混血月神媽媽的北極光童話

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is one unpleasant surprise to me though at the border. A 'Lanthandel' (country bussiness)  big bus was stopping just right at the swedish border, We were really curious and got in to the bus and had a peek of what they are selling, queuing one after another inside the bus 'container', we noticed that on the shelves there were daily necessities like milk, cheese, sausages, and most importantly MEATS - lot of them, by that i mean, the portion, it's like three or four times the size of the ordinary ones we see in hypermarket. Goodness!!!

Wild meats are also very popular, reindeer meat, moose meat, venison, and we were so shocked to see two killed big bird (like eagles) were being hung just outside door of the container. Cookie said these kind of birds are very common to be seen in northen scandinavian and people do hunt them. POOR BIRDS, i feel really sorry for them T.T

We tried to eat a little in a hut that is prepared for traveller at the border,  and set off again towards the sun shining Norway. YES, finally, the more we drove towards Norway, the brighter it became! Haleyluya! Junkerdal - the norwegian village locates just at the bottom of the valley with a magnificent view, i couldn't forget this village since i last visited it in 2009, and it's still as beautiful as it is in my memory, well, from distance!

What we didn't expect is that, along the road to Fauske, there are more charming villages, most of them sits just besides the crystal clear water, or besides the unique norwegian fjord! We stopped our car at one of the pit stop, there we enjoyed our very first fjord with unlimited digital photo-shooting. Sis seems to enjoy a lot too. I was so surprised to see how clear their water is! That is really zero pollution! As we passed by those villages, i couldn't help thinking 'norwegian people are truly blessed with such an exceptional nature'. The sun shines through the cloud, and falls on their cutie little sheeps and cows who are still enjoying their freedom and roaming outside on fields in the autumn. (I wonder how it could be snow in the swedish Arjeplog?)

We were a bit lost in this small city, and couldn't locate the hotel, some of the roads in the city center are one way, so we drove round and round the very center.  We stopped by an very old elderly, around 80 yrs old, and asked for direction. Cookie could understand Norweigian without problem and talked to them in Swedish, whereas i could only understand like 50% of it, roughly. He said he understands that it's hard to find the right location. 'they are constructions everywhere!' he smiled. In his tone i could feel that he is both happy and  a bit melancholy at the same time, happy for the developement of the city and as an elderly, seeing things change drastically to everything he used to know about is, however, a bit melancholy.

I couldn't stop thinking about the waffle that the receptionist mentioned to me, hotel would be serving waffle as Hi-Tea from 3 to 6 o'clock! We hadn't taken any proper lunch since the morning session at the border, so at around 4:30pm i began to be a bit eager to go back to the hotel. I WANT YUMMY WAFFLE! Cookie might have spotted this greedy little sweetie so he directed us to hike down the shortcut which he thought is simpler than the gravel road, but it turned out to be a bit swampy. Thanks to my 'FIGHT FOR WAFFLE' spirit, i managed to finish the loop with high spirit, the route itself isn't that bad actually, just almost felt like hiking in The lord of the Ring scene, real mountain route, unique to me anyways. Near the parking place there is a new residential area with newly built houses. Cookie noticed that norwegian houses are relatively smaller than swedish but they usually have more storeys, 3 or at least 2. 'probably due to the difficulty in building around the steep mountain-fjord area, the areas suitable for constructions are quite limited, so they need to extend the house upwards.' Cookie reckons. Meanwhile i couldn't help wondering why they have big windows! But as you could guess, of course, they are meant for viewing their magnificent fjords! When we drove down the road, i saw one mama sitting in her rocking chair, holding her baby and overlooking the fjord at distance just in front of a giant window.

And it is also a fantastic life to be able to catch the waffle session in the hotel. We were there at around 5, the waffle was very nice and i was satisfied! This satisfaction was totally completed by extending the Hi-Tea session to buffet dinner!

'This is life.' i think. (at the same time eating and piling up dishes on the table. mummmummummmumm------)

The night was still young! i urged (forced?) cookie to use the sauna room in the Hotel. We went checking the sauna cum gym room, there were a middle-age couple wearing thick jacket and taking photo in the room, i wonder why people want to take photo in the gym room? Well anyways, i was just happy that they didn't stay for long and we were the only guests that night! I am a big fan of steam sauna, it was relaxing to sit inside the little cabin and just enjoy the soothing steam, wheareas Cookie tried the finnish dry sauna as always. Northern european really like sauna and hot tub stuffs, well, because of the long winter and chill.

Sauna made it easier to fall asleep at night! The next day we got up at 7:30am and had a good breakfast! Sis finally got her wish fulfilled by having the famous norwegian salmon in her plate, IN NORWAY, raw, somemore. (I am hungry now! oh boy!)

We chose Clarion Hotel because the hotel provides good breakfast buffet! The buffet was compact, with various choice for cerals, nuts, different types of bread and jam, vegetable, fishes eggs and cheeses. There were not much meat, or i could say no meats at all, i suspected we had a fish alike meatloaf during the dinner time and that was just perfect for me  and I could say that 50% of the joy of this trip is generated by how pleasant the hotel is! Thanks sis for sponsoring the hotel!

 

 

 

We went out for a little while to travel around the city's biggest lake nearby, by car. We were lost, and didn't know where we were. Cookie claimed that my sense of direction sucks big time, and that i should learn how to read a map. I looked at the incomplete maps that i got from hotel, and felt a bit desperate! When will cookie learn that i am map reading handicapped? I tried to read, and i know i am just not good. Fortunately God didn't abondon us as the road we were roaming randomly is actually the road by the lake we wanted to go at the begining! It was a short ride, maybe 45 minutes? We got to see more norwegian houses nearby lake and their fields. There were a few ponies and sheeps on the field, the ponies were gnawing their hay when we stopped by and took a picture of them, they are so cute that their hair is just long enough to cover their eyes, when they looked to our side, i wondered if they were staring at us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

saying goodbye to the hotel

 

 

 

 

 

The car continues to drive back towards swedish side, we were back to the polar circle line and this time the pitstop looked actually more lovely than last time. I was hungry already so we started to make fire but TO NO AVAIL, because all the woods were too wet. Luckily cookie brought a lot of camping suppliers, we got to drink mushroom soup and eat stirred-fried sausage with the portable pot! Sis took out her Deer Brand thermos (made in china classic versions) and that is really something exceptional since it kept the water warm for 2 days! If you follow a path not far away from the BBQ place you will find a beautiful river bank with panoramic view of the surrounding nature. You can see through to the river bed also at the river bank!

 

 

 

'Cookie, the swedish water is very clear also, i feel a bit guilty to rinse our cups with the water' i said, though i know to just rinse the supplies won't be harmful at all, it's just tiny tiny sausage debris, the fish will find it delicious.

 

'oh ya? you know my whole family had been here and wash our hair with shampoo that time when we were hiking in the mountain' Cookie smiled 

 

'WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?' that was my response to his family's unthoughtful environment-harmful behaviour! And cookie if you are reading this, again---- WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?  don't you dare to do this anymore to this lovely beautiful clean innocent environment! OR ELSE, or else, hm...or else??? (brain-fart! let me think about the consequences)

 

Anyway! I would rather endure the filth than destroying the environment!

 

Time was around 6:30pm, we started to rush back home, cookie drove prudently as usual but i just couldn't shut my eyes because it was all foggy and misty the whole way back! I tried very hard to keep my eyes opened to observe if there is going to be any moose or animal jumping out from the verges! See, i am a very responseful passenger! It was 9:30pm when we got home, i couldn't believe that we followed my schedule perfectly! I felt mission accomplished! My hard research work is paid off! Thanks guys! 

 

The following is the itinerary that is well followed!