Lapland Trip - Part 2

The second part of our journey started off way too early! We left Saariselkä at 7.05 for Norway. The little village of Bugøynes was waiting for us. We drove another 290 kilometers. By now I can proudly say that I have crossed Finland completely! Most of the area we were crossing were natural reserve areas. Our first stop was at Näätämö, shortly before the Norewegian border. We paused at a small gas station which was attached to a K-Market. The people seemed to be annoyed by the crowd of our bus and the cashier was quite busy with all the customers. While waiting in line for the only bathroom, I spotted the offer of white cabbage, which costed 49 cents per kilogram. 

The shops opening hours were also interesting! It opens only 5 days a week. Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 5 pm and Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. However it was a cozy shop and the vendors seemed to be satisfied in this part of the country. Our tour guide told us later that the village Näätämö, which is located close to the gas station counted 14 inhabitants. Only a couple of minutes further, we crossed the Norwegian border! :) As Norway belongs to the Schengen Area, our bus chuggled across the boarder into the landscape of northern Norway. The change of the scenery was tremendous! On the Finnish side, we could see lots of conifers and relative low hills and rocks covered with deep snow. In Norway, we discovered that there were hardly any conifers. The trees were very small and the hills had turned to enormous mountains. However both sides were so beautiful that all the occupants of the bus stared outside on the entire 4 hour ride. On the side of the roads we spotted a lot of Russian road signs. The tour guide told us, that they inform Russian visitors, that they can not go any further without a valid visa. Only after I checked on Google Maps, I realized how far in the North we actually were! 

When we arrived in Bugøynes, an elderly lady warmly welcomed us and told us about her village and how the inhabitants are trying to act sustainable. The lady told us, that she invented the very fist Sauna without a shower. As the Arctic Ocean is pretty clean and healthy she recommended the water to prevent lots of diseases. Due to my sickness (which btw had improved in spite of the cold climate) I decided to only dip my feet in the water and skip the Sauna. While the others roasted in the Sauna, I got rid of my shoes and socks and steeped my feet into the cold, clear water of the Arctic Sea. Fortunately I brought some warm woolen socks - believe me my feet never felt that cozy :)) 
After that I wandered around the village. The village had everything they needed to survive, a small shop, a cemetery, a school, a church and there was even a fish farm nearby, which is the main provider for work places. The people seemed quite reserved and I wondered how people greet each other in Norway. 
For lunch, we were invited in a local club house. We had Norwegian fish soup with white fish. At this point I have to mention that it impressed me how well the elderly knew the English language. For desert, we tried Norwegian brown cheese "Brunost". We learned that the caramelized sugar in the milk creates the brown color of the cheese. The stay in Norway was limited to 4 hours, but the 8 hours of driving there were totally worth it! 
When we got home, Kathi and I went on a big walk around the town. We were lucky as we saw the Northern Lights for the third time that week. 
On Thursday, we  visited a reindeer farm. The animals looked a bit tired. We later found out that they were castrated and therefore not impressed about anything. I felt so bad for them! The Huskies seemed to like pulling the sleigh, but the reindeer simply looked sad and somehow tired! So I couldn't get myself to ride on a sleigh. :/ Later on, a Sami woman informed us about Sami people's lives and their relationship to reindeer. She told us that every reindeer in Finland belongs to someone and therefore it is forbidden to randomly hunt down an animal. At the moment, 1 kilogram of reindeer meet is worth 8 €. Every reindeer owner gathers his animals twice a year. Once on midsummer and once in fall. On these occasions, the reindeer are counted and tagged with new earmarks. She mentioned that it is usually not hard to find reindeer during these times as they like to stay in groups in summer to keep the mosquitoes away.  If they do not find a group at all, they will use a helicopter. She advised us to never ask a reindeer farmer, how many animals he owns. 
We left the reindeer farm to go on a Snowshoe walk in the evening. It was quite challenging to put on the Snowshoes. When snowshoeing, it is important to use the spikes in the front of the device. Basically our tour guide chased us two times downhill and uphill, so we would get tired. When we arrived in the deep forest, we were able to see green Northern Lights for the fourth time that week! After the Snowshoeing, we ate reindeer! I guess it is rather barbaric to visit a reindeer farm in the afternoon and eat them in the evening! :I Hmm. Poor guy! ....! I guess it tastes okay but I wouldn't want to have it regularly! 
When we got back home, we tried to heat the Sauna in our cottage but without avail. I guess we would fail the Finnish survival test. So we took hot showers instead and enjoyed our last night in Lapland. 
On Friday, we were finally going back home to Southern Finland. We had another 1000 kilometers in front of us. However this time it took us only 13 hours. I was happy when we left the ice behind. Nevertheless, I already miss the snow. 
When we arrived in Lapland, there had been a solar storm, which caused the intense appearance of Northern Lights.
Out of all the activities, I liked the Husky Safari the most! The animals were gentle and cuddly. I would have loved to take one with me!

Thank you Lapland! Really enjoyed it! :)

Raisa