Borderlands II - Kirkenes

Kirkenes as a town doesn't have all that much to recommend it. In many ways it's a simple industrial town in the far North. But because it is placed at the point where Northern Norway touches Russia, it has an interesting history. Up on the hill nearby you can find the Borderland Museum, which deals mostly with the situation of Kirkenes during the Second World War and the Cold War. The museum building was constructed around a WWII aircraft, which sits in the centre of an impressionistic exhibition on the ground floor. The writing for the exhibition has been done in verse and includes the texts of poems and hymns. On one wall there is a swastika made from Nazi propaganda posters, selling the Reich to the Norwegian people and denigrating the USSR and the allies. Many are still quite effective today, especially one showing a monstrous figure representing US cultural imperialism; its head is a Klu Klux Klan hood, its Kali-like arms carry vinyl records, a monkey in a cage and a Miss America contest winner. One of the monster's legs is made of bolted metal and has a ribbon wrapped around it which reads, "World's Greatest Leg." At the bottom of the frame is a small sign with the message, "The USA wants to rescue Europe from cultural apocalypse." Of course, if the Nazis hadn't been racial supremacists who destroyed literature they disapproved of it would have strengthened their case somewhat.

It must have been weird for the people of Kirkenes and the surrounding area. The Nazis left, but the Soviet Union remained on their doorstep. There was a short-term agreement for a time that locals could travel across the border to the nearest Russian town for trade and a party once a month, but when the Russians offered to extend the agreement, the Norwegian government declined, concerned about the fostering of Soviet sympathies and the opportunities for spying and recruitment. Today the people of Kirkenes have a special visa agreement with Russia and you hear a lot of Russian being spoken in the town centre.

We stayed a little out of town in a cabin on a husky farm right by the border. The hotel is called Sollia Gjestegård, and I can recommend it to any visitors. From there we walked up into the hills to the place where the border between Russia and Norway is marked. We followed little white wooden markers through the undergrowth and up the mountainside. There was still some snow lying on the ground, but it was spring, and though it was almost midnight the sun was in the sky, reflecting in the small bodies of water on the hilltops. First we saw the horizontally striped sticks which mark the border between countries. Then we climbed higher up and came to one of the border-stones. 

 

 

"You can go right up to the border-stone, but you can't go past it or you'll get arrested," the manager of our hotel had told us. "You don't need to wonder whether you'll get arrested, because you will." So we stood on the top of the hill and looked over into Russia, and back into Norway, and down at the place where the river turns Russian. There didn't seem to be anyone around to arrest us, but we didn't risk it. Marthe was convinced that there was a Russian border officer crouching behind the stone, just waiting for us to take one step too many towards his homeland.

Borderlands

On the road to Tromsø it is possible to take a left and drive instead to Finland. That's what we did last Monday. On the way, I bought two CDs from a petrol station: A Rock n Roll box-set and the second album by Norwegian band Harrys Gym. I had never before noticed how unbelievably middle aged and straight Bill Haley sounds on Rock Around the Clock. You can virtually hear the cardigan the man is wearing. Harrys Gym on the other hand, I recommend for any time you might be crossing a Nordic border. 

Driving into Finland really demonstrates the essential weirdness of national boarders. The road is long, the landscape doesn't change, but you drive past a large sign and a small cabin and suddenly the language on the signs is totally unintelligible and the notes and coins in your wallet are of no use to you. The speed limit suddenly goes up to 100, which is exciting for those of us who live in Norway and are usually supposed to drive at 80kmph. I put my foot down immediately.

To the right of the road there is a large, frozen lake and a flat expanse of snow. People ski across it to get to the point where three countries, Sweden, Norway and Finland, all meet. This meeting point is marked by a raised concrete circle which has been photographed many times for use on postcards.

A little way into Finland there is a tourist centre where they sell burgers, souvenirs and postcards. No such thing on the Norwegian side, I noticed. I think they make their money partly from the fact that snow-scooter regulation is much less strict on that side of the border, so people travel there to ride around in the mountains. It's also a good area for skiing and snowboarding. The man behind the counter spoke Finnish and English, but not Norwegian.

 

Outside, people took off in hang gliders from the frozen surface of the lake and flew off into the distance. We travelled further up the road to where there is a supermarket which is much cheaper than the ones in Norway, though I'm reliably informed that it is way more expensive than anywhere else in the country. We stocked up on a lot of frozen food and I bought Finnish chocolate and some mustard, which I hope is hotter than the stuff we get here. I also bought a Led Zeppelin CD for the journey home.

And then that was it. There was nothing more to do in Finland that day. We got back in the car and drove a few minutes until the ice, snow, rocks and trees around us were once again Norwegian ice, snow, rocks and trees, and the signs said we had to slow our speed right down to 50kmph.

All this just brings home to me the imaginary status of countries. How is it that I walk or drive past this little roadside house, and suddenly I'm in a completely different place? What about a fox crossing through the snow, or a bird flying overhead? Does this madness apply to them too?