Day 11

Helsinki - Kolari (Train)

Finland is a shock. Beer is about five times more expensive than in Estonia. No wonder the numerous tourists take advantage of a nice ferry trip to Estonia to take back home some liquid "groceries". 

It was our tenth day on the road with roughly 750 km behind us. After short exploration of Finland capital we enquired about the possibilities to take bikes on the train on the way back. To our surprise we realized that the north most train station is over 700 km away from North Cape. Train was our escape plan. Plan was simple: cycle to North Cape and return by train. Bummer. Following advices about cycling through southern Finland from a Lithuanian friend, who literally just returned from a trip, and tourers we met on the way, we decided to skip the mosquitoes and take the first night train as north as possible. Due to credit card problems we had to wait in a queue three times, but every time we got there the price was cheaper (different person at the counter).  

The night in a sleeper train was great. We woke up in a totally different world. Lapland.

    

Days 8 - 10

Tallinn - Helsinki

Tallinn is a beautiful place with lot's of distractions, apparently. We managed to stay two more days in this lovely capital of Estonia. After a night outside it was quite obvious, that next day wasn't going to be the cycling day. So we moved out of the camp and visited a friend who offered us their garden for camping. It's always nice to have somebody local to show you the place. And next day... next day was tango night, so we stayed another day, again at the camp place - which, strangely enough, is not intended for tent only visitors. Thanks for understanding. Somehow the nicest girl at the reception managed to find the way for us to stay there anyway. And moreover we got the chance to wash the clothes too. The third day we had to make a decision - run for the ferry to Finland, or stick around. We chose the former. And almost got caught in Helsinki beer festival. Luckily the camp site is about 15 km from the centre, so we didn't bother to go back, although the metro station is right next to the camp. Needless to say, we were too late for sauna.