Kirkenes, Inari & Saariselka Monday 11 December 2017

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Kirkenes, Inari & Saariselka Monday 11 December 2017



After breakfast we arrive in Kirkenes, putting us at 30° East, further east than Istanbul and St. Petersburg. We disembark our cruise this morning at about 9.30am. The bus was on the wharf waiting for us, driven by a bloke from Finland which was where we were heading. We pulled our suitcases through the not-so-deep snow for the driver to store them under the bus.







A short drive through Kirkenes, took us to a brief stop at the Russian border. Photos and a few souvenirs where the order of the moment. There was a little shop full of over-prices Russian and Finnish items. One in particular caught my eye and that was the Russian dolls which fit inside each other. The only problem was the outside one had the face of Donald Trump and another had Putin’s face. Now who would buy those???



It was then we drive across the border into Finland. On the way, Inger our guide gave substantial information on the Finnish culture and history. We even watched a movie on the role of Finland in WW2 and the interaction between the Fins, Russia and Germany. Inger also passed around a ‘language tree’ of the Indo-European Language Family tree. See this in the photos. Very interesting.



Next was a stop we made in Inari to go to a supermarket where we bought snacks etc. In the shop we saw several locals dressed in bright, colourful traditional Finnish clothes, including the curled up toed shoes.



We then visited the SIIDA Sami museum which Tom & I had visited in 2014. The Museum opened its doors especially for us as it was usually closed on Mondays. The café however, was not opened. The Sami Museum Siida is the national museum of the Sami and the national museum of Finland. The Sami Museum stores the spiritual and material culture of the Finnish Sami in its collections and presents it to the public through its exhibitions and publications. Its main purpose is to support the identity and the cultural self-esteem of the local Sami.



We then drove on a little further for lunch. Tom & I had reindeer soup and smoked salmon on rye dread – very tasty.



Depart Inari, we drove through some beautiful countryside, covered in snow of course. The conifers were laden down with snow and many of the lakes were frozen over. There were waterways almost around every corner as Finland is covered by lakes and creeks. Several times we had to stop for reindeer to cross the road.

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