Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
RÖMPÄVIIKO AND THE PAJALA MARKET
Taking place in the last week in September, the
Römpäviiko
(“romp week”) cultural festival,
featuring live music and street stalls selling food and handicrafts, is undoubtedly the liveliest
time to be in the village. However, the second weekend after midsummer is another good
time to visit, when up to forty thousand people flood into town for the Pajala
market
, one of
the biggest in northern Sweden, selling everything from chorizos to reindeer antlers.
Its saving grac
e is that there's a free sauna on site, too.
890kr/1090kr
Snickarbacken
Snickargatan 9
T
0978 100 70,
W
snickarbacken.se.
Well-sized apartments with decent
kitchens are available for rent at this new venture on the
edge of town, opposite the hospital. There's also a handful
of hostel-st
yle roo
ms, to
o, and
a sauna for guest use.
Apartments
690kr
, dorms
195kr
EATING AND DRINKING
Café Nova
Tornedalsvägen 2
T
0978 100 95.
A friendly
retro-style café in the town centre with loads of 1960s
furniture for authenticity. It's a good choice for sandwiches,
salads and light lunches and there's internet access, too.
Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 11am-2pm
.
Thai Dan Sai
Medborgarvägen 3
T
0978 70 05 70.
This
new Thai place serves standards such as green chicken
curry and spring rolls to a grateful local clientele. Prices are
low too, with mains around 90kr.
Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm,
Fri 11am-2am, Sat noon-2am.
Tre Kronor
Tornedalsvägen 11B
T
0978
107 70.
This long-
standing pizzeria and fast-food place serves pizzas (from
65kr), burgers (65kr) and steaks (from 79kr). It's not exactly
fine dining but at prices like these there are few complaints.
Mon-Thurs 10.30am-7pm, Fri 10.30am-8pm, Sat & Sun
10.30am-1.30pm.
Karesuando and around
Sweden's northernmost village,
KARESUANDO
, 180km north of Pajala, is a
surprisingly likeable little place that you can reach from Pajala by bus by changing
in nearby
Vittangi
, where, incidentally, there's a great
elk park
(June-Aug daily
10am-6pm; call ahead at other times on
T
070 247 69 06,
W
moosefarm.se; 120kr).
This far corner of Sweden is as good a spot as any to take stock of just where you've
reached: the North Cape is barely 500km away, you're as far north as the northern
tip of Alaska, and the tree line slices through the edge of the village.
Winters
up here
can be particularly severe; the first snow falls at the end of September or early
October and stays on the ground until late May, when the Muonioälven, the river
which curls around the village, also melts. Just a few centimetres beneath the
surface, the ground is in the grip of
permafrost
all year round. Summer here is short
and sweet - but the region becomes a mosquito paradise in the warmer and lighter
months. Karesuando is right in the midst of
Sámi
heartland; reindeer husbandry,
particularly in the nearby villages of Övre, Nedre Soppero and Idivuoma, where
many herders live, is of primary importance.
With your own transport, it's well worth the short drive south along Route 400 for
fantastic
views
: some five or ten minutes after leaving the village, take the right turn
marked “Kaarevaara” and continue past a small lake, whereupon the road begins to
climb up past a TV mast and ends in a small car park. On a clear day you can see for
miles across the Swedish and Finnish tundra. The vast tract of land stretching away to
the northwest contains
Treriksröset
, the point where Sweden, Finland and Norway
meet (see box opposite).
Lars Levi Laestadius museum
Laestadiusvägen • No set hours • Free
The only sight to speak of in Karesuando is beyond the tourist office: the wooden cabin
here was once the rectory of
Lars Levi Laestadius
, the village's most famous son (see
box, p.349). Complete with simple wooden pews, it was used as a meeting place while
Laestadius was rector in Karesuando, and is now a simple
museum
of his life.
