There's something about Ähtäri...

There's something about Ähtäri... I realized that in April this year when I first visited this place in Southern Pohjanmaa region.

It's 4 hours away from Helsinki when you take a train, or 3,5 hours when you drive a car from Helsinki. The highway until Tampere is very good (two lanes each way), after that the good road ends...but also traffic is much thinner, so it's not that bad at all. If you take the train, then you need to change a train in Seinäjoki, but if you drive then you won't pass that town.

Ähtäri is a small town with just 6400 people living in that area. It's a place where you won't really hear any other language except for Finnish and won't really see any people with a different skin colour. So people will stare at you if you happen to speak in a different language or speak Finnish with an accent.

In April the area was still sleeping in deep winter like a bear stretching its sore limbs ready to crawl out of its den. You couldn't make the difference where the lake or the golf field was as everything was still under the snow.

The train that took us to Ähtäri from Seinäjoki had just 2 wagons. When we first saw the train we thought they sent a bus to fetch us :) There was not a soul at Ähtäri train station as if the town was still hibernating.

Well, soon we saw a bus that came to pick us up and town tourism office people met us. Elina Viitanen -- the soul of Ähtäri Resort -- was one of them. She was our guide thoughout the two days we stayed in Ähtäri. 

The first place they took us to was Valkeisen Loma tourism farm. We stepped out of the bus....and saw a living shaman in front of us who told us to follow him. OK. It's getting interesting! He took us into a Lappish teepee (FIN: kota) with fire burning in the centre and seats all around it covered in reindeer skins.

The shaman's wife was bringing out local delicacies. We were hungry from the long journey up to the North and we couldn't wait to taste what they had prepared for us. We were given wood plates to eat on.

• savoury smoked salmon
• muffins with reindeer meat
• various salads
• warm home baked bread with melting butter on it

It was heavenly! I wish we could have that food at school! Should we ask the muffin recipe? 

We all had seconds :)

After a hearty meal we were taken to the reindeer field shelter right next to the kota. They had 6 reindeer (FIN: poro), one of them albino white called Lumikko. They allowed us to feed them with Iceland moss. It was like candy for kids :) They ate and ate and couldn't get enough of it. No wonder, they can't just wander around in the forest and scrape some moss from under the snow. Glad we could be of help to them :)

These reindeer work as well -- they pull sledges. Some are still being trained, some are already experienced. We didn't get to experience a sleigh ride, though. Maybe next time then...

Then we were taken to the Ähtäri Zoo. They keep there only these animals that live in Finland and they keep them in really big cages so they could have more room to roam about. No wonder they need space if they have about 10 big moose in the same closed space :) The moose were really friendly and one of them allowed us even to pet him. I still can't believe I actually touched a moose :) We were even allowed to feed the moose with birch branches and some granules they eat.

By the way, they also have 3 species that do not naturally live in Finland: bisons, snow leopards and wild boar. The latter used to live once in Finnish forests, but now only in the zoos.

The adult bear the zoo has looked surprisingly fat and healthy although it had just woken up from its hibernation (or do they not sleep in the zoos?), but its cubs looked as if they hadn't eaten for a very long time, though.

The was an accident in the wolf pack just the night before: two males got into a fight and the weaker one got bitten in the leg and was limping badly. Natural selection happens even in zoos. The vet was supposed to come that day to check the wolf, but if it won't let, then it'll die.


The next stop was at Naava Resort -- fancy villas by the lake. They are very close to the zoo, right by the lake, like many other accommodation resorts in the area. However, Naava villas stand out for their top-notch interior and amenities.

Most of the villas were still under construction. Looked like they wanted to get them ready for the high season of summer.

Oh, yeah, the minimum booking days is 7 days and in July you'd pay about 2000€ for a weekly stay there. But think, a villa can fit as many as 8 persons! Not bad, I'd say.

After the posh villa tour we were taken to FamilyGolf Par3X. All we could actually see was the club house and café because the golf course was hidden under the snow. You couldn't actually even tell where the course was located :) If all the other golf courses usually require you have a Green Card and a golf club membership then Par3X doesn't -- everyone can go and play there. I wish we had come there in summertime!

So instead of playing snow-golf we went on a snow safari with snowmobiles. I decided to sit in the back and have a stronger person drive -- it was hard work to hold on to the snowmobile and not to fly off when it jumped on the snow! They told us we were driving on the frozen lake. I have but to believe them, as for me it looked just as a regular field. What long lake it was!

My hands were shaking with adrenalin after the ride so that I had to hold on to my hot chocolate cup with two hands in order not to spill any. WOW! What a ride!

Elina Viitanen, one of the owners of the FamilyGolf, had baked us some pies and muffins. WOW! What a treat!

It was time for a relaxing sauna now! We were taken to Hyvölän Talo -- one of the first farms in Ähtäri dating back to as long as 1570! The farm has been within the same family for 443 years!!! The current owners are the 14th generation. Amazing! The current buildings are not that old, of course, just 100 years :) Anyway, they had prepared a smoked sauna for us. I've been to a smoke sauna (FIN: savusauna) before so it wasn't anything new to me. If you think then smoke sauna has no chimney, therefore all the smoke stays in the building and you'll smell like smoked ham afterwards :) What more, your eyes start itching because of the smoke. So you just have to get out of the sauna every now and again. They had a hot tub right outside the sauna by the frozen lake. Some of the bravest ones dipped themselves into the ice-cold lake water as well. Well, ice swimming is  not really for me. I could do a +10C degree water in a spa, but not in the frozen lake :) There was a gorgeous view from the hut tub over the frozen lake and the sunset!

After the relaxing sauna we were served a hearty meal. How delicious can be homemade food! All the Ähtäri Resort people that took care of us that day were there with us and we had a lovely dinner together.  Elina, the fairy of the resort, was singing to us. But she also made us sing in Finnish an old traditional song. She wanted us all engaged in it, so each of us got an instrument to play on -- really simple one so even those who couldn't play any instrument could play along. She definitely knows how to entertain people! But that wasn't all. She also asked us to compose a song about our experience in Ähtäri that day. Mission impossible was actually viable :) Our group of four came up with a song that we named "Little Lapland" because we thought that Ähtäri has all the attractions that Lapland has. So why go to Lapland if you can have the magic of Lapland much closer to the capital!

The day was long but full of various experiences. It was time to go to bed. We stayed at Hirvimökit (Deer Cottages) which were very close to the zoo, right by the lake.

The rent of these cottages is lower than that of Naava villas (just 690€/week). They fit 6 persons (1 queen bed and 4 twin beds). It's a really nice and spacious cabin with a big kitchen and bathroom. And, of course, it has a sauna and a fireplace.

The next morning we were welcomed back to the Valkeisen Loma for breakfast. The resort entrepreneurs and the town of Ähtäri were interested in getting valuable feedback from us, the Experience and Wellness Management students. We were all so amazed by how warm and welcoming the people of Ähtäri were. Having come from Helsinki, it is a totally different world -- relaxing, slow, quiet, surprising, exciting, engaging and involving place. A place to come back!

And I did come back :) But more about that in my next posting...