As I mentioned yesterday Sarah had discovered a Pizza and Kebab place only 200 metres from Basil’s location on the marina at Suomussalmi. We were so desperate to do something to celebrate our wedding anniversary we decided this was the least worst option.

Sarah had been given a bottle of Lanson champagne as one of her many leaving presents when she retired just before this trip. We had brought over 8,000 miles and through 13 countries for an occasion such as our anniversary and so before we went out we had a small glass or two of lovely champagne.

The Pizza and Kebab joint turned out to be a cut above a standard UK after pub equivalent. It had families eating in it and it even had outside seating next to the lake. I was craving meat after five months of living in pescetarian Basil and so I opted for a double burger. Sarah, more sensibly, went for a pizza.

We had started the day at only 5 degrees celsius, but by 8pm the sun was shining again and we sat outside in our t-shirts. With a view of the lake it was a cut above for a greasy spoon, based on location at least.

The food did not live up to the location. Sarah’s pizza was not bad. It wasn’t good either, but not bad. My burger, on the other hand brought back bad memories. The bun and the chips were OK, but the burgers were the thickness of a piece of cardboard, and tasted much the same.

We spent the rest of the evening, back in Basil, making a small dent in our Scandinavian wine supplies.

In the middle of the night I woke up feeling the burger had been a mistake. After a restless end to the night it was confirmed to have been an error: I had an upset stomach. Worse I didn’t feel well either.

This morning we did a small shop and then headed for the nearby Winter War Memorial, but I wasn’t feeling up to it. We looked at a campsite with the idea of me just resting up, but it was not very salubrious. In the end we found a parking area just at the end of a bridge across a lake (64.738872, 29.438862). It is an idyllic spot for what is essentially a parking bay. It is quiet, about one car an hour, has a lovely view over and has somewhere to sit out in the continuing sunshine. Yesterday we saw some Finns get their chairs out at the marina in the middle of Suomussalmi, so we’re a bit bolder about sitting our while wildcamping.

Basil’s new spot – Basil is on the left and the bridge over the lake is in the background

I’ve been in bed most of the day, but am beginning to feel a little better and tomorrow we hope to visit the war memorial before heading off for the first of our two bear watching days!

View from our current wild camping spot