Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
EXPLORING NORTHERN KAINUU
Kainuu is a sizeable swath of little-visited territory. As you head north, rivers and lakes be-
come steelier, you'll see traditional haystacks and farmsteads in the middle of nowhere,
and might spot your first reindeer or hear the howling of sled-dogs impatient for snow.
There are buses to Suomussalmi from Kajaani. Minibuses run between Suomussalmi
and Kuusamo via Hossa.
SUOMUSSALMI & AROUND
Suomussalmi, set on a pretty lakeside, is northern Kainuu's hub. Some of the bitterest
fighting of the Winter War, and Finland's greatest triumph, was around here, along the
Raate road. Rusted ordnance and memorials commemorate it, as does
Raatteen Portti
(
www.raatteenportti.fi
;
adult/child €8.50/5; 10am-5pm May-mid-Jun & Sep, 10am-7pm mid-
Jun-Aug), 20km east of town, a museum of memorabilia with a good audiovisual display.
Alongside, the moving
Avara Syli
monument is endowed with 105 bells, one for each day
of the war, and surrounded by a field of stones, one for each dead soldier.
Thirty kilometres north of Suomussalmi, on Rd 5 to Kuusamo, another unearthly field
confronts travellers;
Hiljainen Kansa
is a thousand scarecrow-like figures with heads of
peat and straw standing like mute witnesses to the triumphs and failures of humanity. A
creation of local choreographer Reijo Kela, they are given a biannual change of look by
locals donating clothes: you are welcome to swap shirts with one. A summer cafe along-
side does rustic coffee and pancakes on a wood stove.
HOSSA
This remote, strung-out settlement is wonderfully set up for fishing, hiking, snowmobiling
and cross-country skiing: there are many marked trails and numerous lakes. A
reindeer
park
(Hossa Reindeer Park;
www.hossanporopuisto.fi
;
boat trips adult/child €12/7; 9am-8pm mid-
Jun-Sep) offers meetings with these gentle antlered beasts and boat trips to a lake island.
9am-9pm mid-Jun-mid-Aug, 9am-8pm mid-Aug-Sep, 9am-4pm Oct) is a nature centre and cafe
arranging fishing permits and hiring equipment. It books the trail huts scattered around
child €4/1;
mid-Feb-Oct;
), with tent sites and cottages. Trails run from here deep into
