Friday, May 13, 2005
A Trip to Ruka
Hi Everyone,
Last Tuesday, Roy, Justin, and yours truly DROVE to Ruka, a ski resort in Eastern Lapland about 210 kilometers from Oulu. We’d consulted bus and train schedules, but since we were day tripping, a rental car seemed the best option. It also provided yet another adventure since we hadn’t driven anywhere in Finland (or Europe for that matter).
Hertz was happy to provide us with a brand new Ford Fiesta, Roy signed on as chauffeur, and we set off!
Shortly after leaving Oulu, we entered Reindeer Country. In Lapland, the semi-domesticated reindeer herds roam free (remember the Public Domain Policy?), and outside every town is a sign reminding folks of that fact.
Our Lonely Planet book warned of motorist/reindeer encounters and admonished that since there are 230,000 reindeer wandering around Lapland drivers should slow down when they spot one, “regardless of its location, direction, or speed.” The book says that reindeer move slowly and don’t respond to car horns “nor do they seem to feel that vehicles deserve the right of way.” Because reindeer adhere so stubbornly to this philosophy over 3000 of them are killed every year…
Not 30 kilometers from the first sign, we spotted a group of 4 reindeer nonchalantly nibbling grass on the edge of the highway. By the time we’d returned home at 9:30 that evening, we’d come across 10 more groups with from 4 to 8 reindeer per covey.
The reindeer in this picture are interesting because one has only one antler. Both male and female reindeer have antlers, and shed them in the spring – not necessarily both at the same time from the look of things! Of the reindeer we saw, some still had last year’s antlers, some had shed their antlers and were awaiting new ones, and some had beautiful new velvety antlers.
As we traveled north and east, we noticed that the trees were often covered with a soft greenish-grey growth not seen in the Oulu area. This turned out to be Reindeer Moss, which really isn’t a moss at all. This lichen comes by its name for two reasons: 1) it is eaten by the reindeer especially in the winter when ground foraging is impossible, and 2) it looks for all the world like reindeer antlers! To learn more about Reindeer Moss, click here.
On our way to Ruka, the flat terrain that we’ve come to expect in Finland gave way to hill country, and we passed beautiful lakes that varied in size from less than an acre to over 15 acres. I hadn’t expected to see lakes in Lapland, but if you look at a map of Finland, I think there are enough lakes overall so that all Finns could claim one for their very own! The lakes in Lapland were in varying degrees of losing their winter ice. We saw only one where people still were venturing out to fish.
We stopped for lunch in Taivalkoski, where the old guys in the café eyed us somewhat suspiciously, but the ladies serving up the moose, mashed potatoes and salad were welcoming, and the food was delicious!
Near Ruka, there are many cabins built in classic Scandinavian style with heavy logs placed very close together so that no chinking is required. These cabins are either left to weather naturally or painted in deep earthy colors that are a completely different palate than the bright primary colors on the clapboard houses in our area.
We had been warned that the road to the ski resort was very winding, and we anticipated a Cottonwood Pass series of switchbacks. Well, I suppose by Finnish standards, where the roads are as straightforward as the folks who live here, the road was winding, but it was a Sunday stroll for the intrepid mountain drivers aboard our Ford Fiesta, and our arrival at Ruka was without incident.
Before I describe Ruka, I must remind you that skiing in Finland means Nordic cross country skiing, not downhill dare deviling. Many of the ski resorts cater only to Nordic skiing with beautiful trails through primordial forest. So to Colorado skiers, Ruka might seem – well, kinda cute although it is the second biggest ski resort in Finland, with 28 runs – the longest of which is 1300 meters – and a handful of expert slopes. But Ruka boasts the longest ski season in Finland, opening in mid-October and not closing until mid-June!! It was also host this year to the international free style championships, and the jumps built for that competition were still challenging a few snowboarders even in mid-May. To learn more about Ruka, click here.
Justin decided no vacation in Finland would be complete without an hour or 2 on the slopes, so we cobbled together a passable assembly of gear, and he was even able to rent his brand of telemark boots and skis in good condition. You can see from his grin that he was in his element! And because it was mid-week in mid-May, he quite literally had the slopes to himself!
While Justin was skiing, Roy and I drove into the town of Kuusamo nearby. Roy caught a quick nap while I roamed and found this lovely church.
Then we returned to the resort just in time for après ski (my kind of sports event) in the beautiful main lodge. We also grabbed a quick bowl of wonderful beet soup which was served with crusty bread and garnishes of sour cream, parsley, and red onion before heading home.
We hadn’t traveled far before we were pulled over at a road block by the local sheriff who happily switched from Finnish to English when we looked confused, and subjected our chauffeur to a sobriety test. Roy blew into a tube, passed with flying colors, and we were on our way. (Look again at the picture above for proof that Roy was drinking coffee!) We were so taken aback by the stop that we didn’t even think to take a picture!
As an aside, we had learned how strict the Finns are about their drunk driving laws from Markku, who drove us around one afternoon, but took the car home and came back on his bike before having a beer with us after our outing. The maximum legal limit for alcohol in Finland is 0.05 – quite a bit lower than in the U.S.
But the true hour of reckoning came when we had to fill the gas tank. With gas priced at nearly $6.40 a gallon, the true cost of traveling by car was astounding!
One of the most fun parts of our trip was finding road signs that we hadn’t noticed when we traveled by bus and train. Here are a few that we thought were especially fun, as well as some that we couldn’t figure out at all!
For what these signs really mean, click here. Wish we’d studied this site BEFORE we left instead of finding it after we’d come home!
Hope this finds you well and enjoying the warm weather and longer days. Here in the far north, we officially have no more true night time darkness. As Justin remarked, “It just becomes the Blue Moment for about 3 hours and then the sun comes up again.” And Justin should know, since he has been enjoying the singles scene in Oulu where the fun begins at about 10 p.m. with karaoke and bikini and line dancing contests, and the bars don’t close until 4 a.m. Justin will leave on Sunday, and Jared and Alison arrive Tuesday. Just time to wash the sheets and towels between visits.
We’ll leave you with some professional pictures of Ruka from their Web site.
More soon,
Sarah
