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                        PURE - Travel agency division    
                                                         
                             Trip trough Finland         
                                                         
                    ;

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   What's all this then ?             
  

  If you would like to get more out of the journey through Finland, and would
  like to make it a full time holliday.  We have a nice trip laid out for you.

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   First ASM'95 then Finland.         
  

  After attending Assembly, you may want to stick around a little longer, note
  however that if you have brought your PC along, this trip may be a little
  difficult.  Either you provide for some way of getting your PC back (maybe a
  friend can take it back to Belgium for you).

  Your best bet would of course be to leave your PC at home.

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   The trip.                          
  

  The trip is a short (a 1000Km or so) railroute trip around Finland with
  visits to Mikkeli, Ristina and Kuopio.

  You stay with the rest of the ASM '95 dudes until Assembly has finished.
  The 13th you can go partying in Helsinki, or get a good nights sleep.

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   First stop : Mikkeli & Ristiina    
  

  On the 14th you get on the train to Mikkeli.  It is about 200 km through
  rocks and the Thousand Lakes (costs 60 FIM).  In Mikkeli you take the bus to
  Ristiina, where you sleep in a very romantic cottage which has been
  transformed into a Youth Hostel.

  This is a very, very beautiful area... From there you can walk in the woods
  and swim (!) in the lakes, in the middle of nowhere.  (Yes, you can do it
  naked, Finland is HUGE and almost nobody lives there).  Then you can enjoy a
  hot Finnish sauna and jump into an ice-cold swimmingpool.  After that, you
  can get early in bed and ehrm... sleep.

  The next morning, after breakfast, you can go for a walk and experience the
  feeling of freshness that you can only get in Scandinavia.

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   All on board for Kuopio.           
  

  The 15th, you take the bus to Mikkeli, where the train waits for you.  From
  Mikkeli to Kuopio it is also about 200 km. This ticket costs 30 FIM, because
  it is an extention of Helsinki- Mikkeli.  One hour and three quarters later
  you arrive in Kuopio.

  Kuopio is a weird combination of middle-sized city and green.  It claims to
  be the greenest town in the world.  And who are we to disagree ?

  Koupio has some nice mountains, if you like adventure. It has also a
  Ski-piste, where in summer jumps are made on artificially frozen mats.
  There is a ski-lift and opportunities to take part in this show. If you're
  more of the partying type, Kuopio has some nice night-clubs and discos.
  There are several exquisite summer-restaurants and here lies the special
  bonus: in Kuopio the sun never sets (midsummer-night).  And Kuopio does not
  sleep in this period: you can go eat something at 4 am in the morning in a
  romantic setting.  You will see that there is no difference between am and
  pm.  This is quite a wierd experience for a Belgian.

  You stay here in Youth Hostel Tekma, a brand new 4 star Hostel.  The
  accomodation here, is excellent.  That's why you stay here two days.

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   Back to Helsinki.                  
  

  On the morning of the 17th, you take the early train of 8h41. (there is no
  early hour, but it should be early in normal holiday circumstances). You
  arrive in Helsinki at 13h32. This ticket costs 176 FIM.  Those Finnish dudes
  have weird calculation schemes, but who cares <g>.  You need this long train
  trip to sleep, because you don't want to sleep too much in Kuopio because
  there is so much to do there.

  In Helsinki, you have about one hour to eat something, for example in
  'Manhattan', a very good fast-food restaurant in Forum, a huge shopping
  center, very near the railway station.  After that, there is a Finnair bus
  waiting for you at the back door of Forum.  You pay 22 FIM and you are taken
  to Vantaa, the international Airport of Finland.  There, you are on time to
  catch your plane of 17h02. You hand over your plane ticket, you show your
  passport (There are Sabena-people present there) and you get on the plane as
  you would get on a bus....

  Once back at Zaventem, you're back on your and need to find suitable way to
  get home.

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   Documentation.                     
  

  For those interested in this trip we can send you full colour documentation
  and self-made colour pictures and maps about this trip.

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