Relaxation in Lapland

I have not been able to tell you any really good news from Tube and Pipe Industry for some time. It also looks that it will take for a while still before things will really starts to turn better. No matter where you look, economies are just not doing very well at this moment.

Therefore, this was a perfect time to get some relaxation. I went to Lapland of Finland a week ago to see how the nature has taken the Autumn this year. It was very short trip - only two days walking in the woods. It's really not very long time considering that it takes some 9 hours to drive there. It was chilly already (around 0 C / 32 F). We walked about 10 km / 6 miles per day and slept in public cottages.

The public cottage network is great thing in Lapland. Everyone can use them free of charge and still they are in good shape. This sounds like "mission impossible" considering vandalism that exit today everywhere. It seems that people really have understood how important it is that everyone must take care of them - you never know when you will go there next time. In this way you can always enter to the nice clean cottage. Of course one truth is that usually you can only reach them by walking - sometimes long distances. This will eliminate majority of those vandals who are braking places just for fun.

These cottages are very simple. No electricity, no water taps, no inside toilets, no painted walls, no TV or Radio and of course - no Internet. Well, OK, you can bring Internet with you using things like Nokia Communicator, but you cannot find any wired connection. Instead, you will find just a table with benches and a large area for sleeping. Usually there is also a fireplace to keep the room warm, dry your wet clothes and to cook meals. Doesn't this sound like fun? I tell you it was fun!

Our trip was very nice. We saw many wild reindeers there also and the crown was to see the northern lights at night. It was not really spectacular but anyhow, it felt good.

Cheers,
Juha