8A. June 17, 2024: Inari to Rovaniemi

Monday, June 17 2024.

Greetings from Rovaniemi—
Today was truly a car day. We drove about 240 miles from Inari (left after breakfast) using a route that took us a bit further west than the way we came to Inari on Saturday. This route was longer (about 40 miles more and about 90 minutes more). Figured it would be boring to see the exact same lakes and trees as we had seen going north. Definitely a good idea !!?? Over the first two hours we counted just 20 cars in either direction. But we saw lots and lots of reindeer. They are not very smart and do not really move off the road, or at least not very quickly. Or perhaps they are very smart and realize that they were here before us and also that we will stop for them. They sort of linger a while and then dash off. We saw whole families of reindeer as well as a few very independent ones (or maybe some lost ones). This route was really slow since huge parts of it were unpaved and later in the journey we came upon large swaths of road that were being re-paved so we were driving over gravel for long stretches. I guess they do all road repairs in the summer months so as to have good roads by wintertime. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, the roads are excellent and this is why. They invest in infrastructure!

Given the infrequency of seeing another person or another vehicle, we were extremely glad that we didn’t get a flat tire or need assistance. Not sure how we’d describe to any service people where we were. Maybe “98th tree to the left?”

We had intermittent drizzle and bursts of strong sunshine, but the drive was fine. We drove past Pokka, a town of just 90 residents—with its reputation as being one of the coldest villages in Finland: the place where the lowest temperature ever in Finland (and in Europe, they claim) has been measured: “MINUS 51 degrees in January 1999.” Today it was about 60 degrees. And we stopped for lunch in Kittila, which has an interesting history.

In 1991 a group of French and Belgians formed a community (some say a cult) in Kittila. They were called “the Iriadamant” The residents dressed in Native American clothing. They arrived in Finland with help from a professor at the University of Oulu, to “study living in nature” and to learn about self-sufficiency. They founded a camp near Kittilä. Even though they were Europeans, they were referred to as “Kittilä’s Indians” or “lifestyle Indians,” Initially they were seen as a positive element. But within a year or so, that changed. The professor called off the relationship when it was obvious that no research was being done at the camp. Supposedly, the conditions were miserable; the camp was cold and dirty, and residents lacked food and healthcare. It was revealed that the group was dependent on food from outsiders, and it turned out that the founder of the Iriadamant, Pierre Maltais, did not actually live in the camp; rather he lived in a hotel in Helsinki. Then the movement began to be seen as a negative force and an eco-cult. It was thought that the leadership deceived the outside world and its members. By 1993, the Iriadamant were deported, and the community disbanded soon after. All of this in little Kittilä a town with 6,000 residents.

The Iriadamant camp was actually founded by Pierre Doris Maltais, a French Canadian who also used the names Norman William and Alpjoine, and who claimed he was of Métis ancestry (mixed European and Indigenous background). In 1973, Maltais founded an ecological group and moved to Paris to sell natural products. A few years later, the group went on a worldwide tour to plant trees and spread their philosophy. Basically, the members lived a simple and somewhat primitive lifestyle. They rejected modern diets, medical care, and even the use of tools. The name Iriadamant is some kind of derivation of “lifestyle painters.” Anyway, we didn’t run into any descendants of the group in Kittila.

We were hungry by the time we got to Kittilä. It was about 2:30 and we were starving. We drove up and down the main street and could only find one place to eat—a pizza place. They had 38 different kinds of pizza, but we had a hard time finding a simple one (without lamb or pineapple). Finally, the guy behind the counter, who had been hearing us discuss ingredients, suggested a simple tomato, pepper, mushroom, onion pizza and we said fine. He asked us whether we wanted small, medium, or large.. He recommended medium for two people. About 10 minutes later, our pie arrived and it was literally 24” in diameter. We could have fed 10 people. We did what we could but basically could only eat about half of the pie.

Turns out that the guy behind the counter, who was fluent in Finnish and English, is from Kurdistan! We asked why he came to Finland (meaning why Finland? Not too many Kurds here), but he took the question to mean “Why did he leave Kurdistan?” Anyway, he said “My family had an argument with a neighboring family, so we had to leave.” Mmmm I think the disagreement was a little bigger than that. In any case, here he is—a Kurdish immigrant in Finland and in this tiny 6,000-person town in the middle of nowhere, serving gigantic pizzas.

We then headed to Rovaniemi and here we are. Just finished dinner at the hotel. We hadn’t planned on that and strolled to check out two restaurants, but many restaurants are closed on Mondays, so the hotel turned out to be the best bet. Tomorrow we will explore Rovaniemi. Last time we were here–about 15 years ago– we had come from the far north—having crossed into Finland from Norway at the most northern part and drove down to Rovaniemi.
Fly to Helsinki tomorrow late afternoon.
Best
Fern
PS – The photo of the car shows just how dirty our rental car got on today’s drive. Thanks for all the supportive comments on the travel notes. Some of you asked questions which I promise to answer as soon as I can pull them all together.