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Kirkenes, August 18-20, 2000

Where east meets west: Kirkenes. The Coastal Voyage's northern terminus, Kirkenes, is the only Norwegian town where east meets west. It is the location of the border station between Norway and Russia which, in times gone by, was heavily guarded and photography was forbidden in the surrounding area. Photographs are now permitted, but unauthorized border crossings are still severely penalized. The Pasvikelv River marks the border, about which this poem was written.
Border poem There was an impressive museum against war and country boundries. Criticism was sharpest against the Nazis. Norway did fight against the Germans in WWII (unlike Sweden, which remained "neutral". Russian airplane the agony of war
For two days we walked to try and get our sea-legs to stop rocking, while we explored the town. What was most impressive? Well, the sun was shining and it was below zero. We did find a couple of bears that we had fun clowning around with, as well as a couple restaurants.
Marghe and the bear Marty and the bear This sign made us realize for the first time that we had no plans after Helsinki. Where would we be going after that? Where do we go from here
We took a bus to the border with Finland, then hired a cab to get us across! The next day we took the mail and school bus a couple hundred kilometers south. Next we had to catch a bus to the rail head of Finland, Rovaniemi. That page is next. We liked Rovaniemi.
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Created May 8, 2001
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