Day Sixty Five Thursday 22nd September

A proper Autumn morning, but we did enjoy the view out over the Gulf of Finland. The trees have changed here so quickly, and it is beginning to look more like winter than autumn.

First aim today - to get as close as we could to the Russian border. We took a loop road from the site, and at one point were just 100 metres away. The woods by the roadside had 'entry forbidden' signs on them. Back on the main road we decided not to get too close to the border control, and turned left rather than right. We couldn't resist a stop at a group of roadside buildings, two of them selling "fish and caviare" and the third a sort of Cash and Carry, presumably aimed at Russians coming over the border. It was an Aladdin's Cave, packed with all sorts of stuff in large quantities. First thing we saw was a huge pile of car tyres! There were vast amounts of tea and coffee and soap products, and just about everything you might want, including just the right size cool bag that I had been after.

Then on to our planned stops, The Bunker Museum (closed but we had a mooch around the outdoor part) and the Salpa Line Museum, in Miehikkala. Here was another opportunity for me to fill a big gap in my knowledge of history, this time more modern. The Salpa Line was a massive defensive front line constructed along the border during the Winter War and the Continuation War, 1941 to 1944. A helpful short film, in English, was shown for us first. There are trenches, dugouts, bunkers and great stone barriers designed to keep tanks out, all there to be explored. Although it was never put to the test, it is reckoned that the reason was that it was known to be impregnable; so it served its purpose.

Tea and cake in the very nice little cafe was welcome after the time out in the cold. Then we set off in a vaguely northerly direction to our overnight destination, Lappeenranta, the capital of Southern Karelia, and an all year resort. The campsite is large, and part of a complex which includes hostels and self catering units. There are very few people on the campsite itself. We are settled amongst trees, and the lakeside ( Lake Saimaa, the largest lake in Finland ) is not far away.