Helsinki September 2006: Part 1

The water way between Helsinki and Estonia takes about two hours to cross on a regular ferry. The proximity to mother Russia leaves Finland very vulnerable to the new seedy western influences of the former Soviet Republic. Finland is very conservative in some respects and very liberal in others. They don't have gambling houses out in the open, or even hidden like Japan's Pachinko palaces, which are fronts for the Japanese Yakuza's to launder money. If you want to gamble you, there is normally a card table at the local disco in the corner. If you want to fuck, there are other places.