Ruska with love

Reindeer hunting, beer picking and soaking up the sauna. Ruska, or autumn, brings Finland alive in all its glory

I'm off to Finland after a gap of 25 years to see the famous "ruska" or autumn. It's 1.30 pm and my Finnair flight is about to land at Helsinki. As I look down from the window a visual panorama of colours hues of red, yellow and orange is all that I can see dotted in between the 180,000 lakes of Finland. Finland's forest landscape turns into a splendid and unforgettable array of colours of red and gold, known as ruska.

In September, the first frosts create the vivid colours of ruska. The ruska hues appear in northern Finland during the first week of September and two weeks later in the southern part of Finland. Beeberries colour the slopes red and leaves turn flourescent yellow. The brilliance of ruska varies from one year to another depending on the amount of rainfall. If the autumn has been very rainy, trees may turn yellow earlier and the rain beating down may severe leaves from trees.

As I stroll in the park by the sea, the maple and birch leaves crunch under my feet and I'm walking over a carpet of gold. The mountain ash is a brilliant red. The air is cool and fresh, the atmosphere unique and difficult to explain. Probably, the images will tell the complete story. It's a photographer's light clean, pure and magical. It appears that this autumn's colour is more red than yellow. The sun is beginning to set early and in the three months of autumn all things in nature reach their maturity. The grains ripen and the harvesting season begins.

Late autumn, the reindeer are herded in autumn pens with the help of ATVs, terrain motorbikes and when there is snow, with snowmobiles and even choppers. The Finnish also set off into the forests, picking berries and mushrooms. The wetlands are red with lingonberries and cranberries.

Elk shooting parties get together for the hunt and harriers eagerly await the chase ahead. Verdance, Whitefish and Baltic herring adorn the gourmet's table and I'm told that Red Finnish caviar is the best in the world. The autumn lamb and cabbage stew and different varieties of Chanterelle are the pick of the season.

As I move towards the countryside on a train that whizzes at 156 km per hour, I can see huge flocks of crane or large swans flying across the corn fields. Come weekend and the Finnish people are passionate to rush to their summer cottages and enjoy the sauna (pronounced sow-nah). To my surprise, I learn that sauna originated in Finland and forms an integral part in the life of an average Finn.

It is usually in a separate building or one half of an average Finnish summer cottage, with its wood stove covered with rocks and a tank of hot water on one side situated next to a lake or river. It's wonderful to go for a refreshing dip or swim, then back into the sauna again. The steam (loyly), the birch vista and the swim are very much a part of the ritual of the sauna and I head off to the spa resorts of Naantoli and Haikko to have a first hand experience.

Back at Helsinki, I head to the harbour Helsinki's culinary heart. At the daily market at the end of Etelaesplanadi, at the city's grand boulevard, are delicacies for the eye. Bright yellow chenterelles, blue berries and porcini mushrooms from the forests, and white fish and pikes from the lakes, and salmon trout from the Arctic. The market hall next door is a treasure trove for the gourmet; Finnish rye bread, herbs, berries, mushrooms and game. The perennial autumn favourite is elk. A local classic is Lapland reindeer.

After a lovely lunch of roasted wild boar and icecream with lingonberry sauce, I head back home rejuvenated and in a state of nirvana.