From a box room in Helsinki to a tipi in the forest, with an Italian evening and lots of trees.
Now it was off to Helsinki. Onward on the trip and into the next adventure. What kind of person takes in two holidaymakers in the middle of Helsinki? By the way, a day earlier Jakob wrote to me that another Couchsurfer was staying with him too. He also sent me a photo of his fold-out couch (where Olli and I were to sleep) and a small mattress for the other Couchsurfer. After fighting my way through the afternoon rush hour, I arrived in front of a locked gate. My only „fear“ of big cities is actually always just parking. And confirmed after the ticket in Trondheim. Luckily, though, the street was a dead end and the neighbourhood also looked very tidy. With a clear conscience I could park next to another motorbike. Jakob had sent me the code for the gate. It all worked, and after I rang the bell he opened the door for me. Jakob greeted me warmly and welcomed me into his little apartment. Jakob originally came from Magas, a smaller town in southern Russia. North of Georgia. For quite some time he’s been offering his apartment as accommodation for travellers. Bit by bit it turned out that Couchsurfing is a way of life and a big hobby for Jakob. You could see that not only from his profile with over 170 positive references, a tour guide with opening times of the museums including bus connections and other activities, but also from the fact that his one-room apartment was set up purely for others to stay there. Over the course of the weekend it also turned out that his apartment was actually just a storage room belonging to his buddy, who lives inside it. Whether all of this was quite right here, and whether it suddenly made us feel like illegal migrants, I’ll leave open. In any case, Jakob was super nice, offered food and drink and a place to sleep and a bathroom. Since we wanted to see the city, that was more than enough. The other Couchsurfer was Nelson from the Dominican Republic! He too was super friendly and planned to stay with Jakob until Sunday. Since I still had some time until Olli landed in the evening, I calmly unpacked my things at Jakob’s and rode with just my laptop to a little café by the sea. Olli was due to land around 9 p.m., so at half past seven I slowly set off. With a little stop at a supermarket to get a few snacks. Olli had earlier got the info that his flight to Amsterdam (after which it continued to Helsinki) was already a bit delayed. The delay got bigger and bigger, and slowly it now got tight to make the connecting flight. After about an hour the flight was then cancelled. Me in Helsinki on the way to the airport, and Olli still in Düsseldorf. Not a good situation. So I first rode back to Jakob’s. Luckily Olli could rebook onto the next flight a day later. As a blessing in disguise there was even a free night at the Maritim Hotel at the airport. Late in the evening I got a photo of Olli in the in-house gym. It could have been worse. New day, new attempt. After, at dinner the evening before, Jakob had invited me to a little walk the next day through his neighbourhood with two other Couchsurfers from Ukraine, we were now out and about at sunset in the city’s lovely side streets. Maria and Blagomyr came from Kyiv and, because of the war, currently couldn’t work. Since their Ukrainian passport currently also counted as a free travel ticket in Europe, they promptly packed their backpacks and started a backpacking trip. Together we then walked through a small park to the sea, to take photos of the sunset.
After Jakob and I had made our way back to his apartment, he briefly pointed out that we still had to pick up another Couchsurfer. He’d sent Jakob a spontaneous request, since he hadn’t found anywhere else to sleep in Helsinki. After a few minutes we then met Antony from Brazil. Antony had, it felt like, been travelling the world his whole life. In Brazil he has several apartments that are managed by his mother. He uses the income to see the world. One story of his has particularly stuck with me. When the Covid pandemic began, he was travelling in Hawaii. When the curfew came in there, he had no choice but to either break off his trip and fly home, or stay there. And so he promptly stayed a whole six months in Hawaii with his Couchsurfer. Together we then arrived at Jakob’s. Jakob promptly also informed Nelson. But he didn’t come back overnight after all. Olli, meanwhile, was luckily now finally on his way to Amsterdam, to then catch his connecting flight to Helsinki straight away. This time everything worked out! Around 10 p.m. Olli landed in Helsinki. After I managed to park right at the front by the entrance of the surprisingly small airport, I welcomed Olli next to the other pick-up services for the fellow passengers! It was amazing to have my buddy Olli with me after such a long time! Together we rode through nighttime Helsinki to the nearest Hesburger, to quickly grab something to eat. I’d actually promised Jakob we’d be back before midnight… but we still had to eat. There was quite a bit going on in the city! While we used the back of the bike as a standing table, we watched a girl throw up right in front of the burger place, next to the entrance. So a Friday evening in Helsinki isn’t very different from ours in Germany. We just don’t have Hesburger.
Once at Jakob’s, he unfortunately then had to open the gate for us in his pyjamas, since the PIN code no longer worked after midnight or so, I think. A bit annoyed, he went upstairs with us. We went straight to sleep so we could explore Helsinki the next day. It was super warm! In just a jumper we set off for the sea!
A short while later Antony joined us too. Past a few food stalls, we walked to a small harbour. Together we took a little excursion boat out to the island of Suomenlinna, a military fortress from 1748. Since 1973 it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a tourist attraction. The sun was shining and we explored the island in a relaxed way.
Back on the mainland we walked through the city a bit more and ended up in the evening in a small pub. There was an aeroplane hanging from the ceiling.
The next morning we had breakfast together with Jakob. We each also wrote him a message in his Couchsurfing guestbook. As mentioned at the start, that really was a big part of his everyday life. After a final photo, we went down to the bike together and said goodbye to Jakob. Staying the weekend at Jakob’s really was an experience!
Our next destination was Jani’s house. In the last post I swapped the helmet with the acquaintance of Olli’s brother, Jani. Jani had offered that we could visit him and stay over on his property. After we’d spent the morning a bit more at Helsinki’s Muscle Beach — nearby, on the beach, there were some pieces of exercise equipment sponsored by the city — we rode along the motorway about 70 km north into the forests.
We saw Jani from far off. He was tinkering a bit with his neighbour’s Beetle in front of his garage complex. His son was also just coming from the neighbouring field on a little motocross bike. Then Mina, his wife, joined too, with their daughter and the two dogs! They showed us their huge property and two possible places to stay: one down by a big field, and the other up in the forest, in a tipi. We decided on the tipi, since it would probably have been too cold down by the field. There was only a small shelter there, which was open on one side, though. From there, mind you, you’d have had a lovely view of the fields in the morning. We repacked our things a bit and rode up to the tipi together on the motorbike. Jani also gave us a big water canister for washing hands and brushing teeth. We could kindly shower at his house! That’s also where we stored most of our things in the dry and warm! In the tipi, besides a great fire pit in the middle, there was also a toilet and a big wood store! We settled in and first went shopping for the next few days. On the bike we were luckily super flexible, and even though we were far off the beaten track, the nearest Lidl was only 20 minutes away! We then spent the next few days in the tipi and in the forest. We also rowed a no-longer-seaworthy rowing boat across a nearby lake and made loads of wraps and pizza on the fire pit!
From Germany Olli had also sent a parcel with German alcohol for Jani and his wife as a host gift. There was also an oil filter for me in it. When the parcel arrived a few days after we got there, we did an oil change together. We also checked the air filter, which was pretty clean, though!
For the next few days we then set off on a hike. On Google Maps we’d picked out a little public sauna by a lake. There was also a shelter to stay overnight there. We rode to the starting point on the motorbike. But since it was deepest forest everywhere, we asked at a house by the road whether we could leave the bike there. The owner was a bit confused at first, but then understood our plan and the problem and then showed us where we could park without any worries. We packed our backpacks and set off. As in northern Finland, there were, every now and then, small shelters in the forest or by lakes that you could use. We’d picked one out for the first stage. For food we’d packed two big sacks of rice, tomato paste and oats with maple syrup. Olli’s additional plan was to gather mushrooms with a mushroom app and make a tasty pan of mushrooms! We walked through the vast forests for several hours. Again and again we came to roads we had to cross. There we always stuck out our thumbs, hoping someone would give us a lift. After a few cars had driven past, someone did actually stop and gave us a lift for several kilometres! He told us it was the very first time he’d ever picked up people like us! In the evening we then reached the planned shelter for the first night! By the way, we of course slept in the sleeping bag on the sleeping mat, with a tarp underneath. For emergencies we’d also packed our hammocks.
The next day Olli then made us the aforementioned pan of mushrooms! It couldn’t get any more survival! (Except the crème fraîche, that still came from Lidl.)
In the afternoon it then unfortunately started to rain a bit. Since it then didn’t stop, we looked for a place to sleep. An old barn that wasn’t really locked. Since it didn’t stop raining, we stayed there overnight. Out of a few old car tyres and a few little pieces of wood we then built ourselves a table and ate our rice. The next day it was luckily dry and we walked the route on towards the sauna. Again and again today too we stuck out our thumb. Towards the afternoon a nice Finn then stopped and actually took us so far that we could get out almost right in front of the sauna. He actually had no room in the car at all, and our destination wasn’t on his way at all either. But he was really glad to meet two like us. He told us he always likes to give people a lift when it’s possible. So, as I said, we got out almost in front of the sauna, thanked him several times and walked the last few metres. We’d only found the sauna on Google Maps, and the posts were already a bit older too. So we were also a little unsure whether the sauna really still exists, or whether it even still worked at all! Luckily, though, the sauna stood exactly like in the pictures, next to a big shelter! Next to it there was even a small hut with firewood. There were even two axes lying with it! There was also a table and benches and a fire pit with a grill grate ready! The sauna was a two-, maybe three-person sauna with a wood stove. From it, a jetty led straight to the lake. A really cool place!
We then stayed there two nights and relaxed a bit; we could also dry our things a little in the sauna. Here too there was a rowing boat that of course had to be tested! Next to us, a family with two children also used the sauna and the fire pit. The four of them were travelling in their camper van and came from France! In the evening the man also had his birthday and the family invited us to wine and homemade dessert! A bit of variety from rice with tomato paste… The next morning, besides the porridge, there were then freshly picked blueberries for breakfast.
After two days and a few sauna sessions with ice bathing in the lake, we then set off back. On the way there we’d already had to cross a small river where, though, a new bridge was just being built. On the way there there were still workers who pushed us over to the other side with their boat. Now, though, we had to balance back over the construction that had been built so far, since no one was there.
We then slept the last night in the hammock, with a tarp over it, since it was lightly raining. We still had a few kilometres back to the motorbike ahead of us, only, unfortunately, my knee gave out a bit. At a larger road Olli then set off back alone and without a backpack. Luckily, though, he was picked up by a driver and came back after a while to collect me. So, back to Jani and our tipi! We then spent the next few days at the tipi, chopping wood and making pizza. One evening we then invited Jani, his wife and the two children to the tipi for an Italian evening! We listened to „That´s Amore“ on a loop and prepared the homemade pizzas on the fire. For the heat from above, a preheated metal dome served — which had once been the lid of an old gas barrel or something. It worked perfectly! We agreed that these were the best pizzas we’d ever made!
Since Jani’s son had a motocross race on Sunday, he wanted to check the bike again on Saturday and rode with his son to a nearby field track! There a farmer had provided his field and made a track! Olli and I took a few pictures with the drone and the camera of Jani’s son. Jani then also wanted to check again whether everything worked, and got onto the far-too-small bike with an old helmet and a work jacket. He looked like a character from Grand Theft Auto!
To finish, we all barbecued together again. Mina specially prepared everything vegetarian and tried a few new ideas! It was super tasty and we had a wonderful end to the Finland adventure! There was an incredible amount of calm and serenity there. A great family! The next day it was time to say goodbye and I took Olli back to the airport. But to round off the Finnish sauna season in Finland, in the morning we stopped at a public sauna right on the edge of Helsinki. All sorts of people came together there. The whole thing was largely self-organised and looked after by volunteer helpers. The condition was that everyone should bring their own firewood. On site there were then benches and lockers and, of course, steps into the sea. That was a lovely end to our shared holiday! In the afternoon Olli then got on the plane and set off for home. This time without a problem and on time!
