Jokkmokk and Gällivare and Reindeer and Chinese Food

Today we got up a bit early, got everything packed, were first to breakfast and were driving away at 08.47, destination Jokkmokk and the Sami (Lapp) Museum. The GPS on our rental auto said 4 hours 55 minutes – we arrived after 3 hours 25 minutes – seems that GPS unit uses something like 40 seconds to the minute - 300+ km at 90 or so km/hr does NOT take almost 5 hours!!

Ájtte, the Sami Museum, is much redone and improved since Lars was there, probably sometime in early-mid 1990s. It was an excellent museum then and is much better now!! We spent 3+ hours going though the exhibits and Lars felt he had learned much more than during his previous trip. Several museums we have visited on this trip, starting with the Icelandic National Museum in Reykjavik, have much improved means of educating visitors than was our previous experience. We both highly recommend the Sami Museum to anyone traveling through this part of Sweden.

On way back we met just what Sheila was hoping for – a bunch of real Lapland reindeer. Like all reindeer in Sweden, these are tame, though essentially free-ranging. These seemed to just be hanging out along the roadside. Two seem to be combining resting with snacking. One standing on the road left us a bit puzzled – was it looking at the asphalt and wondering why there was no food there? Or, was it admiring its shadow?

It would appear that these reindeer were  really not yet properly prepped for roadside display – kinda scruffy, with their winter coat already gone from some areas but not others.

By some process that neither Sheila or Lars could fully recall, we had booked a hotel room in the same hotel in Gällivare that Lars stayed in on a Sunday many years ago, probably early-mid 1990s. Being Sunday evening again, we went looking for the same Chinese restaurant that was the only eatery open on that Sunday evening long ago. It is still in business but it had moved down the street several blocks. The Chinese owner opened it in 1992 and moved to the present location in 2009 – over 20 years in northern Sweden – impressive. When Lars was here before it was a combination pizza takeout and Chinese restaurant – there was a steady stream of people coming in to pick up pizzas. Yes, the owner was a bit surprised to have a  customer return after so many years!! He was pleased that Lars found the food as good then as now.