Enonkoski

Enonkoski is just north of and far preferable to (ie less ugly than) Savonlinna, the main town of the Lakes District in Finland. We were lucky to get a room to stay here -- rocking up at about 5pm only to find the front door of the hostel locked, taking a peek around the back and finding a cleaning lady just finishing up for the day at the adjoining cafe. The hostel was totally empty and we hadn't made a reservation, so the whole place was closed, but she very kindly opened it all up for us. Just 10 minutes later and we would have been sleeping among the trees that night!



There was a kick ass sunset later on -- about 9pm or so -- that made the forest look like it was ablaze, but it stayed light for aaaages after the sun set. Now I know what twilight is all about. Wandering about, I found a little hill where some industrious lumber jacks had built a little hut (a sauna perhaps? It was locked so I couldn't check it out).



The high season for travel in the Nordic countries is the winter or the summer but late spring is the low season (this explains the closed hostel, one of many we've encountered). You don't get to see the Northern lights or ski or hike, but watching the ice crack is a rare treat that only happens around this time. Many of the lakes we saw were half frozen over, gently lapping water on one side and a sheet of ice on the other, with slabs of ice washed up on the shore like a frozen tide. Listening to the ice cracking on the lakes oh so delicately is a deliciously still activity, like listening to someone beside you in bed carefully turning over so as not to wake you.