Forest first.
Wind through the trees, birds and pond life dominate. Depending on the day, harvesting or other countryside work may be audible.
PLACE + ACCESS
Thirty minutes from a city. Still alone in the forest.
Lappeenranta is roughly 30 minutes away to the north-east and the nearest Sale about 15 minutes by car. Yet there are no immediate neighbours around the site - roughly a 2 km radius of forest, land and distance.
15 MINSalenearest everyday shop
30 MINLappeenrantabig-city services to the north-east
~2 KMNeighbour-free radiusseclusion without extreme remoteness
AN HONEST SOUNDMAP
Quiet is not the same as silence.
The attraction is the absence of nearby people, not a promise that the countryside has no sound.
Railway in the distance.
Tracks run roughly west-east about 2 km away. Cargo trains pass a few times a day and may occasionally be heard at night.
The horizon can hum.
Some evenings a distant industrial hum can be heard. It is not constant and the exact source still needs to be understood rather than guessed.
The small sounds become large.
When the distant activity fades, grasshoppers and other insects, occasional animal calls and the forest become the soundscape.
AFTER DARK
There is very little nearby light to compete with the sky.
Main constellations are easy to pick out on clear nights. During the dark season, including October, aurora can sometimes be visible - an opportunity, never a promise.