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Thank you! 😃 A few people have mentioned my Finnish looks do you are not alone haha. Really enjoyed my journey around the Lakeland - I’ll definitely be back at some point! 😀
I think that a remote place by the lake, with chairs, tables and a firepit, was a place where local young people have had wild beach parties.🍺🍺🍺🍺🍾🍾🍾🍷🥂🍗🍔🌭😃
Somehow you're channel is the only one i keep waiting to update new video every week. Videos are so relaxing and well spoken with history and landscapes videos and nice and smooth editing and while wathcing this video i was thinking that you should get own TV-show to tour all around the earth and show this awesome planet to people with you're style. because even i have hard times to attend to some videos but these i can easily to lock on. Thank you for the video and have a nice trip in Finland
Hi Matt, I have driven that road many, many times and it takes my breath every sigle time. Also, I cycled that same road when I was 16 or 17 y old. I'll never ever forget that.
Logs were gathered as flotillas in the lake, and then men rode on those and steered the logs in those flotillas, and tug boat took the flotilla into its destination.
Smart to get your snacks to hold you over on the roadtrip. But it looks like the bear is coming for your Frosties bar. Quite the deal on the rental car. Absolutely beautiful video!
Good afternoon Matt. How are you? Mikkeli has now been saved to my “favourite” places on Maps. Loved when you referred to it as the “Lake district”. Don’t get me wrong. I was in the Lake District in England in the mid 1990’s and it is beautiful but this Lake District looks so remote and way I almost want to call this trip of yours an “epic” journey. Now here is a tricky question…how expensive do you perceive it to be (like your snacks/ drinks en route). I know it’s not easy simply comparing UK prices with those in Scandinavian countries and Finland. Your accommodation prices so far all seemed reasonable Thanks again for the vicarious travel. I’m def hooked on Finland now. Cheers Zoltán
Before he answers... The cost of living and traveling in Finland is about the same as in Sweden, Austria, or Ireland. Not cheap. Not the most expensive either. Far from the likes of Norway or Switzerland which are eye wateringly expensive, even from the Finnish perspective. Traveling by bus is affordable and longer term accommodation reasonably priced even when compared to countries on par. In addition to hotels and Airbnb, we have an abundance of traditional log cabin rentals. A sauna, a lake, a fridge, and a bed. That's it.
Hello Zoltán, hope you're well. Yes it really does feel like an epic adventure, I covered a lot of ground and saw some wonderful places. I know what you mean about Lake District, every time I say it I think of the UK but this particular Lake District is something else. Great question about the costs! I found food and drink to be a bit more expensive than the UK, especially the supermarkets. Car rental was a decent price and I got some real bargain with my accommodation, although I pretty much always opted for the cheapest place I could find. Overall though I'd say prices are comparable to the UK.
@@henriikkak2091 thank you. Very helpful to obtain a general overview and comparisons to countries that I’ve happened to have visited previously. Finland is definitely on my list of places to travel to (way beyond the capital Helsinki)
Kummakivi is literally "Strangerock". Oh, and the little structure you referred to as a place for a mailman to leave parcels is actually a milk platform. Farmers would leave full canisters there every morning and they'd be distributed from there. These days, it's a truck with a refrigerated tank that goes to the dairy processing facility.
Thank you for the info, very interesting to read! I love the idea of those milk platforms, it's great that they've been repurposed and maintained to this day.
You should most definitely check out the Päijänne scenic route too if you have time! From Vääksy, Asikkala to Korpilahti, Jyväskylä or otherway around. Very beautiful route too.
OMG! You missed the most epic places in Easter Finland...sigh! Savonlinna with it`s Olavinlinna castle where now going on world famous Opera Festivals in that castle...Kerimäki world largest wooden church..etc. Nice that you still did find this route 62, it`s amazing! Greetings from Savonlinna! Bon voyage!
Some of those "tracks and trails" that branches off the main road are made for forest industry use. So basically tracks for forest machinery and their trailers, log trucks ets. Called "metsäautotie" in Finnish.
4:28 It is actually likely that they were not loaded onto a boat. Huge amounts of logs used to, and still are today bound together and floated down stream, or pulled by boats!
Hello, thanks for the info. Someone else mentioned the same thing and pointed me towards a video of the logs being floated down the lake - it was quite an impressive sight.
Thank you Matt for your wonderful" job" doing all the great videos with amazing information 👍❤wow that beach of Saimaa..my dream is to travel all those places ..that villa looks beautiful near the lake Saimaa wow , fanta my favourite, enjoy and thanks for sharing 😃😊❤
Thank you, glad you like the information and find it useful. I like learning as much as I can about the places I visit so it always seems like a good idea to get some of that on the video. The beach was incredible, I'm so glad I found it. So peaceful and unreal that I had it all to myself.
@@MattWhitingsEurope hi Matt, as you already know my birthplace so peaceful, these days I prefer totally peaceful places and feeling losing my time only in city area living ,,the nature and specially near the lake is something which I dream of..I am very proud of you to go the places in Finland where I haven't even been to, my time was working here in Helsinki and free times didnt understand to travel around all Finland cities, but my reason was that I went to Karjala where my parents was and these days their graveyard..Wish I can experience those lovely places as you have been to. Great information always useful..you are amazing person , wish to see all your shares, watching them , your English is so understandable also..Sorry if I make sometimes mistakes in my written, sometimes I feel shy to speak to you so much ,are you still on the road in Finland 😃❤
No worries, you're English is excellent - much better than my Finnish to be fair. No not in Finland any more, have left and moved on to my next country!
@@MattWhitingsEurope thank you so much Matt🥰just been using English at my work and free time since a very long time...and studied...Will watch your videos always ..hope you have a good time in other countries, sure you will ..Finland is always here for you , hope you will return some day🇬🇧 🇫🇮❤
It seems like the scarps are marked where they are (obviously). The problem is that the navigator then takes anyone looking for them to that side of the bay, even though the best view point would be on the other side.
@@MattWhitingsEurope More Finnish trivia: Finns are mostly (2/3) Lutheran Protestant. Finland is the least Catholic country in Europe, there are more muslims than catholics.
The animal tracks in sand seemed to be just dog tracks. The pictures didn't give very good idea of scale so they also might have been fox tracks although dog is more probable. Bears are pretty shy actually and tend to avoid humans so you usually don't see them even if they live in the area.
Thank you!! Interesting to read. I did have a conversation with a Finnish guy who was a keen hiker, he said in 30 years of being outdoors he had only seen one bear and had just stumbled upon it. He told me as soon as it saw him it ran away.
Thanks Matt for the interesting video. I thought you speak perfect English but you look so Finnish that maybe you have roots here. I'm going to ride my motorbike to those regions, you've found some wonderful places in our beautiful Finland.
Yes a few people have mentioned that they thought I was Finnish until I spoke! I was even given the Finnish name of Matti 😆 Thanks for watching and I hope you have a wonderful motorcycle trip!
I'm a Finn so the sights aren't at all exotic to me but they do look nice seen from a tourist's perspective. I was on a day trip in Mikkeli (St. Michel) around about the same time as you were, it seems!
Always so educational and well made videos with so good background knowledge; great to watch your videos (and still you always look like a normal finnish dude who just "finds places to go" but please consider this as a compliment). Excellent videos and storytelling !!!!! You should buy a new cap, though ;-)
Thank you! I certainly will take that as a compliment, I've had a few others mention the same thing. One confirmed that my Finnish name could be Matti 😆. I think I need a 'Finland' cap! Thanks for tuning in.
Thank you, those places look amazing but I won't get a chance to see them on this trip. I have made a note of them on my map though so if I return I'll check them out. Thanks for the suggestions, always good to get some recommendations!
I was born in the Lake District, a great place to grow I think, the nature started from your backyard. Finland has the so-called "everyman's right", the nature can be freely enjoyed, even if the land is privately owned. Naturally, you should respect people's privacy and not to harm the trees setc.
Sounds like a good set of rules so that everyone can enjoy the wonderful scenery. I would imagine it being a very peaceful and tranquil place to grow up, nice to hear about it.
[5:15] Kaima means namesake, might have been a pet name or a last name. ( I have never head Kaima being a last name, but why not. :D ) [10:10] Admittnly the first print is a bit tough, first I was thinking otter, but I think that also is a dog. Just washed a bit with the rain. Those animal tracks are all dogs, wolf tracks are way more longer, not so round as a dog's, and bear paws are the size of your hand fully opened and it is wide, not round like a dog paw, and the nail prints are more in line than how they are more a horseshoe shape in dogs paw. (Fox and raccoon dogs have tiny paw prints. Those prints that you showed looked about like german shepherd sized pawprint looking from the sand grain size. So a medium sized dog(s).) Finland has huge amount of pet dogs, and we have almost none homeless dogs. And you should not see dogs that are not in leash out and about. Some of us dog-people say it is a lottery win for a dog to have a home in Finland. ;D
That's interesting to read, thanks for the information. I probably should have used something as a size reference as it's hard to work out the size on the video. If I come back as a dog I now know to choose Finland!
Me Kelly.😅 when you get to a double consonant in Finnish, KK, PP, TT, SS, LL you don't pronounce it twice but you should hold that consonant just a bit longer at that point. Just enough that it can be noticed.
Not gonna pretend to be an expert on our road network, as I don't even own a car, but based on the little experience I have I'd give the title of the most scenic road to the one numbered 970.
@@MattWhitingsEurope From Karigasniemi to Nuorgam WAY north on the Norwegian border. I noticed after my comment that even the Finnish Wikipedia article mentions that it has been called the most beautiful road in Finland. This is of course subjective, and from a Finnish point of view: it's mountainous out there, and we don't have much of that in Finland, so it undoubtedly gets even more impressive on the other side of the border.
You ought to have smoked salmon, some barbeque ribs, mushroom salad, pickled cucumber, eggs, rye bread, season's potatoes, real butter, fresh tomatoes and spring onion, sour cream, a lots of beer, a bottle of vodka and some mixers my British friend.. :D
Great video again! I am not 100% sure, but I think those footprints on the beach were left by a moose and a common raccoon dog. Nice drone shots at Pistohiekka!
As a Finn i am interested in your method of finding the interesting routes and sights to see in Finland. I have visited most of the towns and cities you visit but I do not have the tourists view of things so as such they just seem ordinary places for me. But I see there are many interesting and nice looking places we could visit with my family with a new open "touristy" mind set - which would surely be nice change for our normal summer holiday. But I find it a little difficult to map out those things in my own country. How or by what sources have you determined these routes or places would be interesting? And is there a route map you have followed during your journey? Thanks! But, what are those food items your are carrying? Nothing decent to eat? Throw that shit into garbage and go buy some proper food. Anything goes but not those low grade snacks and soda! This is like some Murican got into Europe and didn't realize proper food is sold in every store. And as a former Londonian I would say you do not sound like a Murican?! 😉
Interesting question. It's a route that I developed myself over quite a few weeks, as you can imagine there was plenty of chopping and changing in the planning stages. I started by just plotting things I wanted to see onto Google Maps using the 'save' function. These were places I wanted to see, locations that were recommended to me during my previous Finland videos and areas I liked the look of whilst researching Finnish Lakeland. Once they were on the map I started working out a route based on the dates I was due to fly in and out of Helsinki Airport. I pretty much always book my accommodation before travelling for a few reasons: 1) it's usually cheaper and offers free cancellation, 2) it saves a load of time on the day, 3) it means I can better structure my days. The route I followed on this trip was a bit crazy but necessary to get as much in as possible, it weaves back and forth several times. Once I'd found accommodation (usually the cheapest available since I only need a place to sleep the night, arriving late and leaving early) I then spent a bit more time working out how I would fill each day. Quite a few times I had to cancel my accommodation due to my plans changing, or realising I wasn't going to make it as far as I thought. To do this I check things like drive times on Google Maps and whilst plotting in certain stops I also like to leave my options open. For example, on Route 62 I only stopped at about half the places I had on my list, this was mainly due to time constraints. There was also a few places later on in the trip I had to skip due to unforeseen circumstances - you'll find out a bit more in the next video! I've got to say that I love the planning stage and really enjoy putting these trips together, nothing better than an empty page to begin with. There's something very satisfying and rewarding on the plane ride home knowing that all the plans that were sometimes months in the making have paid off. In terms of the food, I take your point. 😆😆 However, I needed plenty of non-perishable food and drink as I knew there would be times on the trip where getting lunch or dinner would be an issue. I would have preferred a restaurant or cafe but due to my location there was nowhere available and I was hungry. I've experienced this many times before when travelling so having some 'junk food' in the car is essential to me. It's either that or nothing. Mind you, dinner wasn't much better - I ate at Burger King in Mikkeli and loved every second of it! Ooops!!
@@MattWhitingsEurope Cool to hear how you plan your trips. The planning stage sounds too stressful for me, whereas you seem to enjoy it the most. Luckily, there are many ways to go about a trip like this, so everyone can choose what they prefer. I would probably opt for a camper van of some sort so I wouldn't need to worry about booking the accomodation for each night. To get slightly philosophical, that would make the journey different even if the path was exactly the same.
4:00 I don't think they would have been loaded onto a barge, but they would have simply been tied together into a loose raft and perhaps hauled with a boat.
Lake Päijänne and Lake Vesijärvi is part of Kymijoki river watershed so they are not connected to Lake Saimaa. They were part of Lake Saimaa about 6000 years ago but now they are part of completely different watersheds 🤓.
@@MattWhitingsEurope It is still being done in Saimaa ua-cam.com/video/prachpDt0gE/v-deo.html An example of old time log rafting from riverds and rapids: ua-cam.com/video/VVMwX0a8OfI/v-deo.html
On rational level I know it's because pre-industrial farming societies had relatively low yields in area of modern day Finland, people had to live in small communities spread over large areas. Still sometimes travelling in places like Savonia and Karelia I instictively start to ponder "why do people live where? What's here?"-
People used to live around bodies of water, as it made movement easier and provides food. Lake Saimaa connected large areas together. Rivers do the same, for example Oulu and Kajaani is connected by waterway. Same applies to lake ladoga and Karelians. Oh, amd of course Saimaa is connected to ladoga and ladoga is connected to Gulf of Finland.
Thank you! A few others have mentioned the same road, sounds like it's a good one. I've made a note of it so who knows! Maybe one day!! Thanks for the suggestion. 👍
THANKS FOR WATCHING!! 👍 If you enjoyed the video please consider LIKING & SUBSCRIBING - they really help me out! 👍 🇫🇮 My FINLAND Travel Vlogs → bit.ly/mwt_finland | 📷 Connect on INSTAGRAM → bit.ly/mwt_instagram | 📍 My videos on a TRAVEL MAP → bit.ly/mwt_map
You are putting nicely together Finnish lakeland nature and Finnish culture and history.
Thank you, much appreciated. I'm glad you think so. Really enjoying the trip so far!
I drive Route 62 every summer. Simply magnificent!
Couldn't agree more! I'm still amazed by how few people there were around.
Thank you for doing this video series in Finland.
It's been a pleasure!! Thanks for watching.
Thank you for your kind presentation of FInland!
You're very welcome, thank you for watching.
Thank you for visiting Mikkeli and welcome again ❤
Thank you very much, wonderful city! Wished I had a few more hours to explore.
There is something so healing about being in Finland.
There certainly is! 👊
Such an eye opener to see a non native experience and comment about our country. Baffling too, as you look like a Finn yourself! 😄
Thank you! 😃 A few people have mentioned my Finnish looks do you are not alone haha. Really enjoyed my journey around the Lakeland - I’ll definitely be back at some point! 😀
Thank you for another very nice video and the oportunity that to give to us to see beautifull places
Thanks for watching, glad you're enjoying the road trip!
I think that a remote place by the lake, with chairs, tables and a firepit, was a place where local young people have had wild beach parties.🍺🍺🍺🍺🍾🍾🍾🍷🥂🍗🍔🌭😃
Ha I think you could be right! They were probably all out hunting for dinner 😆
I drive that road always when I have the change. Its Beautiful.
It's wonderful for sure!
Great Travel log, Finland certainly looks like a nice place to Travel through.
Amazing place for sure! Thanks for watching.
@@MattWhitingsEurope Subscribed now, looking forward to more of Northern Travels.
@@robertwilkinson8421 More to come so stay tuned! Thanks again.
Somehow you're channel is the only one i keep waiting to update new video every week. Videos are so relaxing and well spoken with history and landscapes videos and nice and smooth editing and while wathcing this video i was thinking that you should get own TV-show to tour all around the earth and show this awesome planet to people with you're style. because even i have hard times to attend to some videos but these i can easily to lock on. Thank you for the video and have a nice trip in Finland
Thank you very much for your comment, makes my day when I read stuff like that. Really enjoying the adventure so far, thanks for watching!
Hi Matt, I have driven that road many, many times and it takes my breath every sigle time. Also, I cycled that same road when I was 16 or 17 y old. I'll never ever forget that.
Wow cycling it sounds like even more of an adventure. How many days did it take?
18:50 absolutely beautiful church
It's huuuuuge!!
Logs were gathered as flotillas in the lake, and then men rode on those and steered the logs in those flotillas, and tug boat took the flotilla into its destination.
Thank you for the information, very interesting. I've seen a photo of it now and it looks incredible.
@@MattWhitingsEurope Thank you mate for the nice videos .
You're welcome, amazing place!
My favourite! The scenary is always so impressive.
Totally agree. Incredible place!
Enjoyed the beautiful places along with you. Great share
Thank you so much 🙂
Smart to get your snacks to hold you over on the roadtrip. But it looks like the bear is coming for your Frosties bar. Quite the deal on the rental car. Absolutely beautiful video!
I will fight it bare knuckle style - nobody gets my Frostie bar. 😤 Yes that was a decent deal on the car, glad you enjoyed the video! 😃
@@MattWhitingsEurope 🐻🐻
Good afternoon Matt.
How are you? Mikkeli has now been saved to my “favourite” places on Maps.
Loved when you referred to it as the “Lake district”. Don’t get me wrong. I was in the Lake District in England in the mid 1990’s and it is beautiful but this Lake District looks so remote and way
I almost want to call this trip of yours an “epic” journey.
Now here is a tricky question…how expensive do you perceive it to be (like your snacks/ drinks en route). I know it’s not easy simply comparing UK prices with those in Scandinavian countries and Finland. Your accommodation prices so far all seemed reasonable
Thanks again for the vicarious travel. I’m def hooked on Finland now.
Cheers
Zoltán
Before he answers...
The cost of living and traveling in Finland is about the same as in Sweden, Austria, or Ireland.
Not cheap. Not the most expensive either. Far from the likes of Norway or Switzerland which are eye wateringly expensive, even from the Finnish perspective.
Traveling by bus is affordable and longer term accommodation reasonably priced even when compared to countries on par.
In addition to hotels and Airbnb, we have an abundance of traditional log cabin rentals. A sauna, a lake, a fridge, and a bed. That's it.
Hello Zoltán, hope you're well. Yes it really does feel like an epic adventure, I covered a lot of ground and saw some wonderful places. I know what you mean about Lake District, every time I say it I think of the UK but this particular Lake District is something else. Great question about the costs! I found food and drink to be a bit more expensive than the UK, especially the supermarkets. Car rental was a decent price and I got some real bargain with my accommodation, although I pretty much always opted for the cheapest place I could find. Overall though I'd say prices are comparable to the UK.
I'd agree with all of that, there's definitely some bargains to be had - especially with accommodation.
@@henriikkak2091 thank you. Very helpful to obtain a general overview and comparisons to countries that I’ve happened to have visited previously. Finland is definitely on my list of places to travel to (way beyond the capital Helsinki)
Kummakivi is literally "Strangerock".
Oh, and the little structure you referred to as a place for a mailman to leave parcels is actually a milk platform. Farmers would leave full canisters there every morning and they'd be distributed from there.
These days, it's a truck with a refrigerated tank that goes to the dairy processing facility.
Thank you for the info, very interesting to read! I love the idea of those milk platforms, it's great that they've been repurposed and maintained to this day.
You should most definitely check out the Päijänne scenic route too if you have time! From Vääksy, Asikkala to Korpilahti, Jyväskylä or otherway around. Very beautiful route too.
Thank you, I hadn't heard of that one so will make a note of it. Looks incredible!!
Hello. We lived in Mkkeli few years ago. Have a good day. Matti
Cool city, enjoyed my visit and would have liked to stay longer but it wasn't to be. Hope you're having a good weekend, thanks for watching!
OMG! You missed the most epic places in Easter Finland...sigh! Savonlinna with it`s Olavinlinna castle where now going on world famous Opera Festivals in that castle...Kerimäki world largest wooden church..etc. Nice that you still did find this route 62, it`s amazing! Greetings from Savonlinna! Bon voyage!
Or did I? 😉
Thank you for watching and I'm glad you're enjoying the trip!
It's literally in the intro its probably coming
@@are3287 Yep! Hopefully so! I did see those pictures.
Some of those "tracks and trails" that branches off the main road are made for forest industry use. So basically tracks for forest machinery and their trailers, log trucks ets. Called "metsäautotie" in Finnish.
That makes sense, thanks for the information. It's remarkable just how many of them there are.
Just found your channel and I plan on watching all of your videos! Keep up the great work!
Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy them!
4:28 It is actually likely that they were not loaded onto a boat. Huge amounts of logs used to, and still are today bound together and floated down stream, or pulled by boats!
Hello, thanks for the info. Someone else mentioned the same thing and pointed me towards a video of the logs being floated down the lake - it was quite an impressive sight.
Love these
I love that you love these! 😁
Thank you Matt for your wonderful" job" doing all the great videos with amazing information 👍❤wow that beach of Saimaa..my dream is to travel all those places ..that villa looks beautiful near the lake Saimaa wow , fanta my favourite, enjoy and thanks for sharing 😃😊❤
Thank you, glad you like the information and find it useful. I like learning as much as I can about the places I visit so it always seems like a good idea to get some of that on the video. The beach was incredible, I'm so glad I found it. So peaceful and unreal that I had it all to myself.
@@MattWhitingsEurope hi Matt, as you already know my birthplace so peaceful, these days I prefer totally peaceful places and feeling losing my time only in city area living ,,the nature and specially near the lake is something which I dream of..I am very proud of you to go the places in Finland where I haven't even been to, my time was working here in Helsinki and free times didnt understand to travel around all Finland cities, but my reason was that I went to Karjala where my parents was and these days their graveyard..Wish I can experience those lovely places as you have been to. Great information always useful..you are amazing person , wish to see all your shares, watching them , your English is so understandable also..Sorry if I make sometimes mistakes in my written, sometimes I feel shy to speak to you so much ,are you still on the road in Finland 😃❤
No worries, you're English is excellent - much better than my Finnish to be fair. No not in Finland any more, have left and moved on to my next country!
@@MattWhitingsEurope thank you so much Matt🥰just been using English at my work and free time since a very long time...and studied...Will watch your videos always ..hope you have a good time in other countries, sure you will ..Finland is always here for you , hope you will return some day🇬🇧 🇫🇮❤
Thank you, I'll definitely be back in Finland at some point. Amazing country!
It seems like the scarps are marked where they are (obviously). The problem is that the navigator then takes anyone looking for them to that side of the bay, even though the best view point would be on the other side.
Yeah I see. So they were basically on my side of the water? I see what you mean about needing to be on the other side of the water!
That main church of Mikkeli is a Cathedral, as Mikkeli is the seat of one of Finland's Bishops (protestant),
Thanks for the info, very interesting.
@@MattWhitingsEurope More Finnish trivia: Finns are mostly (2/3) Lutheran Protestant. Finland is the least Catholic country in Europe, there are more muslims than catholics.
Incredible! Thanks for the info!
The animal tracks in sand seemed to be just dog tracks. The pictures didn't give very good idea of scale so they also might have been fox tracks although dog is more probable. Bears are pretty shy actually and tend to avoid humans so you usually don't see them even if they live in the area.
Thank you!! Interesting to read. I did have a conversation with a Finnish guy who was a keen hiker, he said in 30 years of being outdoors he had only seen one bear and had just stumbled upon it. He told me as soon as it saw him it ran away.
Thanks Matt for the interesting video. I thought you speak perfect English but you look so Finnish that maybe you have roots here. I'm going to ride my motorbike to those regions, you've found some wonderful places in our beautiful Finland.
Yes a few people have mentioned that they thought I was Finnish until I spoke! I was even given the Finnish name of Matti 😆 Thanks for watching and I hope you have a wonderful motorcycle trip!
@@MattWhitingsEurope You should check the comic Finnish nightmares which has character named Matti.
I'm a Finn so the sights aren't at all exotic to me but they do look nice seen from a tourist's perspective.
I was on a day trip in Mikkeli (St. Michel) around about the same time as you were, it seems!
That's cool, if you happened to see a strange man walking around and talking into a camera THAT WAS ME!!! 😆😆
Always so educational and well made videos with so good background knowledge; great to watch your videos (and still you always look like a normal finnish dude who just "finds places to go" but please consider this as a compliment). Excellent videos and storytelling !!!!! You should buy a new cap, though ;-)
Thank you! I certainly will take that as a compliment, I've had a few others mention the same thing. One confirmed that my Finnish name could be Matti 😆. I think I need a 'Finland' cap! Thanks for tuning in.
Try to experience all the 7 wonders of savo
What are the 7 wonders of Savo?
@@MattWhitingsEurope Kalakukko (regional food), Korkeakoski waterfall, Seinävuori gorge valley, Pisa nature reserve, Puijo tower, Savo dialect and Orinnoro gorge.
Thank you, those places look amazing but I won't get a chance to see them on this trip. I have made a note of them on my map though so if I return I'll check them out. Thanks for the suggestions, always good to get some recommendations!
16:30 not abandoned, just minimal use :) There was houses near u know
I didn't realise, it felt very isolated.
I was born in the Lake District, a great place to grow I think, the nature started from your backyard. Finland has the so-called "everyman's right", the nature can be freely enjoyed, even if the land is privately owned. Naturally, you should respect people's privacy and not to harm the trees setc.
Sounds like a good set of rules so that everyone can enjoy the wonderful scenery. I would imagine it being a very peaceful and tranquil place to grow up, nice to hear about it.
[5:15] Kaima means namesake, might have been a pet name or a last name. ( I have never head Kaima being a last name, but why not. :D )
[10:10] Admittnly the first print is a bit tough, first I was thinking otter, but I think that also is a dog. Just washed a bit with the rain.
Those animal tracks are all dogs, wolf tracks are way more longer, not so round as a dog's, and bear paws are the size of your hand fully opened and it is wide, not round like a dog paw, and the nail prints are more in line than how they are more a horseshoe shape in dogs paw. (Fox and raccoon dogs have tiny paw prints. Those prints that you showed looked about like german shepherd sized pawprint looking from the sand grain size. So a medium sized dog(s).) Finland has huge amount of pet dogs, and we have almost none homeless dogs. And you should not see dogs that are not in leash out and about. Some of us dog-people say it is a lottery win for a dog to have a home in Finland. ;D
That's interesting to read, thanks for the information. I probably should have used something as a size reference as it's hard to work out the size on the video. If I come back as a dog I now know to choose Finland!
Harjutie (Yhdystie 4792) is the most beautiful route in Finland, it was voted as the "Century Road"!
Sounds interesting, where in Finland will I find it?
@@MattWhitingsEurope Harjutie is located at the Punkaharju, east of Savonlinna about 30km away.
Me Kelly.😅 when you get to a double consonant in Finnish, KK, PP, TT, SS, LL you don't pronounce it twice but you should hold that consonant just a bit longer at that point. Just enough that it can be noticed.
Thanks for the guidance, very useful. Thanks.
Typo in title, the city is called Mikkeli, not Mikkele
Thank you! Corrected 👍
Perkeli!
Not gonna pretend to be an expert on our road network, as I don't even own a car, but based on the little experience I have I'd give the title of the most scenic road to the one numbered 970.
Interesting. Thanks for the suggestion however I can't seem to locate it. Where does it start and end?
@@MattWhitingsEurope From Karigasniemi to Nuorgam WAY north on the Norwegian border. I noticed after my comment that even the Finnish Wikipedia article mentions that it has been called the most beautiful road in Finland. This is of course subjective, and from a Finnish point of view: it's mountainous out there, and we don't have much of that in Finland, so it undoubtedly gets even more impressive on the other side of the border.
Thank you, I’ll look it up! 👍
The Oldest building in Mikkeli was built in the 1400s
Very interesting, thank you!
You ought to have smoked salmon, some barbeque ribs, mushroom salad, pickled cucumber, eggs, rye bread, season's potatoes, real butter, fresh tomatoes and spring onion, sour cream, a lots of beer, a bottle of vodka and some mixers my British friend.. :D
I knew I was going wrong somewhere!!
Rye bread, absolutely, and fried muikku
Sounds intriguing!
@@MattWhitingsEurope xD
muikku and smoked salmon! with some nice beer!
Great video again! I am not 100% sure, but I think those footprints on the beach were left by a moose and a common raccoon dog. Nice drone shots at Pistohiekka!
Thanks very much! Interesting, was wondering if I might have spotted a bear print.
10:16 Someone must have been walking their pet moose on the beach.
A pet moose? 😬
@@MattWhitingsEurope The first one, triangular, looked a little like a wolverine's or an otter's footprint.
Interesting. Thanks for the info!
As a Finn i am interested in your method of finding the interesting routes and sights to see in Finland. I have visited most of the towns and cities you visit but I do not have the tourists view of things so as such they just seem ordinary places for me. But I see there are many interesting and nice looking places we could visit with my family with a new open "touristy" mind set - which would surely be nice change for our normal summer holiday. But I find it a little difficult to map out those things in my own country. How or by what sources have you determined these routes or places would be interesting? And is there a route map you have followed during your journey? Thanks!
But, what are those food items your are carrying? Nothing decent to eat? Throw that shit into garbage and go buy some proper food. Anything goes but not those low grade snacks and soda! This is like some Murican got into Europe and didn't realize proper food is sold in every store. And as a former Londonian I would say you do not sound like a Murican?! 😉
Interesting question. It's a route that I developed myself over quite a few weeks, as you can imagine there was plenty of chopping and changing in the planning stages. I started by just plotting things I wanted to see onto Google Maps using the 'save' function. These were places I wanted to see, locations that were recommended to me during my previous Finland videos and areas I liked the look of whilst researching Finnish Lakeland. Once they were on the map I started working out a route based on the dates I was due to fly in and out of Helsinki Airport. I pretty much always book my accommodation before travelling for a few reasons: 1) it's usually cheaper and offers free cancellation, 2) it saves a load of time on the day, 3) it means I can better structure my days. The route I followed on this trip was a bit crazy but necessary to get as much in as possible, it weaves back and forth several times. Once I'd found accommodation (usually the cheapest available since I only need a place to sleep the night, arriving late and leaving early) I then spent a bit more time working out how I would fill each day.
Quite a few times I had to cancel my accommodation due to my plans changing, or realising I wasn't going to make it as far as I thought. To do this I check things like drive times on Google Maps and whilst plotting in certain stops I also like to leave my options open. For example, on Route 62 I only stopped at about half the places I had on my list, this was mainly due to time constraints. There was also a few places later on in the trip I had to skip due to unforeseen circumstances - you'll find out a bit more in the next video! I've got to say that I love the planning stage and really enjoy putting these trips together, nothing better than an empty page to begin with. There's something very satisfying and rewarding on the plane ride home knowing that all the plans that were sometimes months in the making have paid off.
In terms of the food, I take your point. 😆😆 However, I needed plenty of non-perishable food and drink as I knew there would be times on the trip where getting lunch or dinner would be an issue. I would have preferred a restaurant or cafe but due to my location there was nowhere available and I was hungry. I've experienced this many times before when travelling so having some 'junk food' in the car is essential to me. It's either that or nothing. Mind you, dinner wasn't much better - I ate at Burger King in Mikkeli and loved every second of it! Ooops!!
@@MattWhitingsEurope Cool to hear how you plan your trips. The planning stage sounds too stressful for me, whereas you seem to enjoy it the most. Luckily, there are many ways to go about a trip like this, so everyone can choose what they prefer. I would probably opt for a camper van of some sort so I wouldn't need to worry about booking the accomodation for each night. To get slightly philosophical, that would make the journey different even if the path was exactly the same.
James may approves.
Glad to hear it 😄
PS. That’s bloody good value for money for a one week car rental. Good to know.
Yes I agree, I thought it was going to be more than that! I think it might have worked out to 8 days so can't complain!
It is raining now here in Mikkeli. Sorry !
I must have visited at the right time. It had been raining the day before but I only got a few brief showers between Puumala and Mikkeli.
4:00 I don't think they would have been loaded onto a barge, but they would have simply been tied together into a loose raft and perhaps hauled with a boat.
You're right. A few others have mentioned this and I've now seen a video of them doing just that - incredible to see!! Thanks for the info.
Not to forget Lake Saimaa is connected to Lake Päijänne, Lake Vesijärvi and Lake Kallavesi/iso-Kalla forming a large and far reaching waterway.
Incredible isn't it? So vast it's actually quite hard to comprehend.
@@MattWhitingsEurope Just a day in the office for some... ua-cam.com/video/hw-BIPPO0Tg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/prachpDt0gE/v-deo.html
Lake Päijänne and Lake Vesijärvi is part of Kymijoki river watershed so they are not connected to Lake Saimaa. They were part of Lake Saimaa about 6000 years ago but now they are part of completely different watersheds 🤓.
I wonder how far you can get without leaving the water?! Great videos, enjoyed watching them and good to see it happening with my own eyes.
4:00 the logs wouldn't have been put on boats. They do float by themselves.
So they would have just been tugged away? Thanks for the info!
@@MattWhitingsEurope It is still being done in Saimaa ua-cam.com/video/prachpDt0gE/v-deo.html
An example of old time log rafting from riverds and rapids: ua-cam.com/video/VVMwX0a8OfI/v-deo.html
Great videos, thanks for posting! So much more impressive when you get to see it in action.
On rational level I know it's because pre-industrial farming societies had relatively low yields in area of modern day Finland, people had to live in small communities spread over large areas.
Still sometimes travelling in places like Savonia and Karelia I instictively start to ponder "why do people live where? What's here?"-
Why not? They were born there and their family and relatives have lived there for hundreds if not thousands of years.
People used to live around bodies of water, as it made movement easier and provides food. Lake Saimaa connected large areas together. Rivers do the same, for example Oulu and Kajaani is connected by waterway. Same applies to lake ladoga and Karelians. Oh, amd of course Saimaa is connected to ladoga and ladoga is connected to Gulf of Finland.
Hey, Knut, I smell bacon this way... ;) If that doesn't tell you anything, google it and Wulff-Morgenthaler. It's taken from comic strip.
ASIKKALA-SYSMÄ-LUHANKA-KORPILAHTI beats the shit out of this 1. Take my heed, driven it dozens of xxx. Always take that from LAHTI - JYVÄSKYLÄ.
Thank you! A few others have mentioned the same road, sounds like it's a good one. I've made a note of it so who knows! Maybe one day!! Thanks for the suggestion. 👍
Oh my. Unleaded fuel? That car must be really modern. 😆😆
The future is here!
Kaima = namesake
Thanks, got it!