Jokkmokk Vintermarknad

As promised yesterday, I will report a bit more extensive about the trip to the Jokkmokk wintermarket. The trip was organised by the international office and the request for places was high. So we had three buses and about 170 international and swedish students going to Lappland. Since Jokkmokk is more than 500km from Umeå,and it is about 6 hours to drive, we had to leave at 4 o'clock in the morning and the question was: going to bed early or staying the whole night awake? I decided to do the former, but it wasn't a good idea, I could not sleep well and was tired anyway. I really hoped to sleep in the bus, but 2 or 3 people (out of 60) wanted to watch movies. Damn, I could sleep perhaps for half an hour.
Shortly before Jokkmokk we crossed the polar circle. Time for a stop (the only one) to take some pictures of a sign that you're crossing the polar circle. Actually I didn't expect more, but some people were really disappointed that there was no line on the ground. (I'm quite sure there is one, but they probably do not paint the snow red).
Arrived in Jokkmokk, we ate breakfast and then started to explore the market. It was surprisingly big with a lot of Sami stuff like rendeer skins, fur hats, elk sausages, knives etc. But there was also a lot of daily stuff and this junk you find on every market in the world.
Furthermore, there were many activities to do, like dog-sledding, rendeer-sledding, helicopter flights, snow scooter rides and more. But the highlight of the day were the rendeer races on the frozen lake. It was a bit like the horse races in St. Moritz, a lot of people with fur coats and fur caps, but with the difference that here the ambiance is better (and funnier) .
The last hour of our stay in Jokkmokk we spent in a bar tent. It looked like a common Sami tent from the outside, but actually it was nothing else than a "Bierzelt". That's probably why the locals like this market so much. ;-).
Antti had then the great idea to buy some beer for the journey back. And it's true; beer is the panacea! The way back seemed to be much shorter than before.
We arrived in Umeå at about 10 o'clock. First, we were thinking of going out but I was really too tired, but it was worth to do this trip. I mean, I wouldn't go there every year but it was interesting to see it once. The Jokkmokk wintermarket shows the traditional Sami culture as well as the modern life.

As you see on the right, I uploaded some pictures too. I haven't shot them myself, so I want to thank Dani, Leena and Nils for providing me with their photos.