Grani Swimming... going away?

I read from somewhere that there's a consideration of possibly tearing down the Kauniainen swimming hall, and replacing it either with a new school, or perhaps a new school + swimming hall combination.

While the hall isn't up to modern comfort standards... it has nothing fancy, I still like it a lot! It is always free of crows, has basic swimming possibilities, and is nearby me.

I say keep it!

In this article we can see some old photos and advertisements about the swimming hall, including the time before its construction. The photos were hanging by the door at the swimming hall.

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.  I never photograph pools, beaches or saunas unless the facility is closed or empty. These photos are by the city of Kauniainen though.

Bijambare Caves

My first "proper" Bosnia and Herzegovina caves! The Bijambare caves. Wonderful karst caves, and in the largest one there are massive halls and massive tunnels. Well worth visiting if you're near Sarajevo!

And in those massive halls there's not only a caveman, but also a girl appearing in a stalagmite!

There are eight caves in the area, but only two are open for tourists. I did not have time to visit other ones due to some conference call that I needed to be on, so I don't know if the other ones were actually locked, or if they were just challenging. The signs on site said that the other caves can only be visited with experienced speleologists.

The biggest cave, Srednja Bijambarska is 553 meters long and at N 44.094563 E 18.503169. The smaller, Gornja Bijambarska, is 112 meters long and at N 44.094455 E 18.503559. Here are their approximate maps, as photographed on the site from the information signs:

It is not known when they were first discovered, but there's signatures in the caves from late 19th century.

In the area there's a nice restaurant, hiking paths, etc. The site is 2-3 kilometers from the parking lot, and you can't drive here. However, there's an electric train that takes tourists, not sure how often, perhaps every half an hour or so. You will have to pay separately for this. Please reserve local cash for everything you do here, they do not accept credit cards.

Much worth visiting. I particularly liked the Srednja cave, and the fact that one could walk on your own through the cave. Your pace, no big crowds, no waiting, that was wonderful! The cave itself is a real beauty too.

The Bijambare caves web site is here. There's also a wikipedia article.

(Wondering about why these caves were my first "proper" ones in Bosnia? Because I also visited some smaller ones earlier.

Srednja pictures:

Gornja pictures:

Park entrance:

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko, maps are snapshots on site. All rights reserved. 

Jellyfish strike

Ouch. That hurt surprisingly much, even if the jellyfish was tiny one. Somehow I immediately knew I was hit by one, and I saw the tiny thing float away. No worries, the bar at the beach happened to have a vinegar spray bottle, wonder why? :-)

But after this experience, the next time I dared to venture into the water, I was prepared. Perhaps over-prepared, but that's me. See the photo above.

The affected hand:

Some photos from Komiža, on the island of Vis in Croatia:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of other saunagoers or swimmers and visit when there is simply no one else or the facility has been closed or booked only for me. 

Ski like it is the last day. And it is.

Ski like it is the last day. And it is. Last ski hill in the Helsinki region, Sveitsin Hiihtokeskus, closed Saturday for the season. Here’s me skiing afterwards on the road to my car. Volvo is (temporily) fine but couldn’t get up the hill on this only road that was not clear of snow and ice, so parked it. Could also be Volvo’s last ski trip, at least to an officially open place. Also a photo from skiing on the hill, and a clip of Sveitsi’s Volvo showing how it climbs snowy hills. Wondering if they need a blue one as well…?

Parked Volvo here:

Video:

Photos:

Author:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Back in the K.O.R.S.O.

Me: "Last time I was here was 35 years ago." Receptionist: "Not much has changed since then.". But, Korso's swimming hall still rocks. Small but functional.

The school around, however, has been abandoned. 

I lived few hundred meters away, and was in school here from high school to college years, 6 years. Our sport lessons were usually about football or hockey that I didn't care so much for, so I typically ended up going to the swimming hall instead. 

The swimming hall's page in Vantaa's city website is here. Sadly it will be decommissioned when a new swimming hall, Elmo, is finished in 2025.

Also like a lot the big glacial boulders next to the school and mini-caves under them.  Coordinates: N 60.357384 E 25.070289. Length maybe 2.5 meters.

Memories <3

Swimming hall and school:

Cave:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.  I never photograph pools, beaches or saunas unless the facility is closed or empty.

The Final (?) Breakdown

The problems keep piling up. After the check-up disaster, the car now also stopped running... left me on the side of the highway. Is this the last straw?

And I didn't even get to vacuum and wash the car, as I hoped, and drive few weeks more still :-(

Sigh.

Nothing else to do than to get my gear -- including the skis that were in the car and take taxi to the office...

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko.

Dobrun caves

It was a good try. I think. Or maybe I should have pushed harder. But ... it was getting difficult to stay on the slope, even with some smaller trees around me. But in the end I turned around, and did not reach the Dobrun cave in the mountains of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina... the slope was loose gravel, and getting steeper on every step. No sign of paths. I do wonder though, I could *see* the cave but not reach it! And reportedly monks have lived in the cave, is there another path?

Perhaps there is. But the approach from another direction would have required a boat to get further in the river, as the cliffs around the river were vertical. I had attempted to walk up a forested scree slope towards the cave. And even to get to the this slope I had to stop on the highway where there's two houses and cross a railway just across the tunnel. Not to mention a border crossing from Serbia that at different times can take up to three hours to cross...

But be that as it may, I failed. Maybe there would have been a different path further up the river. Maybe a from the other side of the mountain, from the other side of the railway tunnel. Or maybe I should have started climbing the rocky cliffs next to the scree slope. There were some walkable paths, but they were not a straight path to the cave, and I had no idea if the detours would have led to the cave.

Here's a photo of the bushy slope up to the cave:

Fortunately, at the bottom of the scree slope there was the river, the river was crossable on my bare feet and only getting my shorts wet. And on the other side of the river there was definitely a cave. Not a big one, but still maybe 25m by 10m, kind of a shelter cave at the bottom of the cliff against the river. 

This cave was used as a party place, so filled with human stuff, chairs, bar tables, even a stage... interesting. Let's call it the Dobrun Party Cave! But all done for the love and fun in mind.

Interestingly, the party cave had some very real-looking cave paintings, obviously done recently... but wow, nice!

Sadly, though, compare to the ones the dimwits in Finland paint in our caves sigh:

Anyway, my first Bosnian cave was therefore visited, even if it wasn't the one I originally wanted to reach :-)

The real cave is at N 43.7513819 E 19.4064237. The party cave is at N 43.7509942 E 19.4050658. And the railway tunnel west entrance is at N 43.7504393 E 19.4062374.

NEVER VENTURE INTO TUNNELS, ESPECIALLY RAILWAY TUNNELS IN USE, CAVES, OR HIKE UP STEEP MOUNTAIN SIDES OR CLIFFS. THESE CAN BE DANGEROUS AND RESULT IN INJURY OR DEATH!

Main cave:

Party cave:

Crossing to the party cave:

Railway tunnel:

On the same trip I also visited a nearby cave on the other side of the border, the article is here.

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2016-2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.  I never photograph pools, beaches or saunas unless the facility is closed or empty.