If you thought that Björjko seemed lonely and desolate, that’s because you haven’t heard about Arholma yet. Arholma is the twin island of Björkö, just next to it but you need to take a ferry boat to get there. The ferry doesn’t come very frequently in winter, so you have to plan the journey carefully.
Cars are not allowed on the island. You need to move around by boat, bicycle or on foot. Its main attractions are an old beacon (båk) on the top of a hill — it’s similar to a lighthouse, only it doesn’t really have a light on top — and a supposed pagan cemetery. The graves have no names, they are just identified by stones put together, forming a spiral pattern. It is said that if you displace one of the stones, the spirits of the dead will haunt you forever…
There was no one walking around the island except me. The place seemed a bit spookier than Björko; perhaps it was just me, but it had some strange “Twin Peaks” vibe. There were some old, dilapidated cabins apparently abandoned in the woods. I could imagine some maniac living there who would take you prisoner into one of those cabins and torture you for hours, before throwing your body in the sea…
My original plan was to go at 1:30 PM and return on the 2:50 PM boat when it was still light. That didn’t leave me much time, but the next boat after that was only hours later. I went for a little walk to the local church and windmill, then started my return. I was a little afraid that I would miss the boat, so I walked fast to get to the dock in time. I saw that the boat was still there, and the time was 2:40. I relaxed. “I can get there in ten minutes”, I thought. Only that the boat started its engines immediately and left at 2:45 PM, five minutes earlier…
“Noooo!”, I almost cried, “Don’t leave me on this spooky island all alone!” But it was too late. The next boat came only at 5:50 PM, when it would be already very dark. What could I do for the next three hours?
Luckily, just then a middle-aged woman arrived. Come to think of it, she looked a bit like the “Log Lady” from Twin Peaks. She worked at the local grocery store. It was officially closed, as everything else on the island, but she was kind and let me in to have a coffee and buy something to eat.
Afterwards, there was nothing to do but wait. I walked up to the beacon, then just walked aimlessly all over the island. I saw no one the whole time, except for this creepy old guy riding this sort of four-wheeled scooter, up and down the road. I imagined he was a chainsaw wielding psychopath looking for someone to rape, but I wasn’t really his preferred victim. (He’s probably more active in the summertime, when there are half-naked teenagers swimming and frolicking in the sun, I thought).
I walked all the way up to the northern edge of the island, and by then it was already dark. There were a few empty, half-lit wooden cabins. But no one around. Then I heard a motor behind me. It was the creepy guy. Turns out he was some sort of watchman for the camping village, and he was just surprised to see someone at the island at all. He ended up being quite nice.
I walked back to the dock. Luckily, I did not find the pagan cemetery (at least, I don’t think so).
I arrived back at the dock by 4:50 PM, one hour in advance, but the boat was already there. I got in immediately, just in case, because the next and last boat was at 10:00 PM and I didn’t want to stay another five hours on that spooky island.
It was a nice visit, but I was happy to be back to the relative safety of Björkö by night time…
