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On one of my first Interrail trips, I included Scandinavia. My plan was to go through the north of Sweden, on to Finland, and then South to Helsinki and crossing back to Sweden, thus effectively making a tour around the Bothnic Gulf. There is one little incompatibility though: the width of the tracks is different in Sweden and Finland. While on the slow train between Gallivare and Tornio, the first town in Finland, I discovered that my wallet with all my money, was not there anymore. I was quite shocked, could not imagine it had been stolen. Anyway, I had a problem.
So, instead of connecting to the night train to Helsinki, I went to the police in Tornio. A kind woman in the train who had seen me looking around, had given me an address of friends of hers who lived nearby. After hours with the police (we did not speak any common language), I gave them the address and they called. Before I knew it, I was in a policecar on the way to a house somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
As I arrived, the old couple had prepared a huge dish for me - it was already after 11 o'clock. I would stay two days with them, attend the first funeral of my life, and meet some friends of theirs. Actually, one of those gave me money to be able to come back home. After a week, I got a message from the post office. My wallet had been found and the person who discovered it, had taken the trouble to go to the police and send it to my home address! It is still the most honest action I ever experienced in all my travels!
