Inlandsbanan: Part 8 - Day 8 and 9: Gällivare to Östersund C; Östersund C to Mora to Stockholm

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8 and 9.

26/7: Depart from Gällivare at 0703 hours. Arrive in Östersund C at 2147 hours. 

27/7: Depart from Östersund C at 0723 hours. Arrive in Mora at 1229 hours. Depart from Mora with SJ train at 1622 hours. Arrive Stockholm at 2015 hours.

Costs

26 July

(1) Lunch (from Hotel Laponia, Arvidsjaur) on Inlandsbanan train - Salmon pokebowl SEK155

(2) Coffee on the train - SEK20 

(3) Dinner (from Hotel Wilhelmina) on Inlandsbanan train - Cream stew venison chew served with mashed potatoes and raw lingonberries SEK159

(4) Accommodation at STF Ledkrysset - SEK278 per person for 1 night (our own room that can accommodate 4 persons. The room costs SEK834), SEK90 per person for borrowed bedsheets from the hostel.

27 July

(5) Coffee on Inlandsbanan train - SEK20

(6) Lunch at Käk och Plock, Mora - Caesar chicken SEK165

(7) Coffee on SJ train - SEK24

The Story

26072022 - Time to head south! We have completed the whole stretch of Inlandsbanan arriving at Gällivare (2 days ago) and today, we head back down. 

Today, we spent the whole day on the train! Can you imagine that? Almost 15 hours on the train. When we decided on the destinations, I think it did not strike us how long 15 hours will be on. We played cards and talked and enjoyed the view. On hindsight, we should have chosen a destination or took the fast train back. We forgot that we had the option to take another train back and we could have done that for the journey back as we had experienced Inlandsbanan. 

We passed by Pite Alv bridge again where the bridge is shared by both vehicle and trains. We were here two days ago when we took the train from Arvidsjaur to Gällivare. Everyone was requested to disembark from the train and walk on the bridge to get back on the train. 

Our lunch was cooked by Hotel Laponia in Arvidsjaur. The train attendant got our lunch boxes and distributed to the passengers. The salmon poke bowl was yummy!

We passed by the smallest train station, Buddnakk, which is no longer in use.

We stopped at Sorsele and we had enough time to check out Inlandsbanan Museum. 

The nails used to hold fast the railway planks.

Dinner from Hotel Wilhelmina. Since we were in the north, we decided to have wild game as wild game meat does not come by easily in Stockholm. 

On the train, we took lots of photos too. Haha!

In Östersund C, we stayed at the same place when we were on our journey northward. We were so happy when we finally arrived at our destination for the day!

27072022 - We departed from Östersund C early in the morning and reached Mora by lunchtime. 

Train stop and taking as much photos with the clear blue skies in the background.

I have always an idea in my head on how peaceful I would look with my side view but somehow, the photos do not show that. Maybe I should just let the images sit in my head.

Bye-bye, Inlandsbanan!

In Mora, we had lunch before we boarded the SJ train back to Stockholm. I had a very filling Caesar salad.

Back to reality with SJ train. On hindsight, we could have taken the SJ train back from Gällivare to Stockholm which would have taken 12.5 hours.

It was a great experience to explore more of Sweden and appreciate the simple pleasures in life - nature, local food, and funny travel companions. 

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Here are the list of station we stopped and places that we explored. You can click on the link and be directed to the posts immediately. 

Day 1 - Train ride from Stockholm to Mora

Day 2 - Train ride from Mora to Östersund C.

Day 3 - 1 day in Östersund. Hiked up to Frösötornet.

Day 4 - Train ride from Östersund C to Arvidsjaur.

Day 5 - 1 day in Arvidsjaur. Hiked up to the highest spot.

Day 6 - Train ride from Arvidsjaur to Gällivare

Day 7 - 1 day in Gällivare. Hiked Dundret nature reserve.

Day 8 - Train from Gällivare to Östersund C (this post)

Day 9 - Train from Östersund C to Mora to Stockholm (this post)

I have mentioned some of my expenses in each post and I did have other expenses which are not illustrated in the respective posts. For total and different category of expenses, I will sum it here.  

1) Transport - Train tickets SEK2.805 per person (Inlandsbanan 2-week card SEK2.195, reserve seats SEK250, SJ train SEK360) 

2) Accommodation - SEK2.351 per person

3) Food - SEK4.024,56 per person

Total Cost for the trip SEK9.180,56 for 9 days