One Town, Two Countries

We had a beautiful moonlit sail and arrived in Kirkenes at first light, after a wind shift made our original anchorage unsafe. The granite rock and fall leaves glowing in the morning light, were a picturesque introduction to the area. The silver birch covered hills were an exciting sight, they were the first trees that we had seen since leaving Norway in early June. After a short nap to recover from our impromptu night sail, we walked around the town before going for a hike.

Kirkenes is a border town and its strong ties with Russia can be felt throughout the community. Besides frequent buses to Murmansk and street signs being in Russian and Norwegian. Most of the vessels that filled the harbor were Russian ships in port for a refit.

Russian fishing vessels

While hiking we saw several people picking mushrooms and inquired which ones were safe to eat. With our new local knowledge we picked a few for dinner. They were delicious but Frances had a bad reaction to them and spent the following day feeling miserable. Wild mushrooms continued to be a source of temptation on our hikes but a quick reminder of the side effects have prevented Frances from giving them another try.

When time permits, we like to land travel around areas that we find particularly special and Kirkenes was one of them. There was no real savings by taking the bus so we opted for the freedom of a rental car. We drove to the Sami museum at the head of the fjord. The museum was well put together and we were surprised how similar the Sami artifacts were to the Viking’s.

Before returning to Snow Dragon we drove to a lush farming area beside the Pasvik river whose deepest point marks the Russian-Norwegian border. Norwegian boats that cross the poorly marked line, face either a reprimand from the Russians or a fine from the Norwegians. On the Norwegian side there were tidy farms while the Russian was woodland and industrial buildings. The area near the river was rich with bird life including a flock of cranes, that stopped for a short rest in one of the fields before continuing their migration.

Looking across the Pasvik river into Russia

Getting Snow Dragon out of Kirkenes took a lot of patience and muscle power. As Krystina cranked the winch to bring the anchor up, she realized that the chain had wrapped itself around something. After motoring around in circles to untangle the chain, we discovered that the anchor was snagged. A local diver offered to help but we assured him that that we would be able to get it up. With an image of a sunken Russian war ship playing through our mind, we were surprised when the anchor came up with only a heavy mooring chain attached. The diver returned to check on us just as we were about to remove the chain and was impressed that we were able to resolve the problem ourselves. 

For more photos please click on Kirkenes Album.