From Rovaniemi we took the bus to a place in the north called Saariselka, where we had booked a small pine wood hut.

The journey took almost 4 hours and the whole way we drove passed forests, with now and then a small town or a few houses. Amazing to see this after living in a heavily populated nation like The Netherlands. On the way we saw our first reindeer, for us something really exciting but for the locals, nothing unusual. 

From the map, Saariselka looked like a town but actually it was one large concentration of bungalows and shops – a kind of big holiday park. However it was close to a large national park with some excellent walking trails – and beautiful scenery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were hoping to see some reindeer during our walks but no such luck. The closest we got was on the road near the main drag of the holiday camp, where the restuarants and bars could be found:

 

Somewhat ominously, on the other side of the road was reindeer burger outlet, its symbol a burger with antlers: