The thing goes like this: Whenever I am talking to someone about Finland or the Finnish sauna for the first time, it is almost guaranteed that they will ask me, in confidence, if the sex in the sauna thing is actually real. There are questions about if it is a good place to do it, if it is sexy, if everyone does it…. There are 3 types of sauna in Finland albeit many strange ones. To make the 90 degree Celsius sauna a bit more humid, you have to throw some water over hot stones. That will bring the heat up. The stones are on the right, over the oven.
World's Best Finnish Sauna Stock Pictures, Photos, and Images - Getty Images
The whole thing seemed to fit in so spookily together and for these reasons…. I had just crossed from Estonia into Finland and back in I had been backpacking with Estonian girl Natalja. I was also on route to Sweden for a catch up with my backpacking buddy Daniel Evans who I was with in Australia when I met the Finnish girls! So after arriving off the ferry from Tallinn in Estonia itself a crazy story as my original ferry had a a fault and had to be redirected and then I was upgraded onto another ferry , I finally arrived in Helsinki around 4pm. Then we were reunited.
There is nothing more Finnish than sauna, and many Finns think you can not grasp Finland or its culture without bathing in a sauna. However, Finns understand that foreigners have certain inhibitions and concerns when it comes to stepping in a heated box with no clothes on. Have a look at our tips below and you need to worry no more. Full of interesting contrasts, such as the four seasons, the Midnight Sun and winter darkness, urban and rural, East and West. Sauna is good for everybody.
What would you say to this proposition? We were traveling with a small group of people we had only known for a few days in Finnish Lapland and the evening activities involved dinner and Finnish sauna. I spent an entire afternoon stressing out about exactly what was going to happen because, first, a little something was lost in transition and it sounded like we were having dinner in the sauna. Second, American as it may be, I was not okay getting naked with people I still had to spend several days with. There are just over 5 million people living in Finland and there are an estimated 2 million saunas in the country.