Arvidsjaur - Hoting

Today we have the longest stretch so far ahead of us, but we can really look forward to our new accommodation. We have spent three nights in our cottage above the lake near Arvidsjaur, one more than we had originally planned. In the morning we clean the house and pack our bags before saying goodbye to our hospitable hosts. When we arrived, the friendly older couple had put freshly baked cake and cinnamon buns on the dining table for us.

After shopping, our long drive begins. We drive almost non-stop. It is around 300 kilometres to Hoting on the E45, and the road runs via Sorsele, Storuman, Vilhelmina and Dorotea. Reindeer stand by the roadside again. A white reindeer walks across a stony slope with young spruces, and three animals graze at the edge of the forest right next to the road.

We stop once, in Vilhelmina, a small place with old Sami cottages in the forest. In wonderful weather we have lunch outside in the sun. The sun falls between the tall conifers onto the green forest floor, and a narrow path leads through the open woodland.

The elongated town of Vilhelmina lies on a south-east-facing slope by the lake Volgsjön. The first homestead was established here in 1776, but Forest Sami were living by the lake even before that. Priests from Åsele, around 70 kilometres further south, preached here in a church barn when they travelled to the Mountain Sami up in the mountains. According to the municipality, many people and businesses in Vilhelmina make their living from reindeer herding and Sami culture.

Until 1804 the place was called Volgsjö, then it was given the name of the queen of the day, Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina of Baden, the wife of King Gustav IV Adolf. The villages of Dorotea and Fredrika are named after her too. Part of southern Lapland is unofficially known as Drottninglandet, the Queen’s Land, in her honour.

After our short stop we drive straight on to our new accommodation in Hoting, a small cottage right on the lake. Between Dorotea and Hoting the E45 leaves Lapland. Like Själevad, where we spent the night almost two weeks ago, Hoting lies in the province of Ångermanland. The small railway and industrial village lies on the Inlandsbanan.

The cottage is white with a dark roof and stands on a meadow right by the water. It is very modern and cosily furnished, and we absolutely love it. Above all, the direct access to the lake with our own jetty in front of our window is fantastic. A bit exhausted from the 4.5-hour drive, we rest for a while in the living room. We both enjoy the Wi-Fi and do a workout outside by the lake. We are staying here for two nights. The next morning we drive to the Tvärfallet waterfall, which lies in the forest a little to the west.