Kemi and getting here.

April 29, 2025

Well this was the most challenging part of the trip to book as none of the usual carriers proved tickets. Also as there was no train we had to transfer at Haparanda which is a boarder town between Finland and Sweden. Not that one could tell when one country started and another finished. So much so that the Travel Center was set up to facilitate cross country travel. In addition there was no easy way to get from the Haparanda Train Station to the bus terminal, that we could see on-line, so it was old school, as in let's get there and see what happens, which isn't a natural mindset for my travelling companion whereas I like the idea of 5 getting lost in Dorset or 2 getting stuck way up North.

Anyhow it all went relatively easy. We walked from the train station to the bus station, about 20 minutes in a relatively straight line - only offset by a major roundabout. I forgot to say our bags were sniffed by Swedish customs as we left the train station. At the bus station we chummed up with a Dutch national who was also on the same train as us. One slight hiccup is that there is an hours time difference between Finland and Sweden so we were slightly unsure what time the ticket was for - good thing yours truly left lots of wiggle room in the travel times. Well not really this was the only time one of the few buses between Haparanda and Kemi went. Any way it worked out well as it was on Finish time, so it was an hour's less wait.

We did have an interesting interaction with Swedish customs, although someone thought they were Finish, but it would be more likely there was one of each. As they left in a vehicle they were probably tipped off by their train station compatriot. It was interesting as I thought that they were from the bus station and was about to ask them to check our ticket, but no they weren't and the young Dutch solo male traveler was the real object of their curiosity as they searched his bag. But all was OK which then meant it was OK for us to keep an eye on his bag while he used the bathroom.,

Then the 'bus' arrived. Well more like a shuttle without the luggage trailer - a good thing there aren't a lot of people travelling as our bags got their own seat. Off to Finland - oops was that the boarder - we've crossed the river so I guess it was. A quick trot from the bus station to the hotel which was one straight out of the hey days of the 1960s and truly a delight even down to the twin beds which made you feel like you were staying over at your grandmothers house. Yuri Gagarin had stayed there and promoted it so I was more than pleased to spend the night in the same hotel as him - fangirling big time here.

The bathroom was the best of all and I'm not sure how to describe it other than it looked like they had turned a cupboard in the bathroom. But very compact and functional - think of three individual spaces each about the same size as a toilet where you had a toilet, sink and shower. Actually you could brush your teeth while sitting on the loo. But all functioned well and the shower was lovely.

So enough of that and its photo time gentle traveler,

The Route