Norrland Sweden : Part 5 - Day 2 Evening: Fatmomakke Kyrkstad and Trappstegsforsen

Day 2 (Evening) of Norrland Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 2 Evening. 

16/6 Day 2 Evening: Korallgrottan in Stora Blåsjön -- enter Lappland -- Fatmomakke Kyrkstad -- Trappstegsforsen -- overnight at Luspholmensjö in Storuman

Must-Incur Costs

(1) Petrol as per Part 3

The Story

160618: After Korallgrottan, the drive continues further north. The skies were so grey now, and it was so cloudy, and not to mention extremely windy too. We entered into an area where it is a bird protection area. The signboard states that the public has no access to the area except on the road. This mean no one is allowed to leave their vehicles in that whole stretch of about 2km from June 10th to July 10th. My sister told me that it is because of the mating season now. I scratched my head wondering how do they mate in such cold, windy area. She mentioned the birds have down feathers and they mate in the bushes or among tall shrubs.

I was starting to nod off before I saw the sign that says - Lappland. Lappland is a province in northernmost Sweden. I guess I cannot get any more north in Sweden than Lappland. The roads were not so busy and I can guarantee you that this area is extremely windy and cold. Prof Sweet Tooth parked for a short moment and we went outside to capture some scenic views. I was shaking from the windy weather although it was 6 degrees. It felt like 0 degrees. I even saw camper vans parked in the area. Really, I am not sure how do they enjoy the wind.. I even saw someone grilling. Oh my gawd.. in this windy weather.. 

45 minutes later, we found ourselves in a clear-blue sky area. We are on our way to Fatmomakke Kyrkstad (pronounced as 'shirk-stad'). Kyrkstad means Church Town. I was excited to see the place because it is a prominent Sami church town and I wanted to see the Sami culture. Sami is the indigenous people of the north. 

Fatmomakke Church Town is the most prominent Sami church town in the country. The place has had, and still has a great significance as a spiritual and multicultural meeting place of Norrland, with continuity from the 1700s until today. The church town also has a great symbolic value and great significance for the Sami tradition, i.e. the intellectual Sami cultural heritage.

Those old buildings in Fatmomakke are from the late 1700s, although the majority of the buildings are from the 1800 and 1900s. There are also traces of older buildings that are currently protected. Fatmomakke consists of tents, huts, sheds and church. The main buildings of the church town are the magnificent white church, open church cottage and the Salvation Army börnekåta. Source from South Lapland.

I saw a few people outside the Church Town and I was not sure if they were tourists or the residents (there were houses in the Church Town too). I could not really differentiate how a Sami looked like.

This is the County Man's cottage. The cottage was originally built as the residence for the priest when the church was built in 1791. In the 1850s, a room was added. The priest lived in the inner room and the county man in the other room. The county man's job (he was the police of those times) was to maintain order and security at the church town square. The priest got a new house in 1884 but the county man continued to use the cottage till 1927. Source from the Signboard. 

A goahti (Finnish: kota, Swedish: kåta), is a Sami hut or tent of three types of covering: fabric, peat moss or timber. The fabric-covered goahti looks very similar to a Sami lavvu, but often constructed slightly larger. In its tent version the goahti is also called a 'curved pole' lavvu, or a 'bread box' lavvu as the shape is more elongated while the lavvu is in a circular shape. Source from Wikipedia.

I went inside one which was unlocked. We knocked before we entered. No one answered. It was not totally empty inside. There were firewood inside.

This church was built between 1881 - 1884. It is still in good condition.

From Fatmomakke, we stopped at Trappstegsforsen to have a simple dinner of pea soup. The place is beautiful. When I thought I have seen enough of waterfalls and rivers, there is still something different about the next river in Norrland. These stair-shaped formation is a sight to behold.

Trappstegsforsen is located 5km south of Saxnäs right on the road and is a waterfall-shaped stairs where Kultsjön water flows in impressive cascades. This is a must stop along Vidmarksvägen and perhaps one of Sweden's most photographed waterfall. Source from South Lapland.