What a wonderful day to round off my time in Finland. I’ve decided to stay in Inari for one more day as I just felt too at ease and home here to already leave again. So I made the most out of that additional day, visiting the “Siida” – a museum about Sami culture and history – and going onto a cruise around Inarijärvi, Finlands third biggest lake. Unfortunately the Siida is in the process of redesigning and expanding their main building so only the outdoor museum was accessible. That wasn’t an issue though since that was already an amazing experience! As a bit of a history geek I love being put into places and scenarios where one can really feel and imagine what things must’ve been like. And that’s exactly what they offered. There were plentyful historic buildings and other constructions from the typical way of life of the Sami back in the day and I found myself in awe of the skill and endurance that lifestyle must have and still must require. All the information provided with the exhibits made for a really well painted picture of the culture as well as the history and way of life of the Sami. As always when visiting a museum it also left you with a somber feeling, for the Sami face a lot of the difficulties and injustices all other indigenous people do as well. Non the less I was very happy to have learned so much about this fascinating culture, the many different facets of it and having walked past the Finnish Sami parlament I also felt a bit hopeful as it seemed through the information given at the museum and from what I have seen here, that there might still be a way to improve the co-existance of indigenous people with western settlers.
The Finnish Sami parlament 
The recreation of a small Sami village 
Another look 
The cooking place 
The sawing contraption 
A small food storage, away from the ground to keep the animals from it 
A bigger food storage 
A general storage building 
A Sami house 
The inside 
Another look 
The living area 
Another look 
The cold storage room in the winter, the kids room in the summer 
A hay storage, far up to keep the hungry reindeers from it 
Yet another storage hut 
Boats. Lots of it. 
Guess what this is? 
A quick scenery shot 
A hut for the summer 
You know what it is 
A leather softening contraption 
A wolverine trap 
A small predator trap 
A wolf trap 
Another wolf trap 
A bear trap
Afterwards I sat on a bench next to the lake and wrote last day’s journal entry whilst waiting to board the boat for the lake cruise. I don’t think I can really say too much about the roundtrip, as the best part about it happened in my head. It was an instance of getting lost in the moment, the beauty of it, the wonders of nature and life and for a long time I just sat there reflecting on how I got here and feeling a great sense of pride, to have made it. The ones reading this that know me well and for a long time, probably know what sort of things I mean but it was really quite magical to realize what things I’ve been able to overcome and how I’ve been able to move forward not letting myself get consumed by the past and deeds of other people. As for the scenery, I think the photos will speak for themselves. It was gorgeous and breathtaking and the hundreds of little islands and rocks scattered through out the lake paired with the sun rays breaking through the low hanging clouds made for an unforgettable trip.
The shoreline of Inari 
Some scenery 
The light really was quite epic 
I mean 
Some of these islands served as burial grounds back in the days to protect the tombs from animals 
Quite otherworldly 
The most famous island in Inarijärvi. Love by rock climbers and used as a ritual site back in the days. Quite eerie to know how much death has occurred on this small island.
And that leaves me with only one thing left to do. And that is say goodbye to Finland. It’s with a very warm heart, a big smile and also some tears that I’ll be crossing the border tomorrow. I’m very excited and also slightly scared for what the future in Norway and Denmark holds but for now I’d like to thank you Finland and every soul I met here for making this what will probably always be my most memorable time of my life. I might leave, but you will always hold a part of me. And I’ll come back. I promise.
Raphael's Travel Blog 