So once in Helsinki, we started once again to busk like mad, but the takings were terrible. I think we managed just enough for two coffees in the two hours that we worked. At the same time, it seemed that no machines in the city would accept my Visa card, so things were beginning to look very tricky. We thought fast and decided to hit Naantali, a favourite seaside town in the South West of Finland... I should note that before leaving Helsinki, I tried to sell my latest done-with paperback to a second hand bookshop. They were not in the least bit interested, but I did emerge with a free copy of Rudolf Laban, MODERN EDUCATIONAL DANCE (Macdonald and Evans 1948). For a good laugh, check out the hilarious excerpt from his chapter on slashing.. I have dumped it somewhere on this site.. Oh the joys of innuendo..
We hitchhiked the 200 kilometers and arrived in Naantali only to find that still nothing would accept my card. In fact, it emerged that there was a huge scratch down the length of the magnetic strip... not good news when Russia is waiting on the other side of the country. I had to break into the secret reserve of dollars. We went out to the biggest hotel in town for a currency exchange only to be told that they would only serve residents at the hotel. So I found myself a resident - some unsuspecting tourist, who I dragged up to the counter, explaining the situation and insisting that everything would be okay.. Twenty dollars doesn't go far when buying Finnish phone cards, but it was enough to get a new Visa card ordered for delivery at my Embassy a few days down the line.
We spent a few days in Naantali, busking, camping and conserving funds. The whole plan worked out well and in addition to feeding ourselves for a week, we also left Finland 90 dollars better off, with our transport into Russia covered and some additional cash for onward travel to Moscow. Not Bad!!
Finland was distinctly odd. Immaculately clean, lots of lakes and forests and all that stuff, a rather uneventful capital, high prices, easy camping, reasonable hitchhiking, and a race of people apparently with good hearts, but very little character. Say BOO to a Finn and he will probably fill his pants, ask a Finn to make a decision and he's more likely to question why the decision hasn't already been made for him! Finland is completely swept up in this EU Maelstrom in a sort of pitiful puppy sense. I kept wondering if any of these people had actually noticed all the double prices in FIM and Euro. They are nervous and paranoid about security, which makes the country a very safe destination for tourism, but also makes life very difficult when trying to explain why Estonia, Russia, or Kazakhstan make attractive travel destinations.. We were warned on dozens of occasions that even approaching the Russian border would be suicide - and there was no persuading them otherwise. From a busking point of view, the stoic conservatism made Finnish strides hard to crack and most of them looked either frightened, or just totally confused. Only when a cheerful foreigner threw a coin in the cup did the Finns realise that it really was okay and followed suit.. With real gusto! On some evenings we were working on 12 - 15 dollars per hour. (The rest of the time we were either asleep, or picking our toenails on the beach).
Hitchhiking back to Helsinki took a total of three vehicles, including about 80 km in an ambulance! (how odd), and finishing with a couple of Indian fellas with virtually no sense of road safety. I was feeling about as comfortable as a pig in a bacon slicer, but we were conveniently dropped in the centre of town, giving me just enough time to collect a new Visa card from the embassy and start planning our escape into Russia (hmmm that sounds odd too). So we have just arrived back in Russia, after a sleepless bus journey. Your royal hungriness has fed himself and is now facing the daunting prospect of staying awake until the 12:35 train tonight to Moscow. My soopah-doopah tent has suffered fractures in two of the three composite poles, so is unusable and I have no warm stuff for Siberia, so I think I will run out on a final shopping spree before heading East.