One thing I told myself I must do in Sweden, is reach the Arctic Circle. I could not come home knowing that I was living 200km away from it and not have gone. So I told the guys here about Jokkmokk [say Yok-mok], where the Sami people live, and how the Arctic circle is just 7km north from that little town. The Sami people are an indigenous people to Sweden, their language and way of life is very different from Swedish culture in general and we wanted to see what exactly they are about for ourselves as well.
We left Lulea by bus at 4:45pm on Friday, 4th Sept. It cost us 197 SEK, instead of the 119 SEK the travel agent told us, argh! Anyway, we were not going to let 78 SEK ruin the trip for us, so we got onto the bus which got us to Asgard (say Osgourd) in 3 hours, right in front of our STF hostel. We were hungry and tired, so after a quick dinner at a local watering hole we headed back to our 6-bed dorm room after a game of life-sized chess near a traffic junction. We needed our rest, we knew the next day held a 14km walk to and from the Arctic Circle for us.
We woke up at 8:30, with much resistance, protest and difficulty. But a breakfast of bread/pastry/juice got us rearing to go and after a few detours to look for how Dale could go about fishing we were on the highway to the Arctic Cirlce. It was a real highway, and on the way there and back, when the occasional car went by the passengers or drivers with look us at and laugh or stare in astonishment at these crazy kids attempting to walk all the way. But the weather was great, cool and comfortable, and the company was even better, we laughed, joked and got up to silly antics the entire way. Everything from throwing rocks at signboards, taking photos on the open road, making moose mating calls and sword fighting with the poles stuck by the side of the road.
Even more perfect were the trees, lakes and hills that surrounded us. It didn't matter which direction we looked in, the view was beautiful and the sky that hugged the curves of the land changed hues as the sun plodded along it. As we got 1km away from the Arctic Circle we saw a stunning lake and the hills and forests even more up close. The sunlight danced on the water and we could see the smooth rocks leading into lake and lush, green coniferous forests hemmed in the icy, sapphire waters.
After trudging along we caught sight of a big white sign that read ARCTIC CIRCLE! Then while we all yelled in glee and rejoiced, Vishnu broke into a run made for it at top speed to our great amusement. It had taken us about 2 hours and 30 mins to get there and though exhausted, the sense of accomplishment we felt was pretty immense. Unfortunately the Arctic cafe that sold certificates stating that 'you have come this far north' closed its doors the night before for the winter. We were like "huh? What winter?!", but such was our luck. But we were having fun taking photos so we were still in high spirits. It was a great thing I brought my tripod - group photos!
We were not successful in hitching a ride back so we had to walk ALL the way back to where we began and meet Dale, who had gone fishing instead of go with us. Poor guy didn't catch anything. On a whim we decided to have a BBQ that night so we went to the supermarket to get supplies but because we were so hungry we wanted to eat dinner first as we could not wait 2 hours for a fire to get started and food to be cooked. So we had fake chinese food at Kow Loon and a nice BBQ supper with a newly made German friend [who had hiked 250km from Norway to Jokkmokk!!!] around 11pm.
On Sunday, after a breakfast of left over BBQ food, we headed to the Sami museum for a quick tour so we could find out about Sami culture. I think the boys were kinda bored, but I loved it! I found out about their myths, how they were forced to modernize and their natural remedies among other fascinating things.
Then we had to wolf down a quick lunch before getting our bus number 44 back to Lulea. Well, Jokkmokk is not an exciting town, and really the best time to go is in February when they have the Sami winter market, but I will never ever forget my walk to get to the arctic circle and the feeling that overcame me when I saw signboard telling me that I actually made it that far north.
We left Lulea by bus at 4:45pm on Friday, 4th Sept. It cost us 197 SEK, instead of the 119 SEK the travel agent told us, argh! Anyway, we were not going to let 78 SEK ruin the trip for us, so we got onto the bus which got us to Asgard (say Osgourd) in 3 hours, right in front of our STF hostel. We were hungry and tired, so after a quick dinner at a local watering hole we headed back to our 6-bed dorm room after a game of life-sized chess near a traffic junction. We needed our rest, we knew the next day held a 14km walk to and from the Arctic Circle for us.
We woke up at 8:30, with much resistance, protest and difficulty. But a breakfast of bread/pastry/juice got us rearing to go and after a few detours to look for how Dale could go about fishing we were on the highway to the Arctic Cirlce. It was a real highway, and on the way there and back, when the occasional car went by the passengers or drivers with look us at and laugh or stare in astonishment at these crazy kids attempting to walk all the way. But the weather was great, cool and comfortable, and the company was even better, we laughed, joked and got up to silly antics the entire way. Everything from throwing rocks at signboards, taking photos on the open road, making moose mating calls and sword fighting with the poles stuck by the side of the road.
Even more perfect were the trees, lakes and hills that surrounded us. It didn't matter which direction we looked in, the view was beautiful and the sky that hugged the curves of the land changed hues as the sun plodded along it. As we got 1km away from the Arctic Circle we saw a stunning lake and the hills and forests even more up close. The sunlight danced on the water and we could see the smooth rocks leading into lake and lush, green coniferous forests hemmed in the icy, sapphire waters.
After trudging along we caught sight of a big white sign that read ARCTIC CIRCLE! Then while we all yelled in glee and rejoiced, Vishnu broke into a run made for it at top speed to our great amusement. It had taken us about 2 hours and 30 mins to get there and though exhausted, the sense of accomplishment we felt was pretty immense. Unfortunately the Arctic cafe that sold certificates stating that 'you have come this far north' closed its doors the night before for the winter. We were like "huh? What winter?!", but such was our luck. But we were having fun taking photos so we were still in high spirits. It was a great thing I brought my tripod - group photos!
We were not successful in hitching a ride back so we had to walk ALL the way back to where we began and meet Dale, who had gone fishing instead of go with us. Poor guy didn't catch anything. On a whim we decided to have a BBQ that night so we went to the supermarket to get supplies but because we were so hungry we wanted to eat dinner first as we could not wait 2 hours for a fire to get started and food to be cooked. So we had fake chinese food at Kow Loon and a nice BBQ supper with a newly made German friend [who had hiked 250km from Norway to Jokkmokk!!!] around 11pm.
On Sunday, after a breakfast of left over BBQ food, we headed to the Sami museum for a quick tour so we could find out about Sami culture. I think the boys were kinda bored, but I loved it! I found out about their myths, how they were forced to modernize and their natural remedies among other fascinating things.
Then we had to wolf down a quick lunch before getting our bus number 44 back to Lulea. Well, Jokkmokk is not an exciting town, and really the best time to go is in February when they have the Sami winter market, but I will never ever forget my walk to get to the arctic circle and the feeling that overcame me when I saw signboard telling me that I actually made it that far north.
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