Ahvenanmaa or Aland

I think I'll use the swedish name of the island since it's shorter, even though I have to spell it incorrectly, because if I used the scandinavian alphabets my foreign friends' computers might get really confused and mess it all up or even tilt. :-) Plus the Aland islanders prefer their swedish name and probably don't even like the fact that there's also a finnish name for their island.



So we left the kids with my dad and his wife and prayed that the grandparents will survive it. We left on Sunday arvo from Parainen and pedaled towards Korppoo (60 km).

We biked on a lot of different kinds of roads. Paved and unpaved bikepaths and along the driveways.

The archipelago in Finland is so pretty. It's amazing, consisting of over 20 000 islands. If you ever travel to Finland, you'll have to see it. There were some bridges with nice views and some ferry crossings.

On the second ferry we were the only passangers. Ferry trips were good moments for recovering.




At end of the day we took advantage of so called "Every man's rights" and set our camp on a hill near the harbor. Every man's rights is definitely one of the best things in Finland. They don't have that in Aland however, so we had to pay for our camping there. Sometimes when foreigners come to Finland, it takes some time for them to get used to the system. You are allowed to pick berries or camp for free on somebody else's land, for example.

"In Finland, everyone may walk, ski or cycle freely in the countryside (i.e. on all private land, except in gardens in the immediate vicinity of people’s homes or in fields and plantations which could easily be damaged. This right is called in Finnish the "jokamiehenoikeus", literally translated "every man's rights", similar to other Nordic countries. During the winter, however, skiing is permitted on fields). They may stay or set up camp temporarily in the countryside, a reasonable distance from homes, pick mineral samples, wild berries, mushrooms and flowers (as long as they are not protected species). They may fish with a rod and line, row, sail or use a motorboat on waterways (with certain restrictions), and swim or wash in both inland waters and the sea. They can walk, ski and fish on frozen lakes, rivers and the sea.

The right is restricted. They may not disturb other people or damage property, disturb breeding birds (or their nests or young), or disturb reindeer or game animals. They may not cut down or damage living trees, or collect wood, moss or lichen on other people’s property, nor may they light open fires on other people’s property (except in an emergency). They cannot disturb the privacy of people’s homes, by camping too near to them or making too much noise, and neither can they leave litter, drive motor vehicles off road without the landowner’s permission, or fish or hunt without the relevant permits." Source: Wikipedia

Next morning we woke up early since our ferry was leaving on 6.30 am. Great thing about ferries were that traveling was free for cyclist. I never realized that there is actually such a thing as free travelling. Trip to Aland took five hours. Ferry had a few stops on some of the island along the route. Ferry had a cafeteria so we had some hot chocolate for our morning tea.

Around noon we arrived to Langnas, Aland. We started our 35 km way to Maarianhamina, which is the capital and the only city in that region. We saw a nice spot for swimming along the way. So we had to have a dip. Oh it feels so wonderful to have a dive in cool water on your biking journey!





After our visit in Maarianhamina we headed to Bomarsund (40km). Bomarsund had some ruins of russian fortress that was blasted on Crimean War 1854 by british and french.

We saw some historical monuments as well as some vegetation and farm animals. We spent our night on camping ground. Unfortunately the sauna was fully booked, but Teemu had another swim. I settled just for a warm sauna and the luxury of some shampoo.




















Next day we took a ferry (5 min) and biked across Vardo island (14km). Then we took a ferry (3,5h) to Brando where we biked 12 km. We cauught a bus so that we could make it to Turku (100km) on the same day. From Turku we biked to Parainen (20km) to see the kids.

In following map you can see our route. Blue parts were by bike, red by ferry and green by bus. So we biked about 179km in three days. And I didn't even feel like I've had enough. Adiel was tad disappointed that he didn't get to come, but we promised that next time he could. I'm sure he could manage maybe about 30km/day. He loves riding his bike just as much as his mum and dad do!


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