A very rainy day was perfect to make some kilometres to the North. We stopped at a visitor centre which informed us about Finnish carnivores and come past a couple of interesting places.
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We were driving at the Via Karelia, a road leading up through Finland close to the Russian border. Mostly with tarmac, but we also had many kilometres on dirt road, which gave the car a nice patina with the wet weather.
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In Kuhmo we stopped at the Visitor Centre which informed us about the four big carnivores living in Finland: wolf, lynx, bear and wolverine. They all live in most parts of the country, but to see one of them in the wild we have close to zero chance.
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| Yes, I’m allowed to drive too – sometimes 😉 |
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In the middle of nowhere, along this road with no village for tens of kilometres, we suddenly came past a supermarket. We stopped for a coffee, a chat with the owner and in the end a bag full of shopping.
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It has it all: gas station, post office, café, supermarket, bakery, hi-fi store. It was nice to have somebody to point out the specialities or help you find a product you can’t identify with this weird Finish words.
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South of Suomussalmi, a monument reminds of the battle which was fought here during the Winter War 1939/40 against the invasion of the Red Army.
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Around 17,000 large natural stones around the monument visualise the numbers of the victims. A museum next to it shows relicts from that war.
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| The “Open Embrace” memorial has 105 brass bells, one for each day of the Winter War. |
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| Russia is always close, but the borders are closed |
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What is that? A field full of scarecrows? Over one thousand figures stand here as an installation called “The Silent People” by artist Reijo Kela.
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| Autumn leave of the Day |