New reality day 658

We are now in Kuusamo, which is not in Lapland, but very very close. 

"Kuusamo is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 15,168 and covers an area of 5,808.92 square kilometres of which 830.81 km² is water. The population density is 3.05 inhabitants per square kilometre."


"Renowned for its natural beauty, a region of fells and forests in an almost untouched wilderness adorned by lakes, rivers and rapids, Kuusamo is one of Finland’s major holiday destinations, attracting almost a million tourists annually."

My picture is from Suomussalmi. This is an art installation called "Silent people". It's very impressive in  real life. Very. It's made by artist Reijo Kela.

"The artist hasn't given any concrete answer about his art work and the purpose of the installation is to make travellers face these mysterious figures in the field. The installation has been once moved to the steps of Helsinki Cathdedral to promote the region of Kainuu. Few days after being in the steps, the Silent People moved quietly back to their original place in Suomussalmi. Now the amount the figures in the field is roughly around 1000. This installation has generated international attention and it has been rewarded in Kent to receive the Medway-price in visual art-series. "

We have today visited my husbands grandmother which took a while. First face to face visit in years. We have driven 4 hours north. Stopped to see this installation and made a note to visit Musical Forest on our way back next week.

After we arrive to Kuusamo, we have been to the spa and had a dinner at the restaurant. then we took a little walk around the area and now I'm very ready to go to bed. I slept so poorly last night. It was so freaking hot in my in law's house. It was horrible. So I assume I'll sleep better tonight.

Tomorrow our plan is to  first of course enjoy our only hotel breakfast (next accommodations will be vacation houses) and then we'll head to do a hike.

Our plan is to try hike the "Small bear's circuit". It's 12 km and not the easiest. My knees haven't been good lately, so I might not be able to do it. We'll see. I do hope we won't see any bears! The great bear's circuit is 80km. There should be spectacular sights on both routes. Some we should also be able to access by car if my knees will fail me.

After the hike, we need to drive about 5 more hours and head to very north of Finland.

We have already seen some reindeer and an eagle catching a dead snake from the road side.

Now I need to start Googling tomorrows routes with foot and car.