Naked Ice Fishing and The Generosity of Finns

Published by Johnny Ward on May 20, 2012

Finland has been good to me, arriving on their national holiday Vappu and partying in the park, crossing the Arctic circle and meeting Santa Claus. Most of all the people have been great.

This post is just as much a thanks as a recap of what I’ve been up to. Margus, a friend of Harri, our awesome couchsurfer buddy, and Harri took me and my 2 pals out for a picnic in Helsinki, fed us, gave us booze, chatted with us, they were already going above and beyond.

That evening Margus invited us to his office where we all had another sauna together, he gave us more booze, we enjoyed sunset on the balcony and had another great time. As we left he said that while we were in Lapland, we should go and visit his father, he’d be happy to have us. So we exchanged numbers, called his dad, and organized to meet him.

Margus’s dad was nothing short of a legend. He lives on the Swedish-Finnish border so we drove the 150km from Rovaniemi at lunch time. We arrived around 2pm on a Friday, when we came to greet us at the door. His house was a wooden cabin, perched aside a beautiful river, with Sweden on the other side. He had built the house himself, including the awesome sauna. He took us downstairs to ‘our’ rooms. We each had a room to our self, and I managed to sleep in the master bedroom, complete with a double waterbed and wifi! This place was paradise.

Our accommodation

We moved back upstairs were Mr Pasula was waiting to greet us with 3 glasses of home brewed Simil, a traditional Finnish alcohol that normally should be fermented for a day, but Mr Pasula lets it go for 3 for a little extra kick. After our delicious drinks, a quick chat, we said he had designed a programme for us! Unreal.

First up, after hearing we had never been to Sweded, we jumped in the car and headed over the bridge to visit Sweden. We saw a quaint little Swedish town, took some snacks and headed back to the house in Finland. He fed us immediately with some delicious traditional fare and then took us down to the river side.

He had constructed a floating sauna which was designed to sit on the lake, right now the lake was frozen so it was sitting on the bank. We chopped up some firewood and got the sauna burning.

In the meantime, Mr Pasula taught had cut a whole in the ice and taught us how to ice fish. Before too long the sauna was ready, but we were under strict conditions on how to use it! We had to get our sweat on then leap into the frozen lake, then back in the sauna, then frozen lake again. We duly obliged, omg it was cold.

With all the excitement about the freezing cold water, we had forgotten to really do any ice fishing, but we didn’t wanna destroy our only clean clothes so back on the ice we went for a spot of naked ice-fishing, the boxers came on for the purpose of this photograph!

After a great dinner with Mr Pasula and an awesome nights sleep on the waterbed, we jumped back in our rental car and headed 700km south to Tampere, it’s Saturday today, FA Cup Final and Liverpool are playing, time to finish that cheap Russian vodka! Happy travels!

Tags: arctic circle, crazy stories, ice fishing, lapland, naked, tornia

Crossing the Arctic Circle, Private Saunas, and Chasing Northern Lights in Finland

Published by Johnny Ward on May 18, 2012

So finally I’m backpacking in Europe. The rest of the world has been good to me, but now it’s time to visit my own back yard, and Finland is up first.

I made it to Helsinki, partied for Vappu there (you can search for that in my Finland section) and had big plans to head north to Lapland. Helsinki was a beautiful city, awesome infrastructure, gorgeous women, cool guys but my love for it took a hit when I was quoted a 500 Euro ($650) return train ticket to Rovaniemi, a stop 14 hours in the north, where the Arctic Circle border is. Ouch. So, my friends and I butted heads, there was only one thing for it – Finnish road trip!

We rented a car for 5 days and made a beeline for Lapland, about 700km to the north. The Northern lights are strongest in January and February, it was already May so we knew our chances were slim, either way we were heading towards the Arctic Circle which is a pretty cool thing in itself.

A $60 parking fine, $200 speeding ticket and 8 hours later we made it to Rovaniemi, a town 8km from the Arctic Circle border. Hostels in finland normally cost $30 per night in a dorm, so for three of us that was gonna be a pricey $90 per night, we figured that if we have to pay that much then perhaps we can go the extra yard and get something really special, which we duly did.

A Finnish friend of mine managed to hook us up with our own 3 bedroom cabin, on a lake, with a boat, complete with fully stocked kitchen, heated floors and our own private sauna all for the same price as a hostel! Did someone say flashpacker?

I dunno how much group nudity with your mates is acceptable but I’m pretty sure we pushed those boundaries, spending every available minute jumping in frozen lakes and running back to the warmth of the sauna hoping we haven’t done any damage to our extremities (note: we had’nt!)

I hit up the tourist information and apparently the Northern Lights were well and truly gone by now, heartbroken! (Ok, trip to Iceland in December is now confirmed!). We took solace in the fact that we crossed the article circle and we’re living in luxury in our cottage, not to mention the fact we still had 3 litres of dirty cheap Russian vodka in our backpacks. 2 days passed in a very enjoyable heartbeat.

The artic circle, and Rovaniemi, do have a lot of things to keep you occupied though. Snow mobiles, reindeer and husky sledding, camp fires, hiking, ice-fishing so you can easily burn a few days, and a lot of cash. There’s one more extra special thing that Rovaniemi has too… the real Santa Claus! This is where he’s from, so I spent day two going to have a word with the big man himself… read about it tomorrow! Happy travels!

Where is the Arctic Circle?

In Finland, it’s found 14 hours north of Helsinki. The major town near it is called Rovaniemi.

Can I see the Northern Lights in Finland?

Yes you can, but you have to be there between December and March ideally.

Tags: arctic circle, lapland, rovaniemi

5 Cool Things to Do in Lapland

Published by Johnny Ward on January 30, 2012

If you’re looking for a holiday with a twist this winter then look no further than Lapland. The first thoughts that came to my mind when I thought about Lapland were that it would be baron, desolate and cold; but you really couldn’t be further from the truth. For winter activity holidays in Finland head north! There is a ton to do all in the midst of some of the world’s most stunning landscapes. Here is my list of the top 5 things to do in Lapland.

Aurora Borealis (The northern lights): One of the most surreal natural phenomena on earth. No video can ever compare to the experience of seeing this light show for yourself. You can’t help but just stare in awe, everything else can wait. Admittedly there is a bit of luck here, you might see them, you might not. But if you are going to test you luck anywhere then this is the place to go.
Dog Sledding: Every one of us at some point has seen huskies pulling a sled through the snow in the middle of nowhere and thought how cool it was. You are right to think this. If you are looking for a serious adventure that takes you fully into nature then there is no other way to get there than by dog sled.
Snowmobiling: Ok, so the dogs sound fun, but they do require a bit of work. If you are like me then you would love the freedom that only a snowmobile offers. There are plenty of companies offering rentals and tours of the area. Explore some amazing geology, wiz through snow covered pines and race as fast as you can; great fun!
Cross-Country Skiing: If you’re looking for a serious work out and you’re not in a rush then I’d highly recommend trying this sport (if only for a day). Even in the middle of winter and surrounded by snow, you still manage to work up a sweat. The biggest advantage to cross-country skiing is that you don’t disturb the local fauna, meaning you can a real sense of nature.
Sleep in a glass igloo: Imagine lying down in a nice warm bed, looking up and seeing some of the clearest night skies you’ve ever seen with the memorizing northern lights dancing above you. This is an experience of a lifetime. Go to the Saariselka fell area and find the Kakslauttanen Hotel for a night you won’t forget.