We are happy to have this 145 km in the Stora Sjöfallet National Park to have driven. The view of the mountains is just amazing! Although we were only at 570 m, it felt like we were at 1500 m. The area is just great and you can do some hikes. Many also come to the national park and take a boat across the lake to the other side Sarek National Park bring. There they go hiking for a few days, as it is the last untouched nature in Sweden. It must be really great to see that.
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Stora Sjöfallet National Park - finally moose spotted
In Ritsem we had a great view of the Sarek National Park. The weather was also very good, so that one could see far. Over there were several large mountains and there were also glaciers to be seen. Sweden has a total of 270 glaciers and 150 of them are in the Sarek National Park. There was also a lot of snow in the mountains and the sun made it shine. On the other side of the lake you could see several huts on the bank in the sunlight. In the summer there are a lot of Sami, natives of Sweden, who mark the calves of their reindeer herds.
We slept well that night. Thank goodness we hadn't brought any of the mosquitoes on the bus with us in the evening. We did a little more work and cleaned the bus. Then we drove on and wanted to go to Stora Sjöfallet waterfall. The street goes up and down. Basti drove and since the road has a lot of potholes, he concentrated on the road in front of him. Then at some point I shouted “There's a moose”. Far in front of us on an elevated road was a cow elk! Unfortunately we weren't fast enough with the cameras, because when she noticed the car, she went straight back into the sparse forest.
We thought that was it now and Basti approached the increase very slowly. And then she stood to the right of us behind a fence a little into the forest! On the part of the road there is a fence along the road and in between there is a game passage. She seems to have taken it. The nice thing was that she felt safe enough to stop. So we were able to take a few pictures in peace, which are far away, but still show the elk cow. We have been in Sweden for 8 weeks and finally we saw a moose. The sticker can now be attached to the car.
When we arrived at the waterfall, we stood in the hiking car park for the night. There are various hiking trails here, some of which lead up into the mountain. Now we have internet again and so a post with the moose sighting went straight out. The next day we went to the waterfall and took a few more pictures of it. Sebastian still let the drone fly.
We wanted to spend another night along the lake towards the E45. But that turned out to be more difficult than expected.
First place looked good at first, hardly any mosquitoes and a lot of wind. However, we were astonished that an older couple sat there with a head net. After a short time we had an incredible number of small flies on and around the bus. It was a bit annoying because they wouldn't leave you alone. But we wanted to drink coffee and so Basti made some.
But when I got on the bus and we were preparing a cup, I discovered that Finja had pinched herself and ate something. At first we thought it was a mosquito again. But then I saw a small fly on the window pane that left blood when squashed. So Finja caught and checked and yes, she had 2 bite wounds that were bleeding.
In Germany they are called deer lice flies, which are really aggressive. Once on the host, they lose their wings and bite. The problem is that these bite wounds can become quite infected under certain circumstances. We really felt sorry for the mouse. After we broke all the flies found on the bus, we drove on. The next place was on a railway line that is not busy, but there were freshly painted wooden beams. It reeked of paint and before we got a headache from it, we drove on here as well. And so the way led us out of the national park.
The next place would have been on the E 45 and looked good so far. When we arrived it was full. Now we were fed up. Off to Gällivare to the campsite.
Gällivare - campsite with laundry included
Our plan was anyway, up to Kiruna to drive and then into the Abisko National Park. So we would have been through anyway Gällivare have to drive. It was then clear to us that we were going to the campsite. We need drinking water, want to shower again and then I can wash again directly because it is included in the price.
No sooner said than done and off to the campsite. Unfortunately I couldn't wash until 5 p.m. the next day. You only have one machine and you make a schedule for it. So we had to stay 2 nights, which wasn't really that bad. So we could sleep in and work.
So after we slept in and had plenty of coffee, we did a bit of work. From 5 p.m. I could wash. You can always book the machines for 3 hours, washing machine and dryer in one room. Basti then booked me the room for 6 hours because I definitely had to wash 2 machines. But I had to see which program I was using. Because it was a normal washing machine and if you use the normal 40 ° program, it already takes 2h20. So no time for dryers. At 10 p.m. my laundry was ready enough that I could leave a small part hanging on the line overnight.
We spent the nights relatively quiet. There were a few mosquitos there, but it was limited. The next time we go shopping, Basti wants to look for a vaporizer that was recommended to us so that we can at least sleep in peace. After we took care of the supply and disposal, we went shopping in Gällivare. Basti actually received such a vaporizer. You can get it in almost every supermarket here in Sweden.
http://www.gallivarecamping.se
Esrange Space Center and Kiruna - Visitor Center and largest ore mine in the world
After shopping we are at the visitor center of the Esrange Space Center drove. It was very small, but also interesting. They exhibited some remains of missiles there, as well as showing information about Esrange's work and locations. Esrange is even represented twice in Germany. You can also watch an information film in English. Otherwise, unfortunately, you can't see that much of the area. That was a shame, we thought you could look over the area from a vantage point.
Our overnight place was then shortly after the Space Center at a bathing place. We slept well and since there were some mosquitos there, we tried the vaporizer directly in the evening. And it worked great. We didn't have any mosquitoes in the car that night. We had it on in the evening 2 hours before going to sleep, naturally with good ventilation, and turned it off before going to sleep.
After the coffee we went further Kiruna. The first thing we wanted to do was go to the town hall, as the way in which some parts of the city were moved is exhibited there. The city is on the World's largest ore mine, which was opened in 1898 and is still in operation, and it has been observed that the parts of the city that are in the immediate vicinity of the mine are at some point in danger of collapsing.
After long deliberation about what the city should do, they decided to relocate the aforementioned parts of the city. Slowly, house by house, the building is either demolished and rebuilt or torn down and rebuilt. This should be done by 2040. Unfortunately, the town hall was closed to those interested in history, but you can follow the history on the Internet.
So we drove downtown and did a little stroll. We parked in a place right near the pit and had such a great view of it. First we went to one of the largest wooden churches in Sweden. It was very impressive. The bell tower is also made entirely of wood. The church itself should also look really great inside. Unfortunately there was a rehearsal, so we didn't go in to take pictures.
The city center was also very cute. In a couple of shops we bought local things and of course a moose sticker. What strikes us here in Sweden is that the cities mostly have shopping centers and fewer small shops. We think it's a shame because this makes the stroll very short. We had another drink in a small café and then slowly returned to the car. We still want to drive towards Nikkaluokta in the mountains.
You can find more pictures in the Sweden photo gallery.
