WINTER WONDERLAND IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
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SÁPMI – SWEDISH LAPLAND:15-18 March 2012Part One |
Intrepid traveller, Elizabeth Handley visited this winter wonderland and found that it was a land of contrasts, with reindeer herding and old traditions living side by side with space operations and modern technology.
Our flight to the north of Sweden last week was further proof of the claim made by Scandinavian Airlines that theirs is “the most punctual airline in the world”. Our one-and-three-quarter hours flight from Stockholm to Kiruna, in Swedish Lapland, was a fascinating journey, during which I was able to observe the changing topography of this long and fascinating country. (1.5 km in length, 500 km at its widest. Area: 500,000 km2, compared to SA: 1,300,000 km2).
Visibility was crystal clear, apart from a few wispy clouds, and I watched the landscape beneath transform from one of early spring, with its soggy grey-green textures, and numerous frosted glass lakes, to one still in the icy grip of winter. Kiruna Commune is still a landscape of black forests of dormant birch, and vast, snow-clad fields criss-crossed with occasional isolated roads and several frozen rivers. There were also patches of hoary lichen – the staple diet of the indigenous reindeer herds – but mainly massive tracts of inhospitable, seemingly uninhabitable land.
Much of this area appears from the air to be a barren wasteland of velvety-white, with snow-filled pockets – the frozen lakes – and deserted, mysterious silence. It is austere, desolate and remote, yet remarkable for its cold and stark beauty. Our drives through the area proved the tranquility to be absolute – apart from a few tiny settlements. At night the skies were a mass of frosty stars undimmed by city lights, and chastely illuminated by illusive white veils of aurora borealis.
Our approach to Kiruna, the principle raison-d’être of which is the great iron-ore mine (LKAB), revealed a small rugged town laid out around the mine, steely colours, glittering factory lights, and smoke curling briskly from several tall chimney stacks. This area of extreme human industry – in the face of one of the harshest climates on earth – appears from the air as a series of great black scars slashed into an otherwise pristine landscape, with the railway line snaking into the distance on its imperturbable march towards Narvik on the Norwegian coast.
The Kiruna district, covering an area as large as half of Switzerland, includes vast nature conservation areas, six rivers flowing freely beneath their icy crusts, over six thousand lakes, and the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise (Sámi for “Cauldron Crest”). The glaciated peak thereof stood at 2106 m, but as the glacier melts, its height has reduced from this earlier figure. Kiruna lies at a latitude of 63 degrees north, and so the sun shines here all day and night for almost three months during the summer (the “midnight sun”), and remains out of sight for almost one month during midwinter, the region remaining submerged under its dark blue winter cloak.
It is a land of contrasts, with reindeer herding and old traditions living side by side with space operations and modern technology.
A receiver site and other EISCAT facilities, such as powerful radar systems, conduct research on the middle and upper atmospheres, the ionosphere and the aurora. Esrange, an international centre for scientific and commercial space-related projects, provides control stations for various types of satellites, as well as facilities for launching rockets and stratospheric balloons. IRF, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, also conducts research into space and atmospheric physics here, and takes measurements by means of satellites, sounding rockets and meteorological balloons. Tarfala Research Station facilitates research and education in an alpine area, and is famous for its studies of glaciers, climate and permafrost.
Adult education and high school facilities here foster education and distance study through universities, and offer a wide variety of courses. Old Sámi and Finnish cultures co-exist with the modern ways of the later Swedish immigrants: superb Sámi cuisine alongside Italian, Chinese and Thai take-away joints, old wooden dwellings alongside modern concrete ones, and dog sleds alongside snow-mobiles. Apart from the usual supermarkets and chain stores, there are also stores selling ski and outdoor (fishing and hunting) equipment, souvenirs and crafts.
“Lapland” – or Sápmi to the Sámi people (Laps) – has a strong cultural identity, evident in every town and village in the Arctic Circle. The exact location of the region is more difficult to identify geographically. These Arctic people inhabit areas including northern Sweden, as far as but not including the Bothnian coast, northern Norway and Finland, and the Kola peninsular in Russia.
There are around 60,000 Sámi altogether, with about 17,000 in Sweden. For thousands of years they have lived a semi-nomadic life, following the seasonal movements of their reindeer herds through valleys and hills, and surviving on the offerings of the environment: fish, fungi, game and berries, and of course reindeer meat in every shape and form (including “biltong”.)
Their year is divided into eight separate seasons, ranging from early spring, when they traditionally bring the reindeer cows up to the calving areas in the hills, through to winter, when they return to the forests and pastures.
They are thought to have descended from the original prehistoric descendants of much of Scandinavia and northern Russia, and traces of their nomadic culture have been found as far south as Poland.
Their language, which belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of languages, and contains elements of Finnish and Hungarian, is incredibly rich, and is strongly influenced by their natural life-style.
There are no words for alien concepts such as “war”, for example, but ninety different ways in which to describe the various snow conditions. There are three different dialects, but they are not mutually comprehensible.
Today the problems of tourism, such as erosion caused by the booted feet of numerous hikers (the Kungsleden trail is very popular in summer), and elements of racism, have threatened the traditional existence of these illusive people. Chernobyl, the Russian nuclear disaster in 1986, also dealt them a terrible blow – the lichen upon which the reindeer feed, especially during the winter, and the natural food sources with which the Sámi supplement their diet, having been severely contaminated. Mining beneath the town has undermined its very foundations, and the whole town, is going to be relocated in the near future – the church, railway, the town hall – all will have to be removed brick by brick and placed on another site away from the mine.
There was much evidence on our trip, however, of attempts to preserve and respect the Sámi culture, in the form of museums, and literature about their habitat and modes of existence. CD’s of their music (especially the Joik singing), and many of their arts and crafts were on sale in the tourism shops and museums : beautifully carved and decorated reindeer horn knives, spoons and wooden carved mugs, reindeer skin leather products such as decorated shoes, purses, belts and bags, and woolen items such as thick socks, hats and gloves.
Arctic Eden Hotel – Kiruna NarvikA Kiruna street
Our hired car – courtesy of AVIS – was ready for collection at Kiruna airport, and with the aid of our indispensable GPS, we soon found our way to our hotel: the Arctic Eden, in the centre of the town.
As usual, we found the standard of accommodation to be below that trumpeted upon their website, with a vague young black-and-orange-haired woman at the reception desk, malfunctioning shower fittings, the massage therapist “on leave”, a totally inadequate “Spa” and “relax” area with a cold ”heated” pool, illusive sauna (I never did find it), and thin walls through which snoring neighbours could be heard at night.
Nonetheless, we had a comfortable stay in excellent beds with soft downy duvets, and the breakfast buffet was extremely varied and generous: cold cuts – including cured salmon, reindeer, and pickled herrings, both boiled and scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon, various cereals, served with jars of dried fruits, nuts and seeds, breads, toast, rolls and cakes, served with a wide variety of cheeses, jams and “marmalades” (including cloudberry and lingonberry jams), fruit juices (including “vitamin shots” of lethal puréed berries), teas and coffee, with almond biscotti. Teas, coffee and biscuits were also available all day at a buffet in the lounge of the hotel.
It was cold for our entire stay in Kiruna, temperatures hovering between minus 1 and minus 7. But we were unperturbed, having brought with us our extreme Swedish winter garb: down coats, thick fur-lined boots fitted with spiked crampons, and woolen scarves, gloves and hats.
The Haunted House Abisko Station
We walked to the tourism information centre in the middle of the town, and found it extremely well organised, with masses of printed maps and literature in Swedish and English, German, Spanish and French, with informative young ladies attending to the tourists behind the desk. It was here that we booked for our tour of the iron-ore mine and the “Sky Station” at Abisko National Park, which is located about 145 km north west of Kiruna.
The town boasts an ugly Stadshus which, incomprehensibly, won an award for being the most beautiful public building in Sweden in 1964. It is merely a red brick block (reminiscent of the Soviet architecture in Warsaw), sporting a modern metal clock tower with intricate latticework, and 23 bells.
Much more attractive is the wooden Kiruna Kyrka, a magnificent edifice dating from 1900 and designed to resemble a Sámi hut, conspicuously perched atop of a hill in the middle of the town. This structure was financed by LKAB, the iron-ore mining company and town’s main employer. Inside is impressive high vaulting of stout oak beams and rafters, and a beautiful organ.
On our first night we drove out towards Abisko Park, on the Narvik road (the E10), in search of the illusive Aurora Borealis. This phenomenon, quite magical to behold, is not one that appears ”to order” for tourists. It is completely at the whim of nature that one is either bestowed a magnificent sighting – or not. Each night we drove out into the countryside, away from the town lights, in the hopes of seeing the spectacular green and purple hues splashed upon brochures, in booklets and on postcards – without success. But we were blessed with brilliant clear skies, and sightings of magical swathes of white light, weaving mysteriously through the night sky, forming and fading, and continuously changing shape. Eventually we abandoned our efforts, optimistic that two nights still lay ahead, during which we hoped for better luck.
And blessed with luck we were that night, if not with astral magic, then with culinary delights beyond our expectations of such a small, one-reindeer town.
Having eschewed the Bishops Arms, on the strength that there are English pubs aplenty with hearty British fare in Stockholm, our meanderings brought us to Landströms Kök (Kitchen) & Bar. Here we enjoyed an “ethnic” meal of delicious local fare. Peter had the smoked reindeer, served with a rich berry sauce, puréed potato and apple, and a Wästerbotten cheesecake square (the “national cheese” of Sweden), and I had the smoked poached Arctic char, served with baked root vegetables, mushroom purée, and a piping hot earthenware side bowl of delicious creamy potato and mushroom gratin.
Here, too, we discovered St. Eric’s – a slightly sweet, light draft ale. All dietary caution by this time thrown to the winds, I then ordered the fruit-filled crêpe – a square folded pancake brimming with berries and other diced fruits, drizzled with syrup and dusted with icing sugar. Each dish was exquisitely presented, and the manner of our young Sámi waitress was charming and friendly, and her English excellent. Sámi Museum
Sami Huntsman
The next morning was spent walking around the town, and exploring the Kiruna Samegård – a most interesting exhibition of Sámi culture, history and handcrafts. Various art works here feature scenes from everyday life in the north and photographs of turn-of-the-century Sámi families. There is a craft shop upstairs, also selling books about the Sámi people, in a few other European languages.
The first Swedish pioneers arrived in Kiruna during the early 1600’s, and found the Sámi people already settled there – and quietly knowledgeable about the rich iron-ore deposits. The name of the town derives from the Sámi word Girun, meaning ptarmigan, a medium-sized game bird of the grouse family. It is known simply as Ptarmigan in Europe and colloquially as Snow Chicken or Partridgethen, and was once quite plentiful in the area. Completely ignoring the indigenous population, the Swedes opened the first iron-ore mine in 1647. But it was only during the 1880’s that exploratory drilling began, along with the building of the Malmbana, the iron-ore railway line running between Luleå and Narvik. In 1900 serious mining ensued, and the town was officially founded.
Iron-ore mine tour
The afternoon was spent participating in a tour of the LKAB iron-ore mine – the centre of the battle for the iron-ore supply during the World War II. Our tourist-laden coach descended down a surprisingly broad road 500m into the first few depths of the mine. It was an excellent tour, with a knowledgeable young lady guide, superb posters, installations and displays, and a brilliantly artistic film which included the history of the area and the mining process itself. Tea, coffee and biscuits were thrown in – a nice touch considering that the total cost for the two of us was SEK1160.
Dinner was another success (what I have come to call our “bingo” moments on our travels): Sámi cuisine at our own Arctic Eden hotel restaurant, after a misguided run-around trying to find the same place, highly recommended, but under a former name, in our 3-year-old guide book. We both ordered the “topside of reindeer with cream-cooked leeks and red wine and butter sauce”, with baked potatoes. Unable to resist the mouth-watering desserts on the menu, we chose the caramel tartlet with cloudberry (laced with Swedish vodka), and raspberry parfait (a sort of ice-cream), and the blueberry pannacotta with cinnamon and caramel sauce.
This article was first published in Showcook.com.
