Tiny huts to enjoy the basics in Swedish spartan rural lodge

It's dark in here. I don't have any electricity. So we have oil lamps and candles. So this is a reception. Yeah. It really is a hotel. Yeah we don't have any word for this kind of place. It's more like a nature experience I think. Yeah. Number nine and ten guys. With this part of Sweden we have quite big pines and spruce everywhere and everything is very green. It's a little bit like a story for kids. With trolls and I think it's very nice. Let's go. There's your house. This is my house. Put it on top of the candles. Don't touch it with the candles though. I was good in the next one but I want to put my shoes on. Does it seem like a hotel room to you? Yeah. It seems like a really cool hotel room. Yeah this is ours. This is the house. The hus. We have sleeping sacks. And for furs. It's cozy. Warm. Can you believe that by just having a lot of probably thermal mass and having some candles on for a while you sort of feel it? It's warm. It's getting warm. I think these are charcoal huts because there used to be charcoal industry out here. This is what they slept in. Let's start a little fire. So this is where the charcoal workers would live? Yes. Like the traditional charcoal huts. The reason why they stayed in the huts was to always be close to the coal kiln when it was coaling. Look over here. Now it's just some wood pieces and very black on the ground. So nowadays it's barbecue coal. But for many hundred years they wanted the coal for the iron industry. To make very hot fire in big ovens to produce iron. So they did the coal in the forest because it was much easier to do it where they find the wood. So they did it in the forest. They built this kind of huts to sleep in during the time. This Saturday we made this was finished. So that's why it's nothing left here. What did you do? So you just burnt wood? Yeah, actually. And this is how it looks like. We do like a floor first and then we rise up timber in a big circle. And then in the end we cover it with old branches from the sprues and then old coal to keep the air away. So then it should burn for this size for about one week. If it burned too much then they have to go out quickly and try to like make it more compact on the outside. And that's why they slept in these charcoal huts very close to the coal kiln. To see if it's burned too much they had to be out very quick and take the fire out so it just burned very slowly. When the trees were finished in the area they moved to the next place and brought everything with them and built up the new hut and so on. So they were hiking around in the forest. It was very heavy and dirty work. But also I think it was a bit nice in some way also just to be out and live like this. It was a special way to live. So it was a very itinerant kind of way of following the forest. It was not a permanent... No, no. They moved to the place where the trees were and so on. So they slept inside here. Maybe also they had a small fireplace to cook food and to dry their clothes and so on. But as you see it's very small and primitive. It's just mud and natural wood. The outside is very simple. It's a very basic outside. This is actually old coal. We call it stib. If you pack it really good it also keeps away the water. This is also of course just mud and soil. But they could find some moss. How much of that do you put on there? How much grows? You mean this? Yeah. It grows directly. You take it from around in the forest. Like I have restored it now. At least two huts since I took over for every year. And then I just dig everything away and put up more new fresh mud and soil. And then after two weeks it starts to grow again. So if you look on that one over here. We restored that one in the beginning of the summer. It grows so fast and it looks very nice. It's a little bit like the hobbits. Lord of the Rings I think. It looks very cozy and you have like mud and soil. Also moss. Tree on top of that one. And it's alive maybe. Yeah it is. Yeah absolutely it grows. So sooner or later we maybe have to move it. Some huts you have wild strawberries on the hut. So it's just to go and pick. You find more? Oh that's a raspberry. It's red. You can pick that one also. You don't have to bring food when you come here. You have it on the roof. Okay. When's that going to be your dinner? Okay so these are the instructions. Fresh water. There's a natural spring. The toilet. And there's an outdoor toilet located near the stream. Follow the signs to DOS. Feel free to pee in the forest but not on the blueberries. Firewood. Chop your own firewood. Use the axe carefully and at your own risk. Do you know how to chop wood? Yes. Really? Seriously? I don't want to hurt yourself. Oh you know it does say something here. Keep legs wide apart. Check behind you. Aim with straight arms. Swing axe straight above head. Use controlled technique and raw power. Okay. Oh my gosh. Okay so I guess I have to. Then I have to deliver, huh? Straight above head. Okay. Okay that's better. Is that what they do? You think that I earned like 20% of my meal? Okay. So I always show guests how to chop wood. Many people, I don't know if it's natural, but they think it's nice to stand on the side and then chop. But if you miss then you can have it in the leg. So it's like playing golf. Shoulder bread. Bend knees so you are stable. And then you put the axe where you want to hit. And then just straight up and down. And try to go all the way through and hit this one. Fire lesson number one. The smaller and the more wood you have the easier it is to start the fire. Some of the guests doesn't know at all how to chop wood. But think it's really really fun. So they used to stand here and chop wood. They ask if it's okay to stand here and chop wood sometimes. I worked like a store manager before. And before the military I went from outside work to inside. And I didn't feel so good. And now I'm always outside and I feel so good. Our concept is that it's back to basic. And to chop your own wood. To start your own fire. To cook your own food. So we use fire steel. And in this case I will use the bark from the birch. And the thing I want to do now is this small stuff on the outside. I want to rug it up. Because you want very small thin nice parts. To make the sparkles from the fire steel to start the fire. So if you start the fire try to start it directly on this one. Without this it doesn't work. So you have to have some nice fluffy stuff to make the sparkles. So then we used more bark. Without matches. It's quite easy when you know how to do with fire steel. The good thing with the fire steel is that even if it's wet you can dry it off. And you can get the sparkles. So it's a good lifesaver if you are in the forest. This was built, they wanted to build it so it looks like a coal kiln. The idea was. But then it was hard to get the grass to stay on the outside. So I decided to make it with wood dowels on the outside. You get quite used to make fire after a while. If it's raining outside people can go inside here to cook food. And just get together. So it's a nice place to have. This branch structure, does it come from any tradition or? Yeah maybe a little bit. Because we have like a special up north. We have we call it kota. Träkota. It's like a tent in wood. It's a little bit if you see it inside it's a little bit like that constructions. I think people are getting more and more interested about the old history. And want to come out here and test how it was. This is the way they transported the coal. From the forest with horse. And one man sitting in the front. I think it's like 100 years old or something. But many people's fathers and mothers were a part of this in the end. They stopped in 1959 in this area. So it's not so far ago. So many people they come here because their fathers or mothers were out in the forest. And they worked in the forest industry in somewhere. So I think you want to get back to your roots maybe. And test it and see how it was. The first feeling I had when I came was that it was quite warm inside. And there were only canals here. The only thing that make it warm is the soil on the outside. It will be like thermal mass. Yeah and also we use it in the winter time. And then you get also a layer of snow on top of it. So even if it's very cold. I think it was minus 25 degrees below zero. It was a family here and outside it's very cold. But inside they made fire and then the snow isolates and so on. So it was around 17-18 degrees inside. And that's like home. And actually in the summer if it's very hot outside. It's very cool and nice when you come inside. This is the most exotic place in the Ecolodge. Now it's quite the countryside in Sweden. Especially some time ago this was the way to have the toilets. For pee in the front and then poo in the back. Because we cannot mix it when we compost it. Then it's just a mess. We have to separate it. You flush with some soil. It's a mix with the bark from the tree. And we use this one to... We compost it after. So after some years when our canteens are full on the back side. We have new soil that we can put out in the forest. We take water from the stream like here. And then you just clean your hands like that. And dry it off. And then you just take this one and put it out in the woods. Very simple but it works. So this is a very primitive toilet but it's really working. It smells good. And you know the guy on the photo? It's the king. The Swedish king. It's a Swedish tradition that he should be on a photo of this kind of toilet. But to sit like a highness. I don't know. So you have someone to talk with when you're here. So now the washing machine in the stream. So you have a nice soap here that you can use directly in the stream. So it's biodegradable? Yeah yeah. It's very very simple and primitive but it works. I like this place. I like the sound. Like water that flows. And that's why it's so popular to have it in the gardens and so on. Like small fountains and... But you have it for free in nature. Doesn't cost anything extra. Where's the soda? I don't know. Sanna, try keep trying. Maybe down below. It's a place with no number. I think it's mushroom. The reason why I took over here was to teach people how to be safe in the forest. I think you call this mars tea in English. Smell it and have a guess what you can use it for. Tea? Yeah yeah, tea. The main purpose if you are in the forest. Go for a hike and you forget your mosquito repellent. You can like squeeze this one to your body. I use here my knowledge from the Swedish military. So I have survival courses. So all this, I don't know if we filmed it, but all these ones are blueberries to eat. Where's more? Blueberries. You collect them for later? Yeah to eat. This one is yummy. Yummy? Are you finding your own food? You don't have to go to the store? I think people want to experience Sweden and the nature when they come here. I think that's the sauna. Look way down there. Out by the lake. Do you see that out there? I think it's a culture in Sweden to be out and to hike and maybe to go out and then use the lake for fishing and just to be out in the nature is also very very normal. Over there, maybe you can't see it, but on the right side we have the sauna. I had a group from Hong Kong some years ago. We did a lot of activities and so on, but one thing that they remember after that I heard was very, they thought it was very nice because I was thinking if you are from Hong Kong, it's probably noise. I've never been there, but I was looking up and it's a lot of noise like 24 hours around. I just walked away with them in this area and put them in the blueberry bushes and told them to be quiet for six minutes and just that they will hear stuff that they normally doesn't hear. And I spread them out so they were 10 meters between each other. In the beginning, you saw that they were actually a little bit afraid that it should be quiet. It is quiet here if you don't say anything. You don't hear any cars. You don't hear anything. Just the wind, the birds and a lot of stuff from nature. They really enjoy that moment. Just completely quiet. A lot of nature sounds. So welcome to the sauna. We make fire in this one and when it's really hot inside here, you sit here and heat up and then when you think it's hot enough, you go out and then you take a dip in the lake. We also do it in the wintertime. Then we cut hole in the ice and put down the leather so you heat up a little bit more maybe and then go down and then quick down and bloop. But it's very refreshing and relaxing. It's very nice. To use the sauna in Sweden is a quite big tradition. And is this floating? Yeah, it is. We have just tied it to... But it's in the water. It's in the water. So floating sauna? Yeah. We don't have any shower. So many people use this instead of shower to heat up and then clean the lake and it's very refreshing. This lake is so clean and fresh. It's drinkable. It's more or less just spring water. So when I have activities out in the forest, you feel sort of happiness. And if you are out in the forest and you have long and hard exercises out in the woods, you get very, very tired and then you get happy just about some dry socks. You really enjoy these small, small moments in your life. It could be like nothing in a normal situation. But sometimes you just think this is the best. Sometimes you can actually see fishes here. Like now, it has been quite cloudy and so on. And now the sun is shining. So just to stand here and maybe suck in the sun for a while. It's that kind of thing I think it's important. Just like this. A great view. When I do hiking in the forest, instead of just walking past this nice view, I just stop for 10 seconds and oh, this is nice. And then I can continue. So I don't just rush. Just to come out, forget about daily life sometimes. Make it simple. It's important, I think. We will need some more water. We don't need a lot of fire. All we're doing is cooking water and rice, right? That's a beginning. This is the outdoor kitchen we have. Fresh eggs. Nice. We have some basic stuff that can be stored outside without the fridge. So you have oatmeal to do porridge, coffee. We have milk that can be outside, some bread and marmalades and so on. So I think it's also part of the experience to cook your own food over the fire. How do you soft boil it? You take it out earlier than the hard boil. Is it done? Well, how do you turn off the fire? You just have to put water over it. Okay, so who picked the blueberries for the oatmeal? Me! Where did you find them? Oh, we found them next to our cabin. How do you know they are not poisonous? Because we ate them and they taste like the blueberries. And they have the same color? Right. You do cleaning in the stream, clean your face, brush your teeth. Try to use nature in a good way. I'm out quite often on the survival courses and we stay out under the stars. And when it's dark, it's so quiet. It's almost, yeah, people get a little bit afraid sometimes. It's too quiet. But I think it's luxury. It's so nice to just be there. My grand mission is to be friendly and have bed sheets and no candies and no stuff. Because these boys are like you. And no candies at all. And no stuff. And to never die. That's all. Thank you. Did you turn off the lights? Good. Good night, everyone. Winter is awake and flowers are awake. When I'm out here, I feel so relaxed. Even if it's much work, you get so much energy in some way from the nature. Should we put on more fire? Just to be out, fresh air and warm. Daily life, I have three kids. It's so easy to just rush, rush, rush through the days. Coffee? Sure. Maybe it's very strong. And then it's the next day and the next day. And then, oh, there was one week. What have I done? I just run around and do cleaning and shopping and kids to kindergarten and blah, blah, blah. I think it's important for everyone just to come down and enjoy the small moments. Just to come out, make it simple, forget about daily life sometimes. It could be. It's important, I think. Out here, I think you learn to enjoy small stuff. Like if you're out in the forest, if it's raining, maybe you have been out, you're out without food for maybe 24 hours. It's raining. It's quite hard sometimes. But then just the sun comes through and everything like you just let go of everything and just enjoy this small part. I think that's important in life to take care of the... It's like carpe diem, I think you call it. Enjoy the time. Yeah, I don't think it'll blow away. Because it's tied on.