Scania : tours Finland with steam power

What better way to celebrate the centenary of Finland's independence than with the country's obsession - the sauna? National bus operator Savonlinja teamed up with Scania to set a new mobile sauna record - using a specially outfitted bus with an onboard sauna.

Turning up the heat at the southern city of Hanko, the sauna bus made eight intermediate stops along the way to the village of Nuorgam, 500 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. At these events, Finnish celebrities spoke about their personal relation to the sauna culture. In Kuopio, for example, former ski jumping Olympic medallist, Ari-Pekka Nikkola, presently Customer Service Manager at Scania Kuopio, gave his views.

Over four days, the bus steamed ahead, covering nearly 1,800 kilometres with a total of 102 perspiring passengers. At each stop, sweating passengers disembarked to welcome a new group of coldblooded enthusiasts to take on the heat of the wood-burning stove. Following a contest, eager sauna teams took turns to enjoy the 70-100 degree sauna on board, with each participant enduring an uplifting two hours or more before evacuating to cooler temperatures.

At the end of their journey, after passing through Nuorgam, Finland's northernmost community, happy sauna bathers enjoyed a refreshing swim in the near-freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean.