Sauna stories

The Finnish invented some really great stuff, and one of their most famous and popular inventions was the sauna. In Finnland, a sauna is not so much a luxury, only to be had in expensive resorts or day spas. It’s a part of daily life – in fact, more of a fundamental human right. There are over three million saunas in Finnland – in other words, in a country with a population of just under six million, there is roughly one sauna for every two Finns.

Traditionally, a sauna was not just a place to warm up in after a day spent out in the cold. Because traditional saunas were so hot, they were also free of germs – so a sauna, until about 150 years ago, was a great place to give birth or care for the sick. Just as much, it was a place of exchange and negotiation – many a business transaction was concluded in a sauna.

And, of course, it could be turned into a competition. The human urge to compete stops at hardly anything, and the World Sauna Championships were invented to establish who could last longest in 110-degree (Centigrade!) heat. The Finnish are great at inventing new forms of competitions. The Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu are another great Finnish invention, and one that serves world peace, too: „You cannot hold a gun while playing an air guitar“, say the organisers. Other fabulous competitions in Finland include the Wife Carrying World Championship, Mobile Phone Throwing League and Swamp Football Cup.

So what if I told you that I can last an entire night, a good eight hours of sleep included, in a Finnish Kelosauna (deadwood sauna)? You might think I had suddenly and miraculously turned into a highly competitive person, or maybe that my love of Finland had gone so far that I were trying to pass the first part of my Finnish naturalisation exam (where the second part would be „eating a Finnish Grillimakkara without batting an eylid“ (the traditional Finnish sausage is said be a bit of an acquired taste), and the final level would be a Finnish spelling bee for eight-year-olds, which I would fail miserably).

Well, if you thought any of the above, you were wrong. The explanation is: Because mistakes happen. I am staying at a hotel in Ruka that has simply the best staff ever, but even superheroes make mistakes sometimes. Such as reserving a room for every guest on their list … but one. And this happened on a weekend where quite a few A-list celebrities honoured the small ski resort of Ruka with their presence for a 90s music festival, and quite literally every single hotel room, including the box room and broom closet, was occupied in every single hotel in town.

So, needless to say, I offered to give up my room so the guest could have it. As I could not camp outside when it was -20°C, we were still one room short – so the hotel arranged for me to sleep in the private sauna! It was the only room in the building that had its own shower and enough space for a bed, so they put up a foldable bed for me in the little lobby to the actual sauna. I slept surrounded by ancient kelo wood, with a beautiful fireplace in the corner, and piles and piles of fresh towels stacked up for guests that rent the private sauna for its regular purpose.

So, yup, I beat every sauna endurance record in the book, even without using painkillers, numbing cream or a sauna hat – I actually slept like a baby. Although the fact that the sauna oven was not heated would have probably disqualified me from the World Sauna Championships.