1982 Above the Arctic Circle (7/17/1982)

Saturday, July 17, 1982

At first there was coastal scenery, then the train moved inland. Sue reported people were sleeping in the aisles and maybe even in the lavatory.

The sun was bright in a clear sky as we passed mountains with patches of snow and evergreen forests kept sliding past on our panoramic “television” window.

Snow fence

At 7:50 there was an announcement saying we had crossed the Arctic Circle! It was marked with a couple rings at right angles set on a pyramid of stones, and the land was tundra with not much more than grass.

At about 9:15 we arrived in Fauske, where according to information we had gotten, was the quicker way to get to and from Narvik.

Fauske to Narvik bus ticket

Here we boarded one of the four buses waiting to go to Narvik. They started leaving one by one starting at 9:40. The driver played a cassette tape of easy-listening music, with mostly Norwegian songs, but also some in English (Elvis Presley), and even Italian (Tu Sei l’Unica Donna Per Me)! At 10:00 we boarded a ferry, the bus bypassing the cars to be first on the boat. We went on deck during the crossing, and with the breeze it was the coolest it has been on our trip.

Buses on the ferry

Back on the road, we seemed to be traveling across an island. Up at the tree line, at 11:30, we had a 25-minute stop. Instead of going to the cafeteria, Sue and I went to the grocery store across the street. We drank our strawberry yogurt and had cheese snacks. As we continued the drive, I started writing out postcards, which was a mistake as I got motion sickness. I tried all my tricks to get rid of the nausea and headache. The bus passed mountains with sheer bare stone faces that glistened when wet. Giant slab mountains.

After another ferry ride, I took an aspirin and ended up sleeping most of the way to Narvik where we arrived at 15:00. Sue and I had to walk down the hill to the train station, and we were already late for the 15:00 train, although they do tend to wait for the connecting buses. Sue went to mail the postcards with the last of our Norwegian stamps, and I asked the conductor about the train. We needed reservations, but didn’t have time to get the reservations, and when was the next train? He said just to board this one and he would sell us the reservations. Whew! The fee was 10 NOK/$1.60 and we were down to our last kroner.

Narvik to Kiruna ticket

This train took us into Sweden, where the area between the two countries was at the tree line and there were many cabins near lakes, dotted in the foothills, and in birch forests. Once in Sweden we had a new conductor, but no customs.

Entering Sweden

The mountains here seemed to be of a rougher material. They were tall and covered with snow. About 16:30 we passed the Abisko National Park, and arrived in Kiruna, Sweden at 18:10. Kiruna is an iron ore mining town with lots of railroad sidings, and it is the northernmost city in Sweden. There was a hotel next to the station, but nothing else. Supposedly many excursions start out from this town, but where was the town? A woman directed us across the road and through a park into town to find tourist info. There we got a nice brochure and were told where to find the youth hostel, down the road and the 2nd right. We ended up in an undeveloped area by the railroad tracks, but saw the international symbol for a hostel, a house with an evergreen tree. Came to a row of cabins on the other side of the railroad tracks. We couldn’t distinguish which cabin was reception, but a man loitering outside pointed it out. We were charged 42 Swedish krona (SEK)/$7 because we weren’t members of the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF). We also had to buy sheets and pillowcases to use on the bunks (sleeping bags not allowed, not that we had sleeping bags!) for 15 SEK/$2.50 per set.

Youth Hostel receipt

They sent us to Building 7, room 24. The door was locked, so I ran back to reception to get the key they forgot to give us.

After settling in we went to the tourist bureau to book ourselves on the tour to the Lapp village of Nikkaluokta and also a boat ride on the Vistadalen which should be below the highest mountain in Sweden, the Kebnekaise at 2,106 m/6,909’.

We went next door to a tiny cafeteria to order pytt i panna, translated as shepherd’s pie in my guidebook. We sat down to wait and were pleasantly surprised to receive a heaping plate of fried diced pork and potatoes topped with a fried egg, and alongside were pickle slices and pickled beets, all for 20 SEK/$3.40. Very good and very filling. It had rained as we went to the train station, which was keeping away the mosquitoes that we were warned about. We were unable to get information about trains to Finland, so returned to the hostel to shower, since the shower room is only open from 8:00-10:00 and 16:00-21:00. There was only cold water, but it was refreshing for us. We returned to our room to find one of the mattresses missing. Later a German couple came in with a bunch of blankets to use in place of a mattress. At one point we heard the baying and crying of many dogs, but thankfully that stopped. Hopefully the mosquito netting over the windows will work. At 22:15, it is as bright as day in the Land of the Midnight Sun!