Hommikul ärgates kostis akna taga vihma sabin. Eilne päikesepaiste oli asendunud vihmaga. Taevas oli hall ja pilves. Tänane plaan on sõita Luleåst Oulusse. Nagu tavaliselt planeerisime mõned vahepeatused, et teepeale jäävate huvitavate kohtadega tutvuda. Vaatame kuidas see meil õnnestub.
Waking up in the morning, we could hear rain pattering outside the window. Yesterday’s sunshine had been replaced by rain. The sky was grey and overcast. Today’s plan is to ride from Luleå to Oulu. As usual we planned a few stops along the way, to get to know the interesting places on our route. Let’s see how we manage.
Esimeseks peatuseks on kirikuküla Luleå külje all. Esmapilgul ei paista see kuidagi väga eriline välja, aga tegemist on tegelikult päris kummalise asjaga. Nimelt ei ole kiriku ümber olevad majad kellegi alalised elukohad. Tegelikult on nendes majades alaliselt elamine hoopis keelatud. Need majad on mõnes mõttes nagu suvekodud, ainult kui tänapäeva suvekodud on mõeldud puhkamiseks (või eestlaste puhul pigem töö tegemiseks), siis need on mõeldud hinge eest hoolt kandmiseks. Kuna kirik kattis suurt piirkonda ja inimesed elasid kirikust sageli päris kaugel, siis oli selline majake kiriku kõrval päris hea lahendus.
Our first stop is the church town just outside Luleå. At first glance it does not look particularly special, but it is actually a rather curious thing. The houses around the church are nobody’s permanent home. Living in them permanently is in fact forbidden. In a way these houses are like summer homes, except that while today’s summer homes are meant for resting (or, for Estonians, rather for getting work done), these were meant for taking care of the soul. As the parish covered a large area and people often lived quite far from the church, a little house like this next to the church was a rather good solution.
Inimesed kogunesid kirikukülasse erinevate kirikupühade ajal. Suhtlesid nii oma pere liikmete kui ka tuttavatega ja pühendasid aega kirikus käimisele. See kõlab tegelikult ju päris mõnusa puhkusena.
Vihm sadas aga vahetpidamata. Vihmariietega ei ole see tegelikult midagi väga hullu. Kõige ebamugavam on kindad, mis ikkagi läbimärjaks lähevad. Lisaks tekkisid aeg-ajalt probleemid telefoni laadimisega. Kasutan vana telefoni GPSina ja vihma käes hakkas see hädaldama, ning käskis laadimisjuhtme koheselt välja võtta.
People gathered in the church town for the various church holidays. They spent time with family members and acquaintances alike, and devoted time to going to church. That actually sounds like a rather pleasant holiday.
The rain, however, kept falling without a break. With rain gear it is really not all that bad. The most uncomfortable part is the gloves, which get soaked through anyway. On top of that there were occasional problems with charging the phone. I use an old phone as a GPS, and out in the rain it started complaining and ordered me to unplug the charging cable immediately.
Lõunapausi tegime Kukkolaforsenis. See on vana kaluriküla piirijõe Rootsi poolel. Teisel pool jõge on juba Soome. Küla asub kärestikulise koha peal, kus püütakse kala traditsioonilisel meetodil kahvaga. Nagu pildilt näha on külas isegi sellist kalapüüki kujutav monument. Üleval oleval pildil on väikselt näha ka tegelikult kahvaga kala püüdev mees. Seda kas kala püüti turistide lõbustamiseks või mõnel muul põhjusel jäigi selgusetuks. Igatahes pakuti jõeäärses restoranis traditsioonilist siia kala, mis maitses väga hea. Siig ongi põhiline kala mille poolest see koht kuulus on.
We stopped for lunch at Kukkolaforsen. It is an old fishing village on the Swedish side of the border river. The other bank is already Finland. The village sits at a stretch of rapids where fish are caught by the traditional method, with a dip net. As can be seen in the picture, the village even has a monument depicting this kind of fishing. In the picture above you can also see, small in the frame, a man actually catching fish with a dip net. Whether the fishing was done to entertain tourists or for some other reason remained unclear. In any case, the riverside restaurant served traditional whitefish, which tasted very good. Whitefish is the main fish this place is known for.
Kukkolaforsenis vihm vaibus ja korraks isegi näitas päikest. Kuna me aga hakkasime nüüd tagasi lõuna poole liikuma, siis jõudsime jälle vihmapilvede alla ja sõit Oulu poole jätkus vihmasabina saatel kiivritel. Kohati oli vihm päris tugev, aga meid see ei seganud ja liikusime edasi oma tänase viimase peatuse poole. Selleks oli vana sadam kohas nimega Ii. See on säilinud suhteliselt autentsena oma tavapäraste punaste kalurimajakestega.
At Kukkolaforsen the rain eased and for a moment the sun even came out. But as we now started moving back south, we ended up under the rain clouds again, and the ride towards Oulu continued with rain pattering on our helmets. At times the rain was quite heavy, but it did not bother us and we carried on towards our last stop of the day. This was the old harbour at a place called Ii. It has survived relatively authentically, with its customary little red fishermen’s houses.
Vanas sadamas oli ka väike muuseum, mis eksponeeris erinevaid kalapüügi, palkide parvetamisega ja muude kohalike tegevustega seotud esemeid. Küla läbival jõel toimus ka palkide parvetamine. Sellele oli pühendatud eraldi toake muuseumis.
The old harbour also had a small museum, exhibiting various objects connected with fishing, log floating and other local activities. Logs were also floated down the river running through the village. A separate little room in the museum was devoted to that.
Muuseumikohviku trepil jätsime hüvasti sõbraliku koeraga. Ka hakkas vihm vaibuma. Üks tore kohviku töötaja näitas meile oma arvutis isegi ilmaradarit ja julgustas meid, et vihm lõppeb peatselt. Nii liikusimegi edasi meie tänase lõpp-peatuse poole Oulus.
On the steps of the museum café we said goodbye to a friendly dog. The rain was easing off as well. One kind café worker even showed us the weather radar on their computer and assured us that the rain would soon be over. And so we moved on towards our final stop of the day in Oulu.
Oulu on päris suur linn, mille elanike arv ületab 200 tuhandet. Linn on ka pindalalt päris suur, kuna liitunud on mitmed asulad, mis ajalooliselt olid eraldiseisvad. Sellel linnal on olnud kaks õitsenguperioodi. Linna sünd on seotud tõrvakaubandusega. Tõrva valmistamine toimus Kainuu piirkonnas sisemaal, aga Oulust sai värav mille kaudu toimus tõrvakaubandus. Tõrv oli hinnaline strateegiline kaup, seda vajasid kõik riigid, kellel oli sõjalaevastik, sest tõrvamine on väga oluline laevade hooldusel. Tõrva valmistamisel kõigepealt männipuud kooriti selliselt, et puu jääks elama ja koguks endasse võimalikult palju tõrva. Tõrvapuud koguti tõrvapõletusauku ja kaeti sambla ja turbaga. Selliselt põledes vaik sulas ja voolas puudest välja. See äri lõppes koos puidust laevade kadumisega.
Oulu is quite a large city, with a population of over 200 thousand. It is also fairly large in area, as several settlements that were historically separate have been merged into it. This city has had two periods of flourishing. The city’s birth is connected with the tar trade. Tar was made inland in the Kainuu region, but Oulu became the gateway through which the tar trade passed. Tar was a valuable strategic commodity, needed by every country that had a navy, because tarring is very important in the maintenance of ships. To make tar, pine trees were first barked in such a way that the tree would stay alive and gather as much tar into itself as possible. The tar trees were collected into a tar-burning pit and covered with moss and peat. Burning like this, the resin melted and flowed out of the wood. That business ended along with the disappearance of wooden ships.
Teine õitseaeg on Oulus praegu. Siin on tuntud Oulu ülikool ja Nokia võrguseadmete tootmise keskus. Nokia telefone me enam müügil ei näe, kuid erinevate mobiilside võrguseadmete tootmises on ettevõte endiselt kõva maailmatasemel tegija. Oulus toimubki nende tootmine. Koostöös ülikooliga toimub 6G sidelahenduste väljatöötamine ja siin samas asub ka tootmiskompleks kus tänapäevaseid seadmeid toodetakse. Tänu sellele on Oulus palju noori ja siin töötab inimesi üle kogu maailma. Lisaks on Nokia insenerid aluse pannud ka mitmetele uutele ettevõtmistele.
The second flourishing is happening in Oulu right now. Here are the well-known University of Oulu and Nokia’s network equipment production centre. We no longer see Nokia phones on sale, but in the manufacture of mobile network equipment the company is still a serious world-class player. It is in Oulu that they are produced. 6G communication solutions are being developed together with the university, and right here is also the production complex where modern equipment is made. Thanks to this there are many young people in Oulu, and people from all over the world work here. Nokia’s engineers have also laid the foundations for a number of new ventures.
Piltidel on erinevad objektid mis linnas jalutades silma jäid. Ülevalpool on konteinersaun. See on avalik saunaruum kuhu igaüks saab aja broneerida. Üks tund ühele inimesele maksis 8 – 12 eurot sõltuvalt kellaajast. Kui me sellest mööda jalutasime, siis oli näha laval istuvaid saunalisi kes nautisid leiliruumi aknast vaadet jõele.
Siis Oulu katedraal. Astusime sinna ka korra sisse ja nautisime parajasti käimas olevat oreli ja marimba kontserti. Silma jäi ka Oulu vangla, mis asus suhteliselt linna keskel ja nägi välja väga inimlik.
The pictures show various things that caught our eye while walking around the city. Above is the container sauna. It is a public sauna room that anyone can book a slot in. One hour for one person cost 8 – 12 euros depending on the time of day. As we walked past it, we could see bathers sitting on the sauna benches, enjoying the view of the river from the steam room window.
Then Oulu Cathedral. We stepped inside for a moment as well and enjoyed an organ and marimba concert that was going on at the time. Oulu prison also caught our eye, sitting fairly centrally in the city and looking very humane.
Võrreldes Eestiga oleme ikka kõvasti põhja pool. Selle tunnistuseks on ka õitsevad pärnad. Eestis õitsesid need juba mitu nädalat tagasi.
Compared with Estonia we are still a good deal further north. The lindens in bloom are testimony to that. In Estonia they flowered several weeks ago already.
Meie tänane teekond | Our trip today