July 18, 2010
While we had the foresight to book a rental car for our trip to near the Koli National Park for river rafting, in a moment of carelessness, having just returned from the bar, we made the mistake of booking it for Monday, rather than Sunday. This resulted in some minor inconvenience at the Vantaa airport (where the rental car companies are located), cancelling the original reservation and making a new one with a different company (the first company had no cars available for that day). Fortunately, and to A's great surprise this all worked out with relative ease.
We grabbed a cup of coffee at the airport (to wake up, to celebrate the successful rescheduling, and to commemorate meeting at the Barcelona airport long ago), hopped in the car, and began what was to be an 8 hour journey through Finland to Ruunaa, the base for the river rafting trip. And the road trip?
1. Lots of listening to music, mostly off of Finnish radio stations (the reach of which extend amazingly far beyond Helsinki). Favorites included the Voice (basically a KIIS FM but which includes Finnish and British hits (Amy Macdonald and Robbie Williams), Groove (soul oldies, etc.) and Radio Suomi Pop.
2. We stopped at an ABC store for a quick bite. This is the fast food center that is everywhere along the road in Finland, but I would say is probably my least favorite thing about the country. Subpar hamburger, and other even less appetizing options. But at least it had a market where we bought some insect repellant.
3. Rivers, lakes, forest, pine trees, and the purple flowers. The Finnish landscape.
4. A stop at another supermarket to buy cider. Outside there was a guy selling knives.
Finally, we reached Lieksa, the town closest to where we were staying. Lieksa was the worst place I have seen since I have been in Finland. Although it was at least 9 p.m. by the time we arrive, the sky was still light, but the streets were desolate, nowhere to eat except for two pubs, both of which we entered against our better judgment. The first bar had possibly one patron, Edwin Collins' "Girl Like You" playing, while the unfriendly bartender offered us little help reaching our final destination. The second bar was slightly better, although the help was no more friendly, and I was made somewhat uncomfortable by the drunk guy walking around with no shirt on.
The drive to Ruunna was approximately another 30 minutes, through mostly undivided roads, only some of it paved. I did not know it at the time, but we were only a few kilometers away from the Russian border. At this point, the sky was getting dark, and I even started to get a little bit nervous.
Luckily, and thanks to A's navigation, we made it to our destination. We knew the cabin we would be staying would be small, but we were a little surprised at HOW small. But remarkably clean, and comfortable, with a tiny kitchen, a tiny fridge, and a window. We drank the ciders we bought earlier that day, listened to some Cliff Edwards and went to sleep.
**Iggy Pop -- The Passenger
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