Places to go instead of Saudi Arabia: Skellefteå

I’m in Saudi Arabia and I dislike it. Not a secret at all. Even before the 4-5 (I lost count) hour wait to have my passport checked. It wasn’t my looks, pretty much any non-Saudi citizen was treated equally.
The military style shouting at people sitting down and drill instructor telling us to stand in a line really weren’t necessary either. I had fun joking about all of this with some Lebanese guys, but..
I think it’s legal to dislike this place.. mmh.. I’m not 100% sure.

I thought instead of ranting about it all the time (joking, I still will) I could lighten my tone by suggesting places to go to instead of SA. Today: Skellefteå, Northern Sweden!

I visited Skellefteå a few months ago, the end of summer. Me and a co-worker showed up to set up some IT stuff. We also had bucketloads of spare time (which is unusual lately) and were extremely lucky with the weather!

"YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD GO AWAY"

“YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD GO AWAY”

Non-local food

Non-local food

the bees knees

the bees knees

Skellefteå is small but likeable. At least in summer, I’m not sure what it’s like in winter. Likely cold, wet, sometimes white. Our stay there aligned perfectly with a food festival. This meant whenever we were hungry we needn’t look far for a yummy bite. Walking there in the evening with the sun setting was even better.

Skellefteå center

Skellefteå center

Late-night boat rides

Late-night boat rides

Young

Young

And even more impressive: the northern lights. These were extremely active when we were around. Totally didn’t even think about it in advance.

Amazingly intense lights

Amazingly intense lights

Surprise!

Surprise!

One of those days we borrowed a few bikes from the hotel. They’re not great and probably not meant to hurdle down a hill riddled with big stones. I can tell you, it surely WILL do that. On the way we passed by the sea and given the relatively high temperatures, I felt like swimming. During my attempt my co-biker figured out how to use my camera aaannd.. yeah, somehow I couldn’t swim. The sand never dropped deep enough.

Tried to go swimming

Tried to go swimming

Colleague

Colleague

Bike ride

Bike ride

Bike ride

Bike ride

Bike ride

Bike ride

Bike brake

Bike brake

Horseeees

Horseeees

Industry?

Industry?

<3

Birdy

Birdy

More young

More young

"Closed"

“Closed”

Evening

Evening

For cute deaths

For cute deaths

Bike :)

Bike 🙂

One of the main reasons I like Skellefteå is the nature. All around the city center, beautiful sights await you within minutes, even on foot. Want a peaceful spot? No problem.

Divided by water

Divided by water

Sun says goodbye

Sun says goodbye

20150830_19h03m_DSCF8220

Kitty

Kitty

RunRun

If I ever have to return, I gladly will.

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