Chief inspector Anna and lawyer Judith experience three adventure-packed days in Finland. Viewed from a canoe or from horseback, the scenery is a real treat. As are the fir coffee and the moose stew.
“Right at the top, the left at the bottom, and then a long pull,” Tom said. He is explaining how to use a paddle. The young Finn is a tour guide in Torassieppi, a small peninsula with lakeside lodges, a sauna, a boat rental service and a horse paddock. When he isn’t busy treating tourists to a true Nordic experience, he looks after the reindeer at the affiliated farm.
Our canoes glide through the water smoothly and silently. The stillness is only broken by the gentle splash of the paddles cutting the water. Dark clouds scud across the sky, but it isn’t raining yet. Occasionally, birds circle above our heads. On a reed-covered passage between two lakes, a small buoy bobs up and down. “Sometimes, fishermen set their crab traps here,” Tom explained while pulling an empty lobster pot out of the water out of the water on a rope. “There’s a good catch to be had here.” Fish and crustaceans caught in lakes whose water is so clean that it’s potable.
We moor our canoes on the shore. A log house, a sauna hut (of course), a fireplace. Tom digs a small bag of coffee and some smoked reindeer meat out of his backpack. He quickly lights a small fire. The water for the coffee comes straight from the lake. The ground coffee goes into the pot, and Tom simply boils it in the lake water, reminding Anna of her grandmother. Although grandma would probably have been surprised at Tom’s choice of filter: a young shoot from a fir tree stuck into the pot’s spout. He pours the hot filtered coffee into wooden cups. Along with the coffee, they enjoy a few pieces of reindeer meat and a sweeping view of the lake. Half an hour later, it’s already time to say goodbye to this idyllic place and get back into the canoes.
Our dinner awaits: moose stew with potatoes au gratin served at the Torassieppi base camp. The expertly prepared meat hits the spot. After the delicious refreshment, we head towards yet another adventure. We meet at the horse paddocks. It’s 10 p.m. Once in the saddle, we ride along marshy trails through open forests, following the low-lying sun. Fallen tree trunks block our way. Our horses’ hooves sink into the peat. A young fox dashes away, carrying its prey in its jaws. The sun has long disappeared over the horizon when we arrive back at the camp.
At breakfast the next morning, nobody can quite recall their last few steps before hitting the hay, but the memories of an incredible day are vivid and indelible – even without our luggage, which is probably doing another round on the conveyor belt. We will soon find out if it has made its way to Lapland.
You can find out how it all began in the first part, “Action in the Arctic Circle”.
