31st of July, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Finland.
I cannot walk into the highway again, but this time is not that bad (only according to the number of the cars passing by there and the ones up here) because first, I am very close to Koli National Park, and second, I can get shelter under the bus stop if it starts to rain. The sky is quite gray.
Nina and Bécko pass by but then they stop and return. They are both very fit, beautiful and charming. They are going to run in Koli National Park for a few hours, so they take me with them. They seem very surprise about my trip.
At this particular parking lot they park, I am a bit confused about where I am. There is a lift and some info about the park on it, but I cannot see the hotel or the visitor centre. And I am unsure about if you have to pay for the lift because at first, I think it is more like a cable car, for tourists. Luckily, I realize it is just some 50 metres lift up and down to the hotel, so I get in.
For some reason, I didn’t even think about asking at the visitor centre to drop off my backpack there, I go straight to the hotel. Perhaps because I knew they would not be close until late night, while the visitor centre closes around 5 p.m.? Who knows…
The hotel is a bit fancy, of course, and even though the ladies at the reception are polite, they are not that nice or seem much happy on helping me. But they allow me to leave my backpack at the luggage room. Yay!
At the visitor centre, which is super well organized and full of information about the park and Finnish nature, I check the trails and decide I can walk a bit more than I planned before, because I will go without my backpack. And I check the trails many times, just to make sure I am doing the right thing. For some reason, I am afraid of getting lost. Perhaps is because this is my first hike in a marked trail in Finland, so I am not sure how do they look. Let’s check!
Ukko Koli is the main attraction of the National Park. It is from where you get a great view of the surroundings. A beautiful view! The lakes which are formed among different sizes islands is very pretty. Even though the weather is not great. No sunshine and blue sky, only grey shades today. Take some time to admire the view. Don’t come all the way here just to take a look, take a photograph and leave. Sit down somewhere (ideally not in front of the view so other people can take their photographs) and spend some nice minutes just relaxing in front of this beautiful nature.
Apart of some floods here and there in the trails, I am surprised of how good it is. Marked trails are really well marked and even the “natural” ones, as they called, have also check points quiet often, and not secondary trails which confuse you all the time, in case you don’t have a phone. Well, actually I take that back because almost everybody who gets lost nowadays have phones, right? So anyway…
I do some kind of loop so I can get to the Tarhalampi lake (which in Finnish is more like “pond”). And I supposed to check out a waterfall on the way, called Tarhapuro. But when I am on my way to it, following the last checkpoint, I end up in another checkpoint, number 29, with a map which seems to show I should have passed the waterfall already, supposedly located a few hundred metres from another checkpoint, number 30, back from the way I have just came. What? Non-sense. But I don’t stop to think through and just turn back, because I haven’t checked the number of the last check point. It is not far, some hundred metres, but it is quite stupid have to come back all the way for nothing. Nothing? This check point is number 76. What?
Explanation (and that is just in case you also get confused): so basically, when you pass check point 76, you go up and down in many different directions, so it is hard to tell, when you look at the map on check point 29, that you should carry on left of the check point, or simply straight from where you are coming. It seems that you are in the opposite direction and should turn back. Don’t! Just keep going straight and in some hundred metres you will find check point 30. You can even hear the waterfall already as soon as you leave check point 29. Truth is, the waterfall is not that great, but whatever…
From the waterfall I go towards Tarhalampi, where there is also a camping fire place. In most of Finnish National Parks, they have all the following structures prepared for hikers: 1) camping fire places (with wood plus tools to chop it more, a grill on top of the fire place, and many times even the metal sticks for turning around the food); 2) day trip cabins; 3) overnight cabins for free (as they call Wilderness Hut), with wooden heater on it and, of course, wood; 4) lean-in shelters (basically a tree wall building, where you can either hide yourself from the rain, or spend the night too; and also some rental huts. I know, it seems unbelievable, right? But it is true. Later on, I will tell you a bit more about them.
On the lake there are two floating huts. Funny. While I am sitting in one of the two canoes at the small sandy area, one lady comes over with some shopping bags and take the other canoe towards one of the huts.
Going back to the visitor centre is much harder than coming here. A lot of the way is up hill. And I encounter, for the first time, the so famous mosquitoes of Lapland. But surprisingly, they are not so many.
On my way back, I pick many blueberries for tomorrow’s breakfast. Uhul!
Now, I am planning to ask for some left-over food in the hotel, but when I am passing in front of the cafe of the visitor centre, a lovely lady who works there smiles to me and it is very pleasant, so I decide to ask her for some left overs, because I can see they are almost closing. She is very sweet and invite me to come inside and check.
They have the soup of the day (cauli-flower soup), and they offer me that. Wow! And it is already packed in a take away package. They also give me one really nice and big Karelian Pasty (pastries filled with a rice mix), a sweet pastry (with a delicious taste of cardamom), and, hold yourselves, left-over coffee! I am a bit reluctant and surprised, but the manager tells me: “If you don’t take it, we will have to throw it away!” Oh! I am so happy! He is also the one who prepares the pastries for me. He shows me a book with some lovely photographs of the tours they do in…
With a lovely dinner in hands and a big smile on my face, I go fetch my backpack.
In the hotel, after preparing everything, I walk to the camping site nearby, called Turula. On the way, I am wondering if there will be other campers there…
There are actually three: a couple and a man alone.
Yussi, has his hammock under some trees and all his camping gears are drying by the wood shelter. I tell the couple, Mia and Youni, that because they arrive first, they can choose a place to put their tent first. You know, I think it is just right. Later on Youni would tell me that it was very surprising for him, because people in Finland don’t really do that. For him, it was a nice gesture.
Yussi makes some fire and start to cook his dinner. I put my boots to dry by the fire and they melt a bit in front. Laugh.
We all sit by the fire to eat. They are all cooking their food and I am having my delicious left-over cauli-flower soup and cakes. Yummy!
Yussi has been around here for the last few days, but he was attending to a Shamanism course. He talks and has a voice like you are in a movie, very calmly, slowly, and he has a strong, deep voice. He has a long beard and strike me as someone very kind but who had some difficult moments in his life.
Mia and Youssi are hiking some National Parks for some time. I have the feeling that I know them (them all, to be honest) from somewhere. Yeah, I know, that feeling again. Mia and Youni are very surprised about my travels. She is working in a prison and Youni used to do different jobs, including being a nurse, but after he was diagnostic with brain tumour and had had a surgery, he got retired by illness. He is fine now but still having some side effects. He humbly tells us that we probably can notice that by the way he speaks slowly and take some time to answer. Honestly, if he hadn’t told me I wouldn’t ever guess.
The four of us have the same believes and principals, about the planet and people. It is nice to sit with three people and be able to have a responsible conversation about what we are doing with our planet, about how people can be so irresponsible and stupid, and to be understood and supported. I tell them that I wasn’t expecting that at all when I was coming down here to the camping area.
Next morning, I wake up quite early, around 7 a.m., but I am rested. Yussi leaves soon because he has a bus to catch. I was planning to also leave quite early but I got caught waiting for my camping gear to dry and that meant, having to wait for the sun to reach us. I have my oats for breakfast and chat a bit more with Yussi and Mia. They offer me some dry soup (cheesy broccoli and mushroom) and Mia makes me a rye sandwich. Amazing! Now I have something for lunch and possible dinner if I don’t get any left-overs, which I doubt!
10 Years Around the World 