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IPPNW Baltic Bike Tour 2006
- Medical Students Cycle for Peace -
August 21st - September 6th
D.
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Day
12
Friday, September 1st
Back in Europe - from Torfjanovka to Virojoki
Michael, Pauli and Benni leading the way
in a drive towards the border
 After
a good night's sleep (also due to the yummy blini dinner Nino
prepared for the group), the group split up again in the morning - the
bikers heading over the border, Alex and Andrzej hitchhiking back to
Vyborg to look after the car and hopefully speed up the process of
getting it fixed... The spare parts still had not been found and it was
more than uncertain whether the adventure could continue that same day.
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Last stop before the
border crossing
 In
the meantime, the bikers made it
to the border with most of their luggage (what they were not able to
carry along with them had to be left at the Motel). Once at the border,
there were a few troubles for the three bikers from the Philippines,
Egypt and Nigeria, which the group got rather upset about.
Surprisingly, however, no troubles were made by the Russian border
guards, despite Josh not having his immigration card and not everyone
having his passport stamped in St. Petersburg. |
Crossing back into Europe
 After
crossing the border, they
met Soila, the new Finnish participant in
Vilimaa. She introduced herself that evening as the group's "Mother
Goose" and took great care of everyone on their first day in Finland.
Packed with their heavy luggage and aching under the ups and downs of
the Finnish countryside, the group hardly had the time to appreciate
the beautiful landscapes. Only when they got to the campsite in the
middle of a mossy forest and saw the sun set over the fir trees did
they realize that they had arrived in a beautiful country.
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 Waiting
for Alex
and Andrzej, the participants used the time to get to know each other
and exchange ideas on several political campaigns they had in mind for
their trip through Finland. The topic of the "Fortress Europe" was
discussed intensively after today's incidents at the border and the
mood grew more relaxed, despite there being no word form Andrzej and
Alex... So what had happened?
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 Alex
and Andrzej had returned by hitchhike to Vyborg, where they had
continued pressuring the mechanics to speed up. At a little after 6
o'clock, the crew had finally finished the car and test-driving it,
Alex found it to drive even better than before. Stopping on the way
only for some last-minute vodka-shopping, the two of them returned to
the Motel, threw everything into the van and crossed the border 4 hours
before their visas ran out. |
 Saying
Dosvidanya to the Russian border guards and singing the European Anthem
"Ode to Joy", they drove across the border and surprised the rest of
the group on their campsite - with two bottles of finest Russian vodka
in their hands and a lot of stories to tell, they gathered around the
campfire and talked until early morning... |
André, Ulli and
Josh around the campfire
 Soila
sent the group to sleep eventually with a Finnish lullabye and
except for the few people who stayed up, staring at the crystal clear
sky and the milky way, the group fell into deep slumber...
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 So now, everyone
is in Finland and starting tomorrow morning, the group will head off in
the direction of Helsinki on the King's Road, a route comprising some
of the oldest roads in northern Europe. Since the 14th century, kings
and merchants, artists and pilgrims have travelled the King's Road. The
meeting of East and West have created a unique cultural treasury,
waiting to be discovered by the participants of the Baltic Bike Tour in
the next few days. For more information and maps of the
King's Road go to:
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Fun Facts on the
Republic of Finnland ("Suomen tasavalta")
 1.
"Perkele" is an ancient finnish god of thunder. After the Christianity
arrived to Finland Perkele has been a synonyme for Satan. Very common
word for swearing in Finland.
2.
Koskenkorva Viina (also known simply as Koskenkorva, or Kossu)
is the most common clear spirit drink (38%) in Finland, produced by
Altia in the Koskenkorva distillery in Ilmajoki. The grain (barley)
alcohol is produced using 200-step continuous distillation designed to
produce high-purity industrial ethanol. The drink is produced by
diluting this alcohol with spring water and a very small amount of
sugar. As the alcohol is industrial ethanol made with continuous
distillation, and does not require filtration, it is not a true vodka,
and is never called such in Finnish. Instead, it is viina,
simply "hard liquor", often used contextually similarily to the word
"booze". Besides
the standard 38% near-unflavored there are several variants of
Koskenkorva on the market, most notably the infamous Salmiakki
Koskenkorva, better known as Salmiakkikossu or Salmari, which is
salmiakki-flavored.
3.
Salmiakki is a salty confectionary that is popular in the Nordic
countries Many agree that it is an acquired taste and is generally
loathed outside of Europe in a similar manner that Veggimite is loathed
outside of the Australia. Although
salmiakki candy resembles black liquorice in color, it is flavoured
with the salt ammonium chloride and often also mixed with liquorice.
The word salmiak(ki) comes from the old Latin name for ammonium
chloride, sal ammoniac.
4.
Joulupukki is the Finnish name for Santa Claus . The name Joulupukki
literally means Yule Goat or Christmas Goat. This name is likely
to come from an old Finnish tradition, where people dressed in goat
hides, the apparition being called a nuuttipukki, used to go
around from house to house after Christmas eating leftover
food. Today
Joulupukki looks and behaves mostly like his American version, but
there are differences. Joulupukki's workshop is situated, not in the
North Pole or Greenland, but in Korvatunturi, Lapland, Finland. Instead
of sneaking in through the chimney during the night, he (traditionally
played by Father or Grandad or Uncle, today by a Rent-a-Santa) knocks
on the front door during the Christmas eve celebration. When he comes
in, his first words are traditionally "Onko täällä
kilttejä lapsia?" (Are there (any) nice children here?)
A
guide to Finish customs and manners: http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25001
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The TOP 10
List of the Day
"The
Top Ten things to say in Finnish (for beginners)
| 1. How are you? |
Mitä kuuluu?
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| 2. I'm fine thank you |
Hyvää,
kiitos. |
| 3. Excuse me/Sorry |
Anteeksi |
| 4. I don't understand |
En ymmärrä |
| 5. Speak slowly please! |
Puhukaa hitaasti,
olkaa hyvä! |
| 6. I don't know |
En tiedä |
| 7. What is that? |
Mikä
tämä on? |
| 8. Do you speak English |
Puhutko
englantia?/Puhutteko englantia? |
| 9. Yeah |
Joo
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| 10. Hello/Good Day |
Hyvää
päivää |
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MEDIA COVERAGE
As of now there
have been several press reports about the Baltic Bike Tour 2006 in
Tallinn. Also, the participants who already resided in Tallinn ahead of
the tour's start on Monday, gave a radio interview there and might have
convinced a local television station to report on the start of the tour
and appear for live coverage (more infos on that on Monday). For all
those of you who are fluent in Estonian or Russian - here the first
published articles on the Tour. No worries for all those who don't
understand one of the two...more links to media coverage on the event
are to follow soon.
August
18th in the
Estonian Magazine "Postimees":
http://www.postimees.ee/190806/esileht/siseuudised/213838.php
August
18th in the
Estonian Magazine "Eesti Päevaleht Online":
http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/351329
Mentioning
of the BBT found on August 20th on the homepage of the "Gruene Liga
Berlin":
http://www.grueneliga-berlin.de/
August 22nd You can see news
with Alex and Meelis interviews on the internet:
http://www.etv24.ee/index.php?0534940
21.08.2006 - Aktuaalne kaamera (vene keeles) + Eestimaa Vene Muuseumi
ekspeditsioon:
Saksa 2 - in russian (clip starts 10:32)
21.08.2006 - Aktuaalne kaamera kell 21:00 - in Estonian (last clip)
August 22nd
in
the biggest Estonian
newspaper "Postimees":
http://www.postimees.ee/220806/esileht/siseuudised/214176.php?r
August 23nd in
the German newspaper "Rheinische Post"
(Interview with Alex):
http://www.ippnw-students.org/baltic/rpartikel.html
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For
all those of you who would like to send the bikers personal messages,
words of motivation or who would just like to say something in general
about the Baltic Bike Tour, please write your contribution to the
following E-mail address and it will be updated in the guestbook.
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