Finland from top to bottom in 20 weeks - on foot

Expedition CHARGE Across Europe arriving in Helsinki

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By Mari Karjalainen
     
      An unusual sight is approaching the Finnish capital along the side of Vanha Lahdentie, the old highway from Lahti to Helsinki.
      Two naturally-tanned people are striding south on the road, each of them pulling a large sled on wheels, with an Alsatian dog jogging beside them.
      They all look full of beans, even though they have been travelling on foot for several months.
      The expedition team consists of two Swiss residents, the South African adventure guide Ruan de Flamingh (born in 1977) and the Swiss-Hungarian social educationalist Tina de Flamingh (b. 1978), as well as their Belgian-born dog Akela, who is the baby of the group at just 8 years.
     
The threesome started their expedition from Cape Nordkinn, the northernmost point in Norway, on March 10th. Their goal is to walk to Cape Tenaro (also known as Cape Matapan), the southernmost point of Greece, in two and a half years.
      The route will take the travellers through 13 countries, three winters, and three summers, and the 8,000 kilometre expedition will be covered entirely on foot, without making use of ferries or trains.
     
The team crossed the Finnish border at Nuorgam at the beginning of April, and is to arrive in Helsinki today - Tuesday.
      They describe the Finnish climate as ”extreme weather conditions”, saying that ”We carry on walking even if it rains. It can sometimes be hard, when the equipment is soaked and we get wet feet.”
     
The travellers regard Finns as open people. ”Most Finns speak good English, and even those who do not speak English have communicated with us by gesturing or drawing”, the de Flaminghs report.
      According to the couple, the first line of conversation with Finns is something like: ”Come and have a sauna, we'll put the barbecue on, and you can come and have supper with us.”
      ”Finns like karaoke, heavy metal music, and trampolines. Boy, they like trampolines. We have been amazed to see a large trampoline in almost every yard along our route”, says Ruan de Flamingh, shaking his head.
      The young couple say that Finns look healthy and less stressed than other Europeans.
      It's probably all that trampolining.
     
The team’s travel budget is ”practically non-existent”.
      ”We nearly always sleep in a tent in the forest. However, a father and his son offered us accommodation in Ivalo, and in Sodankylä, a female library-bus driver took us home with her”, reports Ruan de Flamingh.
      At present, the team has done 1,700 km on foot.
      ”Our feet hurt, yes, but no blisters have appeared as yet”, the adventurers say.
      Both travellers pull a large ”pulka” on wheels, with a load of 60 to 100 kilos on each.
      The eight-year-old Akila is carrying its own sleeping bag, food, and some leaflets in panniers straped across on its back.
     
”Actually, these flyers contain the most important message of the trip. The purpose of this expedition is to raise awareness for a genetic condition called Charge syndrome. A child of our friends was born with the syndrome”, reports Ruan de Flamingh.
      Charge syndrome - the name is an acronym for the six distinct congential features previously used in making a disgnosis of the ailment - has an estimate prevalence of one in ten thousand individuals.
     
The expedition team will be in need of rest when they arrive in the capital, as they have been walking some 20 to 30 kilometres every day over the past few weeks.
      ”We will have to wash our tents and clothes. We will also try to find a Russian-speaking guide who could assist us in crossing the border to Russia. We have heard that one is not allowed to go over the the border on foot”, Ruan de Flamingh ponders.
     
When they start out again around September 7th, they will naturally be walking east to get to Russia and St. Petersburg (no ferry crossing across the Gulf to Tallinn for them), and then cutting back westwards to take in the Estonian capital.
      After that it is a long haul down through Latvia, Lithuania, Minsk in Belarus, Warsaw in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and finally to Greece, entering via Thessaloniki, passing through Athens, and on to the coast at Cape Tenaro.
      All being well, they should be looking out over the Aegean in the latter part of 2010.
     
      The full route, as well as information on how to sponsor the walkers, is given on the couple's website below.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.8.2008


Links:
  Expedition Earth - CHARGE Across Europe
  Charge Syndrome Foundation

MARI KARJALAINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
mari.karjalainen@hs.fi