Jussi and Maria drove us 1hr to Turku ferry terminal to catch an overnight ferry to Stockholm
Janni (26), me, Santery (13) and sk
from top left (clockwise): Jussi, Maria, baby Temo (1.5), Paolina, me, Santery (who became a good friend with sk) and sk
their cat, Mona, 16 years old. she looked like Garfield...
sunset
Jussi drove us 12hrs down south to his place, which is more than 1,000km from Muonio.
1 of the 2 small holiday house...
Pallastunturi (Pallas mountain) - with their treeless slopes, it is one of Finland's most popular skiing areas. in winter, this mountain will be filled with snow...
from left: maria, sk and jussi
Jussi and Maria drove us out for a walk...
it was cold outside the house but inside the house, it was always kept warm with heaters and fireplace. we also get to sweat every night at their saunas...
the holiday house where we put up for 2 nights... it seemed quite common for scandinavians to have holiday/summer houses. Jussi and Maria has 2 other smaller ones around Muonio. these houses were usually passed down from their parents, grandparents or relatives...
it was snowing outside. temperature was -1 degree celcius
our friend, Riikka, arranged for us a car pool with 2 Finns (Timo and XXX) to Lapland (the arctic circle region). it saved us quite a bit of money. Timo charged us 45 euros for the ride. a train + bus ride would have cost us at least 150 euros. 
2 nights before we leave, Riikka and Hannu bought us dinner at a Thai restaurant where they frequent...
a short picnic in the forest
trying to "siam" the waters
another Sunday walk to a forest
solving a sudoku puzzle at Hannu's place
yes, I support the cause of the Burmese monks
our daily visits to Lahti library for english newspapers and magazines...
a lovely sight in the countryside
me, Riikka and Berta
walking back to Riikka's cottage after 2hrs
stacked hay
a glance back to check where they are ...
but fortunately, we have climbed out of the barbed wired fence...
then they came chasing after us...
we walked quickly to the exit...
Riikka brought us for a nice walk around the countryside. these cows didn't sound quite happy when they saw us walking in their territory. first, they stared at Riikka's dog, then they stared at each of us and made some very loud noise. they sounded angry and so...
2 finnish children having a good time riding through the countryside. they didnt have to put in any effort cos their grandfather was pulling their cars in front... 
it was nice to be with Marketa again after 3 years since i met her in Nepal. she was traveling around the world at that time and her total expenditure was only 4,000 euros in 14 months!
after a hearty finnish home-made buffet, the invited musicians started to play some nice musics for the crowd using a piano and a violin
Eva's 3 weeks old grand-daughter
rock-a-bye baby 
my finnish friend, Riikka, brought us to her countryside cottage for a harvest party. here's her elder sister, Evaritta, giving a speech to the invited friends and relatives
ski jumping - the ski jumpers took gondolas up and then ski all the way down these green tracks
Lahti stadium / sports complex
mushrooms
nice apartments beside the river
here's a big river
this duck has a blue and green head.
a small lake
on a local train to Lahti, which is just an hour away from Helsinki
i noticed that all the chairs outside every cafe were lined in theatre style 
the red bricked Orthodox Upensky Cathedral
arrived at Helsinki ferry terminal after 4 hours
