The gently sloping sides of the lush Torne Valley (Tornedalen) are one of the most welcoming sights in northern Sweden.

Stretching over 500 km from the mouth of the Gulf of Botnia to Sweden´s remote northen tip, the three rivers, Torne, Muonio and Könkämä, mark out the long border between Sweden and Finland.

The valley is home to Swedes, Finns and Sami, who all speak an arctic dialect knowns, in Swedish at least, as tornedalsfinska - Torne Valley Finnish. The area is refreshingly different from the coast and from the heavily wooded inland regions of the country; the villages here are small, often no more than a couple of wooden cottages surrounded by open flower meadows running down to the river´s edge - the open plains providing much-needed grazing land for the farmer´s livestock.

Pajala
The valley´s main village is pretty PAJALA (pronounced "Pie-allah") - a place that has earned itself a reputation and a half throughout Sweden.

To celebrate the village´s recent four-hundredth anniversary, the local council placed ads in the national papers inviting women from the south of the country up to Lapland to take part in the birthday festivities: the predominance of hevy labouring jobs in the north of Sweden has produced a population inbalance - around three men to every woman. It also explains the ridiculously macho behaviour that prevails in these parts.

Journalists outside Sweden soon heard of the ads, and articels about the unusual invitation began to appear in newspapers across Europe. Before long busloads of women from all over the continent were heading north. It was a drunken, debauched bash that tiny Pajala won´t forget in a long time, but it did help to redress the problem: dozens of east European women lost theis hearts to gruff swedish lumberjacks and began new lifes north of the Arctic Circle. However, the effect of several winters spent in darkness, coupled with temperatures of -25° C, may still tip the balance back.

Taking place in the tird week in September, the Römppäviikko - the "romp week", as this ongoing cultural festival is called - is undoubtedly the liveliest time to be in the village. At any other time Pajala is a great place to rest up in for a day or so - take a walk along the riverside or head off in search of the great grey owl (strix nebulosa) that sweeps through the nearby forest. The huge wooden model in the bus station will give you an idea of what the owl looks like: lichen grey with long slender tail feathers and a white crecent between its black and yellow eyes.

Source: BROWN, J. et al. (1997): Sweden - the rough guide, The rough guides, London. P. 404-405.