Kirkenes

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The last port of call northbound is a place called Kirkenes. On the surface, this town is very much like the others. The colours and styles of building are very similar to the other small villages we have seen on the way north.

Kirkenes is located on a fjord which freezes over in winter. They have a snowhotel which is made of snow and only operates in winter. They are about 15kms from the Russian border and not too far from the Finnish border. Looking at a map of this area, you can see where Norway shares a border with 3 other countries – Sweden, Finland and Russia.

We were taken to the Snowhotel (which is a hotel made out of ice and snow) and were able to get a close up look at some reindeer, and we made friends with some huskies. We were also fortunate to take a ride on a husky sled. A musher drove the sled, with 8 dogs pulling us, we had a very enjoyable 20 minutes] ride across an iced over fjord. Yes, the dogs do pee and poo on the run, but nothing was kicked up onto us. Naturally I was sitting in the front of Walter. He needed the sled to support his sore back – yeah whatever!!! Anyway I had a blast on this ride. Such good fun!

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