Posted by We drive north from Kiruna along some very lonely roads towards the small town of Karesuando at the border to Finland. The road is actually a major highway connecting two countries and one of the main roads to drive if you want to reach North Cape. It is actually faster to drive to North Cape through Sweden compared to Norway if all borders are open.
Unlike yesterday the weather is better today with some sunshine breaking through the cloud cover – so it is a lovely drive along the road north. We reach the small town and then we spot a sign to go across the border to Finland across a bridge over a river. We head across the river and get stopped at the border where they ask where we are from.
He asks what we want to do in Finland and we tell him were going for an afternoon coffee in Finland since there is no open restaurant in Karesuando. When he realizes we live in Denmark and not the Swedish county of Norrbotten he tells us to turn around and go back to Sweden. We head back across the bridge.
When we get back to Sweden we stop at a little church next to the bridge. The church’s has a lovely setting right down at the river inside a little wooden area. The church is the northern most church in Sweden and it is a traditional wooden church. We walk along the little road up to the church – the road is lined by birch trees on both sides. The birch tree seems to be the most common tree up here – I guess it is one of the few trees which can handle the harsh climate with arctic winters and then the midnight sun during the summer.
FrejaTravels 