Kilpisjärvi

One of my goals in coming to Finland was to go as far north as I could. I was finally able to do that this past weekend, at least within the bounds of Finland, by visiting Kilpisjärvi.

If you look at a Finnish map, Finland is a lady, and Kilpisjarvi is a tiny town in her left arm, at the point where Finland meets Sweden and Norway. I was lucky to have heard of a biological station there from a man at the University of Helsinki. Apparently, any person who is in any way affiliated with the U of H can visit the station for just 20 euros a night, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The trip took about 20 hours each way, with an overnight train ride on the Santa Express (the actual name ^^) to Rovaniemi, followed by 8 hours on a bus. By the way, Santa Claus lives in Rovaniemi... that's why all the children in Finland get their Christmas presents one day early.

I would also like to talk a bit about the bus ride. This one bus delivered mail, newspapers, very young school children, and travelers, all along its eight-hour route. Our two drivers (or was it a driver and a mailman?) took a break every couple of hours at gas stations to drink coffee and chat. And their personal destination was an overnight fishing trip further up north. It makes me happy in a tingly sort of way when I think about it, to know that such simple goodness still exists in the world.


We went on a 10km hike during our first full day there. We thought about climbing Saana, the tallest mountain - or fell - in Finland, and it was right across the street, but instead, we decided to climb another mountain to get a better view of the hills of Sweden and the snowy peaks of Norway. I was surprise by the richness of the arctic soil. At one point, we lost the path and had to make our way down the side of a fell by maneuvering around small trees, webs of streams, and knolls thickly covered with this soft, mossy greenery. We also found a higher and somewhat barren ranging field of reindeers, lots of reindeers, many of whom had been tagged by phantom shepherds.

View from the station (left); view at the top of the fell (right)

The arctic really holds its own beauty: barren but surprisingly lush, and colorful in a subtle sort of way.


Of course, we can't forget sauna, which felt wonderful after a hike! It's surprisingly comfortable to sit in a hot room with a bunch of naked people. I usually start out in a tank top or a towel, but a couple of minutes in, I just stop trying and end up as bare as everyone else. I think that the puritanical yet very liberal nature of American culture associates nudeness too much with sex. In a sauna with eight other naked guys and gals, we really just end up chatting and enjoying each other's company. All the while, our bodies become hotter and sweatier, until we have to run out for a shower or a dip in the lake, and then you do it again. :) In the words of my roommate Erika, "they wouldn't build a station up there, if they couldn't have a sauna!" (I wasn't quite brave enough for the lake, but I hear it wasn't so bad.)

We ended the evening with some good food and a camp fire in a specialized tepee, with benches covered with reindeer skins set up around the fire pit. This station really was quite well designed. We talked and played little games, with questions like "What's your favorite color and why? Now that describes you." Then we would go around the circle and listen to people's responses. Nothing super serious but just enough to be thought-provoking and kind of fun.



We also celebrated Melanie's 25th birthday, with a super easy and yummy brownie cake, though I have to say that the making of this cake was kind of epic. I burned my thumb in the oven (the resulting blister later tore during laundry scrubbing), and the 21 candles half-melted into the warm cake... creating little dips of neon-colored wax. Addie and I had to hastily pull them all out while in the kitchen, only to stick the candles in again to light them as quickly as possible outside the tepee, protecting the little flames with our bodies, before the wind could get to them.


Oh! And for the record, we walked briskly into Sweden... for about 5 seconds. ^^


To a Finn, this trip might have seemed a little like a waste. We missed the rustra (fall colors) and we were a tad bit early for the Northern Lights, but it was a wonderful trip in its own way, with some good people.