In the land of the Sami

We left Rovaniemi on the bus and travelled north, mainly through lightly forested land with many lakes, to reach Inari. Things get more friendly further north and the bus driver went out of his way to drop us at our hotel. Inari is a small town on the large Lake Inari and is essentially the "capital" of Finnish Lapland. We stayed two nights and even tried out the sauna that is a standard addition in every Finnish hotel.

The local museum, called SIIDA, gives an excellent picture of the life and history of the Sami people.

The next day we caught a smaller bus, which took us to Kirkenes in Norway. The countryside became much more barren, with fewer trees and more rocks. We saw the occasional reindeer, singly or in small groups. The border crossing is simplicity after our Russian experiences - the bus driver was asked where we were going and was waved through; no passport checks, no stamps, no waiting.

The bus dropped us at the the Hurtigruten (the coastal steamer) - the MS Trollfjord. This is a large ship, of 16000 tons, carrying about 800 passengers. The ship calls into various local communities across northern Norway (the Finnmark) as it travels down the coast. We got as far as 71 N. The communities are small and clearly suffer a tough winter. Typically houses are wooden and brightly painted, with fishing the main industry, though there is a large LPG procesing facility being developed at Hammerfest. The ship is large amd modern, with comfortable cabins and large public areas. At each stop, the ship is beautifully handled to berth in a tight spot and there is a flurry of fork-lift activity to load and unload the required pallets of goods.

We saw the midnight sun - in fact, we did`t see any darkness in our two days on the ship. Our ship journey ended at Tromso at about midnight, in bright light. The next morning, we had a quick look at Tromso and then flew to Trondheim. Trondheim seems a prosperous and attractive city, with a compact centre. It has a large and interesting cathedral church and retains rows of old wooden warehouses bordering the river.