Visiting the Russian border - Thursday, Sep 5, 2013

Vantage group at the Norwegian - Russian border

 Today we had a trip to the Russian border. If you look at the map of Norway, you will see that it is a very narrow country that shares much of its border with Sweden (our guide enjoys telling us “dumb Swede” jokes). However, the northern part of the country bends around and borders on Finland to the south. It shares an eastern border with Russia. So, today’s port in Kirkenes is just a few miles from the Russian border. Of course, we had to go take a look at it.

We got off the ship and boarded a bus for a trip south and east to the border. We weren’t allowed to cross the border (no fear of that, there’s a lake between us). But, it was fun to imagine being in Russia, a country that has always fascinated me. The border crossing is at Storskog. We could see the Norwegian border patrol, the gate across the road, and the no man’s land before the Russian station. But, we could not see the Russian border station.

The border with Russia was finally set in 1826. Russia wanted a particular church, so they got a finger of land inside Norway including the church. Norway got a larger finger of land into Russia just north of that. If you look at a map you will see this and know why the border isn’t a straight or even line.

The land here is fairly flat. We are in an arctic climate zone, so there are very few trees. The ones we saw were already starting to change color, so the colors were wonderful. There are lots of lakes and streams. When we got back to the city we stopped in the Prestfjellet area with a stunning overlook of the town and the fjord. Kirkenes is another city razed by the Germans, so most of the homes were the new, colorful, rectangular construction. We did see one older home which was quite unique with several turrets and lots of balconies.

There was an iron mine in Kirkenes which provided jobs for people for many years. They had closed it for several years, but recently reopened it because they found they could take the ore out, crush it, and send it to China for refining! They also have a big industry in ship repair. 

Kirkenes Norway