As stated in my earlier posts, the Siida museum is just maybe 10 mins walk from the Hotel Koltahovi (turn left at the main T junction). Below is what you'll see when you're reaching the museum. The funny thing about the museum is I couldn't find any sign that says that this is Siida museum except for the blue board you see on the left hand side. :)
Anyway, the day was rather beautiful don't you think? You can see the souvenir shops (that only opens in the summer) on the left-hand side in the picture below
This small little statue is "guarding" the museum up in front. Apparently, this is a Lapinporokoira, a medium sized dog which is also known as the Lapland reindeer dog and this statue was there since 2003.
Upon entering the Siida museum, you'll see the main gift shop. You can buy the entry tickets to the museum from the cashier. There is an aurora "show" so if you do not know the time and the staff forgot to mention it to you, ask the cashier or any of the staff there.
There were 3 exhibitions available when we were at the museum. Below is the first exhibition talking more about the Sami culture in the Laplands. Below is a picture of some of the more traditional clothing worn by them. This exhibition is not really that big.
The second exhibition is all about the nature of the Laplands. It's a very big exhibition and you'll need some time to go through all of it, assuming that you read up on all the descriptions at each section. Below is a wide-angle shot of the centre of the exhibition.
In the centre of the exhibition, it's describing more of how the Finnish people "evolve" from the traditional way of life, to the current way of life using technology and vehicles such as the snowmobile.
Surrounding the exhibition in the centre are descriptions of the life cycle of the animals, insects and plants in the Laplands. It's pretty interesting to read up on how they are inter-related to each other. They talk about plans, insects and of course birds. Below are some pictures of the birds (not real of course) in exhibition.
Mention was also made to the animals in Laplands and below are pictures of some of those animals.
Just to prevent any confusion, the picture above is the picture of baby Wolverines, not baby bear cubs. :) They look rather alike and yes, they are Wolverines. The animal kind, not the X-Man kind. :)
The last exhibition seems to be a temporary exhibition, showing the 50 years of snowmobile history in Finland. Below is the picture of the type of snowmobile that I was driving for the past couple of weeks.
It's not so difficult to drive it, as you can see from the controls below. There's even a heater for the handle bars so you will not feel so cold driving the snowmobile. :)
Below is the picture of the first generation of the snowmobile. Uh-hem. :)
What was surprising to me is that the snowmobile could actually be driven on water, and they actually have competitions for this kind of spot. Apparently, the snowmobile can be driven on water if it is driven fast enough. Below are some stills I took of the TV showing the competition in 2012.
I guess the Finnish people really know when to have a lot of fun. :)
The museum has a cafe on the second floor if you wish to have your lunch. The buffet lunch is 12 euros, consisting of the salad bar, reindeer meat and potatos, and some dessert that I couldn't get to try because they did not refill it. :p Free-flow juices, water, coffee/tea are also available. Food is pretty normal, compared to the other places that I tried but it is affordable.
We spent almost the whole day at Siida museum because the exhibition is really big, and we spent some time at the souvenir shops. I think we might have spent almost 5 hours in the Siida museum. :)
Will be writing more about the food at Inari, and of course, the auroras that we saw there. Stay tuned.
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