sabina is very surprised about my travels and all. She thinks it is cool what I am doing and she is particularly interested on my perspective about the world and how it is safer than people want us to believe. She also wants her son to know that.
Right, so this lovely family stop at the shopping mall and shows me on the map where should I go. And I get it right: second exit at the roundabout, not the highway but the next normal road. Simple. If I ONLY had got to the right round about. There were two of them: the right one was the second one but I stopped by the first one. Well done, Lei!
So, after about one hour or more, with so many cars passing and nobody telling me ANYTHING, or even just making some SIGN, showing me that I am in the wrong way, that I am actually BACK to the way to Karis (NO!), finally a wonderful elderly couple stop their car and try to convince me that I am in the wrong way. Yeah, I say try to convince me because by the time we are talking, I am absolutely sure that I took the right way. Which I did, only on the wrong roundabout.
But look how good I am! I accept that I might be wrong and them right, so I get in the car because they say they can take me to the right way. Only when we get to the second round about is when everything makes sense and I feel like an IDIOT! But this couple is so lovely that I am actually happy that I made the mistake so I could meet them. And they can also speak English, just like the last family and just like (apparently) everybody in Finland!
Here I am in this quiet road, beautiful and peaceful, but with quite many cars passing. In five minutes, a car stops in the opposite direction. The man, which looks like a perfect mix of Dave and Muni, who is called Vesso, tells me he can take me to a better place. Humm… interesting…
He meant not only the highway, but also after an important intersection, which would also narrow down the number of the cars, making them more qualified to give me a decent lift.
The cars are passing quite fast but I am still optimistic. Soon enough a van stop. Pete, in a good English tells me that he is going only about 35 kilometres. I take it!
Pete is going to spend some summer holidays in his summer cottage. Turning on the hot tub, doing some sauna and getting a drink, in his words. He drops me very close to Torronsuo National Park, at a gas station.
As soon as I put my backpack down, a lady parks her car and tells me she can drive me a bit further, but not to the park. I take it! She goes inside to buy something, and I take the chance to ask for some water. A lovely young lady at the counter gives me some.
Arika is a chef and she is going to Samagrelo to do some catering. She has two jobs as a chef. I ask her about Finnish traditional food, about Munny (which she dislike), and what she likes to cook the most. We have a good chat and she decides to drive me all the way to the entrance of the park. What? Really? How sweet! It is not early, it is after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so considering that I left Hub Feenix sometime after 10, and that it should be only one hour and a half driving here, the timing is not that good. But I am so exciting to be here already that I don’t care. Yay!
Torronsuo National Park is quite new, from 1990 (just like me!), but Arika told me that it is officially opened and advertised only for the last few years. That explains a little bit why NOBODY seemed to know about it when I was asking before. It is also a small park, with only three official trails: a tiny one, about 1.5 Km; a bigger one, of about 10 km; and the one to the nearest village, Toro, about 6 Km. The park itself is bigger than that, but those are the only marked trails. You can explore a bit more out of that, but not so much.
You move around walking on the duckboards. Duck what? Duck-boards, like a board for ducks. So, these are originally made for ducks? No! We are the ducks! For some people that is true! Even though it feels more right to be called “sittingduckboards” because that is what you are if it starts to rain. Laugh. There is no cover up and even if you try to hide under a tree… nope! They are too small to protect you. Well, I can’t complain actually because by the time the rain caught me, I was only a few metres from deeper forest, so I just ran and wait there for a few minutes.
From the viewpoint you can have an amazing 360° view of the whole area. It is gorgeous! But after that, I didn’t really know what to do, and I was worried about raining again, so after picking some blueberries for breakfast next morning, I decide to walk by the road, trying to get someone going at least a few more hours in the direction of Koli National Park, so I can get a bit closer.
After I am walking for about 5 minutes, a wonderful Cadillac, 1969, stops. The driver just opens the door and wait for me. When I talk with Hano, he only tells me “Forssa”, which is the next town. I say OK and enter the car.
Hano cannot speak any English so he calls a friend who can, just so he can understand what are my plans. I explain everything to his friend on the phone and we are good.
Then Hano asks me if I am hungry. Yes, I am! He takes me to this super cool burger place, outside an old textile factory, and I have a vegan burger with a lot of delicious sweet potatoes fries.
Three friends of Hano join us and they are all so incredibly nice! One of them is celebrating to be out of home, since Covid, for the first time. He is so pleased on meeting me, that I feel flattered! Another friend, Timus, does most of the talk, but all of them are extremely kind and sweet on their words. I am amazed and touched! We chat a lot and listen to a bit of a live music. Hano is a more reserved man, and even though he can look a bit intimidating (he is very tall and a well-built man), he is actually very sweet and kind. They all are!
Then we all go for a ride in Timus El Dorado, 1966, another gorgeous car, all white. Top’s out! We do a little tour around Forssa and the guys show me also where it is happening a horserace for the weekend, which attracts many tourists (and Finnish people). The area around the ring is already closed, but Timus talk with the guard and he lets us in for a few minutes. We pass by the back where there is a gig going on. When I am taking photographs, a very beautiful lady, with a light pink, pixie haircut makes a very cute pose for it. Lovely!
We drop off two friends and go back to take Hano’s car at Timus shop. From outside it says only “Leather Heaven”, and it is a huge building, like a warehouse, so I though he was restoring cars. But nope! He takes me to a tour inside and it is this massive theme shop, with everything you can imagine, leather clothing and accessories, but also this super cool retro decoration, like those metal plates you see in the movies from the 60’s, in gas stations and drive-ins. Timus says that even though he would like to give me a souvenir, he understands that I cannot carry more weight. How clever!
Timus and Hano make a plan for us to have breakfast together tomorrow morning, before Hano drops me off on the way to Koli. That’s why Hano invited me to spend the night at his home. It is late already, after 10 p.m., but I really enjoyed the guy’s company so I didn’t mind just to carry on with them. It was a great experience! So, I accept Hano’s invitation and we drive to his home.
Hano lives a bit outside Forssa, so it is even more kind of him to offer to having me over, and driving me all the way to outside Forssa again tomorrow morning. He has a huge heart! Even bigger than him!
His home is super cute and in a lovely countryside location. He has a super fluffy cat! I sleep in the couch and next morning we leave quite early, just before 6 a.m. We have a delicious breakfast at a gas station restaurant. It is a buffet and they have everything! I eat so much, it is lovely! And luckily, this time I was smart and made a big sandwich for lunch plus an apple! Yay!
Hano drops me off in a great spot on the road to Koli National Park.
What a wonderful journey I have on my first day hitchhiking in Finland. Hano, Timus and his friends, made me feel as I was in a movie! Even better: in a 60’s movie! This group of friends (plus all the other Finnish people who picked me up and helped me a lot today) just proved to me and to the world that Finnish people can be lovely, friendly and very welcoming! And that yes, hitchhiking work pretty well here too!
10 Years Around the World 