Driving only got easier as I continued to head south. One last mountain pass in Norway was once again great to behold, driving alongside sheer cliffs on either side with snow covering most of the ground and people ice fishing or snowmobiling on frozen mountain lakes.
The crossing into Finland was also just as unspectacular as the border crossing the day before into Norway. I didn't even need to stop the car, just to slow down temporarily as I pass a small roadside building. Despite their proximity, Norway and Finland are vastly different from a geographical perspective. I felt like I had re-entered spring from the depths of a Finnish winter. As I continued south, progressively less and less snow could be seen. In the week I had been driving, significant amounts of snow melt had taken place.
The next two days were largely occupied by large drives on straight roads framed by pine forests and signs of agriculture. The most direct route (straight down the middle) was a little less spectacular than my drive along the coast, but still offered up roadside grazing reindeer and lakes that were beginning to unfreeze as I entered Finnish lakeland.
Brief stays in Keminmaa and Jyvaskyla before returning to Helsinki at the prescribed time for my car return. A good car that had served me well for the total ~3,500km that I had driven.
I barely had time to organise myself in Helsinki before boarding the Silja line overnight ferry to Stockholm. The ferry, adorned with American trivia and set to a New York theme was slightly chaotic, in part resembling a teenage party (with teenagers scavenging alcohol from the duty free store and proceeding to drink themselves into stupors). My room mates came to bed at 1.30am and 2am respectively!! But at only 31 euro for the trip, it was only fractionally more expensive than staying at a hostel, and probably more comfortable!
I awoke in Stockholm...
The crossing into Finland was also just as unspectacular as the border crossing the day before into Norway. I didn't even need to stop the car, just to slow down temporarily as I pass a small roadside building. Despite their proximity, Norway and Finland are vastly different from a geographical perspective. I felt like I had re-entered spring from the depths of a Finnish winter. As I continued south, progressively less and less snow could be seen. In the week I had been driving, significant amounts of snow melt had taken place.
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| My Route through Finland and Norway with circles for each night |
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| The ferry promenade |
Brief stays in Keminmaa and Jyvaskyla before returning to Helsinki at the prescribed time for my car return. A good car that had served me well for the total ~3,500km that I had driven.
I barely had time to organise myself in Helsinki before boarding the Silja line overnight ferry to Stockholm. The ferry, adorned with American trivia and set to a New York theme was slightly chaotic, in part resembling a teenage party (with teenagers scavenging alcohol from the duty free store and proceeding to drink themselves into stupors). My room mates came to bed at 1.30am and 2am respectively!! But at only 31 euro for the trip, it was only fractionally more expensive than staying at a hostel, and probably more comfortable!
I awoke in Stockholm...
3,500km! Finland does have a domestic airline.
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