Day 44: Jukkasjarvi to Umea, Sweden

We have started to come southwards from the Arctic Circle. Today we left Jukkasjarvi, our most favoured place in this trip, at about 8 am. We had the same scenery on the way since we were returning on the same route for about 200 kms. We had gone from the east side of the Gulf of Bothnia, while on return, we are going southwards on the west side of the Gulf of Bothnia. We saw two reindeers on the way today also. It is the place known for reindeers. But they live in jungles, but we were lucky to find two reindeers while going towards Arctic Circle and two while returning. Santa Claus travels on the reindeers, it becomes relevant because Santa Claus is suppose to be staying in the North Pole.

We reached Lulea town by about 2 pm. To our surprise our Google search resulted in finding one Indian Restaurant in Lulea town. It was a restaurant which provides local food as well as Indian dishes. The food was good. We took Indian food in restaurant for second time in four days. The owner of the hotel is from Philippines and she came with husband from Malaysia and have set up food business here.

Umea is a small city in eastern Sweden, known for its msems and cultural institutions. The Vasterbottens Museum has an open-air section with historical buildings from around the country. Its indoor area feature exhibits on the indigenous Sami people and traditional skiing techniques.

We could reach Umea by late evening. Tomorrow we plan to travel about 600 kms. but it is a day when cricket match between England and India is due to be played in World Cup. It may an interesting match. So, we decided to start early so that we could at least watch second innings of the ODI match after reaching Stokholm.