The Iron Curtain Trail

 Lieksa to Ilomantsi.

53 miles of unpaved roads today....18 admittedly through choice to get to Lake Virmajarvi and the Easternmost point of Finland but 31 down to sadistic cartographers telling downright lies!

Worth it though ... an amazing day.

Because  of the terrain the Red Army's routes into Finland in the Winter of 1939 were along existing roads... Raate Road visited on Friday ...today I rode the 12 Miles from Hattuvaara to the border. That road was again dotted with memorials and battle sites.

At the end though, on the shores of Lake Virmajarvi it was so peaceful.... as I've said above it's the Eastermost point of Finland, the EU, NATO  area and apparently by some definitions continental Europe!  The Russian/Finnish border is on the island in the middle of the lake,  marked by the posts.

In Huttuvaara itself there is a "Tsasouna" Orthadox Chapel built in 1790 which remarkably survived the wars!

There's also the Fighting House, origionally built as a veterans club ... similar to our British Legion Clubs I guess ... which is now a Museum and cafe.   Laten who runs the place was really helpful, telling me about sites to visits and roads to take and to avoid.

Apparently there are bears and moose in the local woods but I saw nowt. One bit of advice he gave though which apparently is included in their driving lessons is that whilst if a reindeer runs into your path make a judgement about which way to go to avoid it as they can jink either way ... but if a moose does the same then always drive behind it as they can't or won't back up! Not a lot of people know that. 

Lots more memorials ....