Oulo is the region just south of Lapland and like Lapland, is quite remote. It is more densely forested but with just as many, if not more, lakes and rivers. There is a city named Oulu in this region which is a modern bustling city, home to Nokia and other electronic busineses. At left is one of the many lakes we passed as we rode south along the eastern side of Oulu. We passed small lakes like this one as well as huge lakes, many windswept with whitecaps as the day was anything but calm.

At right is the typical view of this eastern area, the road gently wandering through the forest.

In these parts, there is not much in the way of tourist attractions, though we did find this unusual field of “silent people” alongside the road. There must have been hundreds of these stick people with the straw hair. One Finn we talked with in the parking lot had given one of his shirts to the effort. It certainly attracted a lot of visitors.

These huts were used by the family who operated the attraction, but we saw old wood huts like these throughout the area. These are truly log buildings often seen at the edge of fields or pastures, most likely used as utility buildings. We have seen many log homes and barns, but the ones in this picture were definitely a bit more “airy” than those built as homes or barns.

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