Around Ilomantsi

(Post number 5 of camp school in Ilomantsi, to find out more read 4 previous posts)

Ilomantsi is known to be the eastest place in mainland of EU, the place of many war historic events, Kalevala community which cherishes carelian culture, the most orthodox municipality in Finland and the place with lots of wilderness and wild animals. On our tours in Ilomantsi we got to see all of that.

We visited game research department in Ahvenjärvi. I had never visited there before and it was very interesting. I enjoyed learning of they our government takes care of our game animals. In this map you can see where in Finland we've got these research centers. I think my pupils also enjoyed getting in touch with something so out of their world.

Visit in game research department was very educating our next stop was too but mostly it was an experience. We got to go to the frontier zone. We had to get permissions from the local border guards. We went to see the actual point which is the eastest in mainland EU in Virmajärvi. WE had to drive there 50 minutes or maybe more from the downtown of Ilomantsi. There we heard how our frontier guarding operates but kids were more interested in looking to the Russian side. We could also see the parts that used to belong to Finland! Ilomantsi has 100 kilometers common borderline with Russia. So being just a stone throw away from Russian side can be very exotic!

Here you can see the boundary marks of Finlan and Russia.



We had lunch in a laplander's hut in frontier zone. I am a fire watcher so havig lunch on campfire is so awesome!

On our way back from the frontier zone we visited Taistelijan talo Fighter's house in English. Basically it's an war museum but there is also an restaurant. The short movie of war in Ilomantsi made me cry. It was very well made! Boys loved the cannons!

In this kind of sleihgs people used when they had to evacue from their homes because of the war.

We heard stories of many fights of wars on our bus drive when we passed some fighting area. Our quide from Erämantsi was very good. Get to know the War History of Ilomantsi here.

Maybe the most wanted thing on our camp school was to get to the downtown of Ilomantsi shopping. Children had the time for themselves. While we camped in the middle of nowhere they had already started to miss sivilication! In my opinion the downtown of Ilomantsi is a little bit boring and of course it's very small but kids enjoyed their freedom!

Together we visited the crafts center of Ilomantsi, company called Mantsin Makie which makes jellys and juices of the gifts of the wilderness of Ilomantsi (very good) and the local rehabilitation center were we went swimming.

In a crafts center I've used a lot of time when I was a little girl. My mom would go there to weave and I spend time under the rug loom with my brother. I have good memories of those visits and I could recall the smell of that place. One day I'm going to weave my own rug too like my mom did.

The rehabilitation center Pääskynpesä is very familiar to me too. It was built in Ilomantsi when I was in senior high school. I had always loved swimming and worked as a swim teacher on lakes two summers in Ilomantsi. So it was very natural that I started coathcing the little swimmers of Ilomantsi. I already had been coaching Finnish baseball (pesäpallo) several years and had liked doing it. Pääskynpesä also situated very close to my home so I went swimming on my own a lot. Later on I even worked as a life-guard over there for a little while.

After swimming we had a snack on the back yard of the Pääskynpesä. Look how beautiful is the scenery:

Because of the high rate of members of the orthodox church I took my class to the orthodox church. It's also situated close to my childhood home so even though I never belonged to the orthodox church it became very familiar to me. Every summer I would go to the summer camp arrenged by the orthodox church (never went to the lutheran one -funny) and very many of my friends were orthodox. Even now at the church I met several acquaintance. Well, boys in my class couldn't help laughing at the church because of the constant singing and reciting. I wasn't prepared for that because the orthodox church is so familiar to me. here is the orthodox church of Ilomantsi:

If you are in Ilomantsi you can't miss the oportunity to listen Kantele, our national instrument! When I was a child I played it. Unfortunately I can't do it anymore, at least not very well. I really wish I could! I love the sound of it. And the second time on this camp school I cried in the concert but this time I cried hard! Listening songs like Iltakaste Ilomantsissa, Konevitsan kirkonkellot and Karjalan kunnailla made me realize that my roots really are in Ilomantsi.

Möhkö

(post number 4 of camp school in Ilomantsi, to find out more read 3 previous posts)

If you ever go to Ilomantsi you must visit Möhkö! And that's what we did. In Möhkö is a unique Pytinki Iron Mill Museum. The museum shows how the iron was processed from lake ore in Möhkö since 1849. It's a large area in where are indoors museums showing the life at that age and outdoors you can see renewed canals, locks, blast furnace and other buildings etc. See the map of the area here.

At the top is the picture of the rapids of Möhkö. Here is a Picture of the main building of the museum called Pytinki. The factory owners used to live in there. Other pictures are from inside the Pytinki.

In the side buolding there is a museum which shows the life of the living in logging site cabins. I really liked the museum a lot. Somehow the hard living at those times is very interesting and I can't stop wondering how on earth did people survive on those days. Must admire them! I have hard time if I loose my cell phone...

I really love these handcrafts made by men in their logging cabins. I should by something like that home to remind me of the works of my ancesters.

Outside you can see canals, locks (still operating) and factory buildings, but the loveliest thing is the love path. One factory owner had it made for her wife while living for a rich lady in a factory area can be very boring. As a child walking on the path set my imagination to fly. I imagined how the people had arrenged secret meetings on the path, walked there hand in hand and maybe changed a kiss. The truth is more boring while it was only to the rich lady who very seldom had her busy husband with her there. Anyway I would even imagine that someday I will go to the love path with my loved one. For some reason I haven't done that yet. One more reason to go back to Ilomantsi one day!!

















There is a Manta cafe boat in the area too. Manta used to inhabit men that where on logging business in the middle of nowhere. It was a convienent thing while you could move the cabin when the logging business changed place. In Manta there are also museum rooms. And I heard that it has a rental sauna! Well, where in Finland isn't a sauna? They also have large variety of other services including tours to the middle of wildlife (even with wheel chairs).

















Lastly I want to share a very special moment that I had on the bridge you can see above. When I listened the sounds of the rapids I understood very deeply a song called Suomen laulu. It tells us to listen how Finland sings or sounds and I could here it in the rapids. I remember first hearing this song when I was a little child. My father was a member of a men's choir and they performed it. It impressed me already then and has been one of my top favourite songs ever since. I taught it to my pupils and had them fall in love with it too. Well, not all but many. When we were asked to performe they many times suggested the very same Suomen laulu. So we have song it several times. One of the finest moments was when we got to sing it in Olavin linna on our way back from camp school. The echo was something very different and so was the setting!

So if you visit Möhkö you might end up experiencing Finland very deeply. In the meantime go and listen Suomen laulu composed by Fredric Pacius the same man who composed our national hymn.

Paddling

(Post number 3 of camp school in Ilomantsi, read 2 previous posts to find out more)

At the same day we hiked in the forest we went paddling. I like it a lot. The water is so near to you in a canoe and the view from the lake is so different than from the shore. We went canoeing in two groups. The first group did a bigger route but run into problems because of heavy wind which arose quickle. Those kids in that group they were exhausted when they got back. They really had a full day of exercise! The other group complained that they would have wanted to do the bigger route while they didn't get to see the other lake. Otherwise children loved it. Actually it became the most wanted thing to do in the evenings on the spare time.

I guess that the calm water and no engine noise and pieceful paddling were something so different to the city kids that they learned to love it. The weather was very good all the time we spend in Ilomantsi. Once again I enjoyed my work fully. I really didn't mind guarding the canoeing while it ment sitting on the dock and watching the calm lake and how sun set its tail on it. It was so relaxing!!! I even started thinking that could it be possible to live on the lake some day. Well, only God knows if that'll happen some day. Hopefully!
Isn't God the greatest artist of all?!

hiking in Ilomantsi

(Post number 2 of camp school in Ilomantsi, read previous post to find out more)

Maybe the biggest treasure in Ilomantsi is its forests, lakes, bonds, swamps etc. It seems like there are millions of trees and water all over. When I was a child we made forest picnics every weekend at least once. I've learned to love those woods and lakes of Ilomantsi. So it felt REAL good to be back there.

The first day of the camp took us treking. We walked a part of the route called Taitajan taival. It's about 22 km long but we walked only then kilometers from the camp to the national park of Petkeljärvi. I enjoyed it a lot! The scenery is so beautiful all the way and it was so good to be in a quiet forest and get calm in it. It was hard to think that I was working. I enjoyed it too mcuh. Well, children didn't. Of course the landscape made an impression on them but they thought their teacher is crazy while she demands them to walk so long!! i think that city kids needed that and when they are older they might appericiate the fact that they've had that experience. At least I was able to boost them telling how proud I am of the fact that they made it all the way!

Hopefully you'll calm down with these pictures from Taitajan taival:

On the route there are places to take break. You can light a fire and there might be a dike for you to use too. We took two breaks. On that other place to rest it's possible to be with wheelchair. A local rec-center has special ferry with which they can bring eight persons with their wheel chairs to enjoy the refreshing forest. I think that's very good service!