Lapland 2016 July 6 - 2016 July 8
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Again in Lapland chasing the midnight sun. For some unknown reason the fair midsummer days are growing scarce in Lapland. Weather changes in unexpeted ways, and the forecast does not give certainty even for the following day, as I found out.
As before, I leave out most of those photography targets that are already depicted in the albums Inari2013 and Lappi2014. This time I post a few photos of Inari, its southern-side lakes, and Sodankylä town where I fled the rains beginning in Inari.
Rovaniemi Airport was closed due to maintenance. I flew to Kemi city and rented a car. For the return trip I had already a train ticket.
Reserving the car I was a brief critical moment late for GreenMotion's requirement to reserve the car one day in advance. I was trying to get an amazingly cheap hybrid Toyota. Instead, Europcar offered me the corresponding gasoline Toyota, and at the time of retrieval changed it to a bigger VW Golf.
The vacant room I managed to get from the Hotel Inari was a bit expensive one, with a walled balcony. It gave a good view over the lake.
There are clouds, but the sun does shine now and then.
Warning to the travelers: If the smallest diameter of your torso is larger than 30 cm, you will not get your shower.
Lapland today: A fountain in the lake.
A clockwise image series at the shore of Talvitupajärvi lake, about 10 kilometers of the highway from Inari to the southern direction.
A clockwise series at the Martinkotajärvi lake, south from the previous one.
Myössäjärvi lake, south from the previous ones.
Near Myössäjärvi there is an attraction called Bear's Nest Rock (which I did not go to see) and a bear-themed cafeteria.
Ukonjärvi lake seen from its northern end.
As I mentioned, the weather of Inari, forecasted half-cloudy, began to deteriorate as the latter night came nearer. I kept guessing at the weather map whether I should move to north or south, and decided eventually for the south, to Sodankylä town. For the midnight sun Sodankylä is a much weaker choice than Inari or Utsjoki, but certainly better than to remain in the rain.
Sodankylä is a small townlet of two avenues. Its layout resembles a ladder. The whole municipality of Sodankylä, sized over 100 kilometers, has only 8773 inhabitants.
For lodgings there was only one considerable option: Hotel Sodankylä. The town itself gives me somehow a depressed impression, and the hotel does not rise above its environment in this sense. However, the food is delicious. I arrived at the prime time for the dinner. When I entered the dining hall, there were two other guests dining, and when I left, there were none. The difference was dramatic compared with Hotel Inari, which I barely managed to enter because of the high demand.
The traffic lights are red to all directions until somebody approaches the crossing with a vehicle or presses the pedestrian crossing button.
The town is sleeping.
Sodankylä town is forested flatland, which is a particularly bad choice for the midnight sun. The best basking place I managed to find was the bridge at the Kemijärventie highway. However, as the picture shows, the basking was merely a theoretical idea because of the clouds. Right above me there was fair sky, but at the low angle toward the sun no openings between the clouds were left.
I went onto the jetty at the shore of the Kitisenjoki river that streamed below the bridge still and smooth. I thought that being away from the vegetation I would be safe from the mosquitoes, but learned soon otherwise. As also the nearby shore bar closed its doors at midnight, even the rest of the mosquitoes decided to have an extended party around me. I gave up the fight and retreated.
Next morning I drove back to Kemi city and changed to the train. At Helsinki we arrived half an hour before midnight.