Karasjok - Olderfjord ~145 km


Yesterday I got to bed at finnish time, today I got up at finnish time, so at all I won an hour! Good, because today I want to go far.

Starting at Karasjok I was quite afraid of what is going to happen to me today... But: Surprise, Surprise: The "horrible" stage wasn't horrible at all! At the beginning I had to go up for a long time (45 min?) but going up there wasn't very exhausting. Slowly, slowly I went up the hill, but I didn't have to stop like yesterday. And once arrived on the highlands it was quite easy-going.

Besides: I take back everything I told about the "cultured" Norway yesterday: Today the tundra was much more sparse then in Finnland, rugged mountains and gentle hill, but MOUNTAINS, and there was even SNOW on them! And how beautiful it was!

So I arrived at Skoganvarre at ... EARLY afternoon? Here should I stay for tonight? no.

So I decided to go on to Lakselv. Secretly I wanted to go to Olderfjord, because then the chance for beeing in time on Northcape was quite good, but I still didn't know if I could do that. so little by little I went on. From Skoganvarre to Lakselv. From Lakselv I just knew the next stage for the next Camping (15 more km) and maybe then decide to go to Olderfjord. Let's see what happens...

Between Skoganvarre and Lakselv the landscape was magnificent.
Between Skoganvarre and Lakselv I was angry and happy at the same time. Happy because of the gorgeous landscape, angry because of the "military restricted area": I wasn't allowed to stop or taking pictures *grrrr* It was soooo beautiful!

However, I arrived at Lakselv in the afternoon. The sea! For the first time in my life I saw a Fjord, the arctic ocean. Wow... I just had to stay there on the hill before going down to the city centre for some moments to look at the sea...
The hour that I won in the morning I spent here at the local supermarket and the coffee shop. For recovering from the rain (for the third time I was wet to the socks) and wind (the heaviest since beginning) in the forenoon. For mental training. Olderfjord. Olderfjord? Olderfjord!

When I got out of the Coffe Shop i saw a recumbent bicycle (Liegerad). As my best friend is talking to me of this kind of bike everytime we meet (at least nearly...) I just had a look at it, took a photo of it. Than a man in bike dress came out of the supermarket. I asked him, but it wasn't his bike. He is going to the northcape as well, but wants to stay here at Lakselv for tonight. I didn't want to, so I had to go on alone. I put together all my things, and just before take-off another guy in bike dress came out of the supermarket, the owner of the recumbent bike. Mathieu was also on the way to the northcape.
"You know, there is a solar eclipse."
"Yes, that's why I'm going there!"
No, obviously dialouges are NOT always the same...
After having a look at our maps for camping sites (i had 3 maps, Mathieu one more, and in every map were marked diffrent camping sites...) I decided I would go to one that is not on my map, but only the one map of Mathieu. He asked me if I wanted to go together with him... why not? (Nevertheless, I guess I never would have asked because of beeing too shy... :o| )

It was sooo nice, for the first time on that trip I wasn't alone on the street. We (for the first time i had to use the word "we" as well...) told about our trips, where we started, where we wanted to go, talked about this and that. Nice. The Camping (last choice) didn't exist. So let's go on. Finally we reached Olderfjord. Olderfjord? Olderfjord! Yippie!

In the evening we met some other biketravelers (ya, there are lots of crazy people going by bike to northcape...) from Germany (Mathieu told me, that we could meet them: he met them some days ago ... funny, isn't it?) and Czech republic. They have been to the Northcape yesterday. The two german guys Hans and Holger started exact one day before I did. They did nearly the same route as I did. Just: I was always behind for about 130 km... funny, isn't it?

We cooked together, with one working petrol cooker and two wannabe-gas"cooker". However, having dinner with three others was much fun. In the evening we were chatting until late night - at least two of us... Only at midnight (norway time = 1 am finnish time) I got into my sleeping bag.

In the evening it was quite cold, and at night it was even colder. *brrr* And for the first time I had very, very cold feet... Those who know my feet know what that means... They awoke me at 4 am (finnish time), I had to warm them for nearly one hour, so I didn't sleep much that night...

*) (swed.: I'm freezing like a dog!)

Click: Spare time activity of norwegian teenagers?
Click: One more swamp
Click: MOUNTAINS!
Click: Tundra Landscape
Click: Lakselv and the sea
Click: That is what Fjord Landscapes look like

Having dinner at Olderfjord. Olderfjord? Olderfjord!
Click: Tent City

Kaamanen - Karasjok ~90 km


What a day! In the morning I hardly got up because of beeing dark and cold... Nevertheless I started at 10.15. The stage was exhausting: hills, sheerer hills, sheerest hills. 8%, 10%. It was this the day that I HAD to get off my bike on the top of the hills just for breathing a little air - and for complaining about the hills ;o)

But the landscape! It would be this landscape that I would start calling tundra. Woods are getting sparse, at the swampy plains there were more brushes (Gestrüpp) than trees. Landscape had changed a lot since when I started at Helsinki. It is not more "flower richly coloured" but "green richly coloured" (nicht mehr blumenfarbenfroh, sondern grünfarbenfroh): Moss-Green, Grass-Green, Swamp-Green, Leaf-Green. And some red Grasses as well. I would love to stay here for hiking - if there weren't all those moskitos...

After going through Finnland arriving at Norway was quite a cultural choque: You are rolling down from the finnish highlands to Karigasniemi, and across the border a field and some cows welcome you... things I didn't see in finnland for quite a long time now...

At Karasjok at the camping site I met another german biketraveler. 68 years old, every summer going for four weeks through scandinavia. It was quite a nice conversation. But at the same time he feared me: "You want to go to northcape from here in two days? impossible! the stage from Karasjok in direction Olderfjord is just too exhausting. I know a very beautiful camping site, here at Skoganvarre (n.b.: that would be 50 km to go). Going to Lakselv? (n.b.: that would be 70 km to go) Impossible! As there isn't a camping as well! No, you have to stop at Skoganvarre" .......... (i just want to make some more points for expressing my disappointment: i won't reach northcape within two days... *cry*)

Will I reach the northcape within two days......? At the same moment my ambition appeared... Will I? Why not? 130 km a day? maybe? let's hope so...

And with all that thoughts of tomorrow beeing a horrible stage I went to bed. For tonight they announced a temperature of 4°C... So for the first time I used my Mummy-Sleeping bag how it was intended: With only a small whole open to breath through. Today it was only 15°, and in the evening for the first time i wore my "cushion" (my fleece jacket... ;o)

Click: For the first time a sign right to "Nordkapp"

Click: And right before taking this picture I had to go that up...


Just behind the border in Norway

Pokka - Kaamanen ~140 km


It was raining cats and dogs the whole night. I didn't really notice that - I slept like a baby... But in the morning it was still raining, an everything was wet, wet, wet. So last breakfast here in Pokka, with some mustikka-munkki (~ Blueberry-Doughnut, Krapfen mit Heidelbeerfülle) and kaakao.

Right when I wantet to start, there was no more rain. yippie! I just WANTED to go on, through this beautiful landscape. Hills. Lakes. Swamps. Rocks. Dead Trees. Reindeers. *sigh*

My knees: perfect.
My mind: perfect.
Weather: ok.
Wind: sometimes no wind, sometimes little wind in the face. But because of the wind for the first day for a long time I really could sit down for having lunch, without moskitos.

Passing the län's border (Kari and I used the swedish words, because I knew them: län and kommun. In German it is something like Bundesland and Bezirk.) I noticed all thinkgs that Kari told me, that I will find: Reindeers cannot go everywhere they want. There are fences. And when a street passes a fence, there were plastic bands and some more creative methods to fear the reindeers, so they won't go to a foreign län. Today I saw the "sluice" ("Schleuse") with the motion-detector-controlled mp3-Player (? Something like that) with the sounds of a barking dog (see picture below).

This day I wanted to go to Lake Inari. I arrived at Lake Inari.
And then I decided, that I still can go on. for 30 more km. Only a few days before I noticed that the distance from Karigasniemi (Border between Norway and Finnland) to Northcape is 292 km. Initially I planned to to that stage in two days. (That was before I knew that it is 292 km...). 150 km per day?...? Now I thought: If would not stop at Karigasniemi but at Karasjok, it would be only ~ 260 km to northcape. a thing that seemed to be possible: 130 km per day. So today I did 30 more km for going further also tomorrow.

The camping was the cheapest ever: 3,5 Euro for me, my bike and my tent. But it looked like that... ;o)




A beautiful swamp - what a pity the light wasn't great...

Click: "Sluice" agains Reindeercrossing
Click: Barking dog
Click: Two languages: finnish and one of the three sami-languages
Click: Just: Green
Click: A piece of the floor
Click: No, these are no blue berries!
Click: Adopted by nature


Just: nature

Click: An old tree stump
Click: Having lunch in the mi... you know the rest...
Click: Beautiful river
Click: Beautiful mökki
Click: Courageous Reindeer
Click: There were everywhere rocks like this


Inari Järvi

Click: Inari Järvi II
Click: Inari Järvi III
Click: I ONLY made this photo because of the strange n... you don't believe me? You're right... ;-)

Kittilä - Pokka ~90 km


Yesterday we had to break our conversation because of the moskitos, but today in the morning the austrians and I had breakfast together. Two girls and a guy, about my age. They told me, that I should go to the City Center of Levi, a finnish winter sport resort, because yesterday the reindeers were right at the shopping center, nearly entering the elevator for going shopping...

And so I went on to Levi. This was the first mountain, that I saw here in Finnland. It was so hight, that somewhen yesterday in the afternoon I suddenly had to stop and make a photo, because I nearly couldn't believe it: A MOUNTAIN! Wow!! Ya. Today, passing by that mountain, it just looks like every wintersport resort in Summer: it was quite dead...

Looking forward to once more a very small street (that in most maps isn't even noticed) I came to Köngäs, where the unsurfaced road began. And suddenly the environment changed completly: the woods disappeared, lakes and meadows with colorful flowers appeared, and it was sooo beautiful having this diversification.

In addition today nothing hurts: nor my knees, neither my shoulders, I felt fine, and at a distance of 35 km to Pokka I was thinking: What a pity, just more 35 km... (and then I thaught back: some days even 4 more km to go were just too much... Distances are relative...)

Going around in these beautiful woods I was always thinking about: I have to come back here: for hiking, going in the woods and taking photos, fishing (besides, is there someone who wants to teach me how to fish?!?), collecting berries: "Man måste njuta av naturen" (That was exactly what I was thinking in that moments. It is swedish and means: You have to enjoy the nature). I fell in love with Lapland...

But then my bike started to make troubles: I had to pedal all the time (also going downhill); if not the chain lost tension and hung down to the floor... but it's quite exhausting... So I got off of my bike, worrying around about not knowing what to do... while trying to put some oil the moskitos ate me *argh* So I just told myself: "Calm down, don't worry, have some chocolate..." (no, just kidding, in this case I just had lunch... no chocolate). After lunch I was quite relaxed and managed to go on. Pedaling all the time, but for the last 20 km it was ok.

For the last 15 km there was rain as well, so when I arrived at Pokka I thought about taking a mökki for that night... I went into the reception of the camping, a small restaurant/bar as well, and - what a nice surprise - after three day camping without someone speaking english the welcome was english and very cordial.
"Are you going to northcape?"
"Yes, I do."
"As everyone does!"

*bam* ungently I landed on the floor of reality... really? I just thought I'm the only crazy person going to northcape by bike...
As I could read in the guest book later, there were LOTS of people: I read about Italians, who did the WHOLE way from Modena to northcape (4800km), about a spanish guy who did Helsinki - Northcape in march with all the snow... Oh, there are persons even crazier than me... ;o)

"Yes, but I'm not going to the northcape for going to the northcape. I want to see the solar eclipse"
"Really, there is one?"

Dialogues are always the same...

"Yes, there is, but most people don't know"
"So have you been to the Camping at Kittilä yesterday?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Oh no, you just took the wrong road, you could have reached your aim with less kilometers"
"Yes, but I'm not here to 'travel through' Finnland, I want to see Finnland as well."

Then we started to discuss about sleeping in tent or in a mökki (normally they are for 4 - 8 persons, and so is the price... :-O )
and finally i took the mökki. Instead of a key for opening the door I just got the door handle :o))

The man from the bar also had a look at my bike, so about 10 minutes later it worked perfect. Great, everything is prepared for tomorrow.

Then I just didn't want to cook alone in my mökki, so I went to the Restaurant and asked, if they offer special finnish food - and they did: It was a soup made of potatoes and dried reindeermeat, with some salad, and bread, and cheese.... *njam* this time for me, not for the moskitos...

So, sitting with a beer and my maps, writing my diary, looking where to go, I once more noticed this strange word "Poroerotus" in my maps. There were lots of red stars with this description. My dicitonary didn't help very much. It just says: Poro = Reindeer, erotus = difference. Ya. So I asked the proprietor what that means, and so started a very nice and long conversation about Living in Lapland, Fauna and Flora, Sorroundings, Winter and Summer in Lappland, Aurora Borealis, Snowmobiles, Wolves and Bears, keeping Reindeers and problems with Wolverines (Vielfraß), the finnish language (now I even know what "marten" (Marder) means in finnish! ;o)), and problems of waiters (coins for the change). Besides: Poroerotus is the place where reindeers are beeing sort once a year in autumn. I just learned a lot, and it was sooo interesting. Suddenly Kari asked me:

"Do you know why Pokka is so famous?"
"I didn't even know that Pokka is so famous..."

So he picked a baseball cap with a map of Finland, where there was a huge red dot "somewhere" in Lapland. Next to it was written: "-51,3° C"
So, that's why Pokka is so famous.

The Bar closed at 10 pm, I left at 11 pm ... (no comment).

Since then I want to return here. In Winter. I am fascinated by all that light, and also by loosing rhythm of all the light. I just want to see how it is with no lights but (maybe) the Aurora Borealis. And how it is loosing rhythm because of no light... And I want to go with a Snowmobile ;o) (Besides, is there someone interested in doing the same...? ;o)




Boat No. 5368 (circa)

Click: Levi at Summer... Just the same as Zürs at Summer... another death winter sports ressort
Click: For the last time Ounasjoki, which I was following for about two days


This just invites you to take a bath...

Click: I was amazed of that colours, I admit...
Click: The view right out of my mökki
Click: Kari... thanks a lot!

"A few days" ago, when I started at Helsinki, the northcape was far, far awas. And now it is quite near. I nearly cycled through whole finnland. Who would have thought this ("Wer hätte das gedacht" - Lyrics of Sportfreunde Stiller - Heimatlied). And it doesn't even seem so afar. 4 more days, then I'm at the north cape. Wow!


*) dt.: ~ "reachable"

Maijanen - Kittilä ~ 70 km


The weather in the morning was as beautiful as the campsite and as I had only 70 km to go, I had a VERY extensive (ausgiebig) breakfast, with some more hot chocolate, fruit, bread, etc ... Njam...
The first 15 km I was cycling like in trance, thinking about my best friends wedding, planning in my mind, what we could do... "Like in Trance" means slowly, slowly with the wind in the face (once more... *sigh*), so these "only 70 km" were looooong...

For the first time the wind didn't stop when I arrived at the Camping, so at least it was an evening without mosquitos... Sun was shining so bright, that I didn't have cold even with the wind... The only thing: How does my gas cooker work with that wind? but: "Don't Panic", there are possibilities (see foto beneath). Afterwards I just layed down in the green, green grass of finnland in the sun.

In the evening, at about ten pm I was just lying in my tent (wind stopped :o( so I had to escape...) I heard something... something I know.... that sounds... like german? ... yes, austrian german! So I dressed myself once more and got out of my tent to say hello. But looking aroud there was no car with austrian registration plate (Nummerntafel) ... ? ... but looking around I saw a ... Salewa-Tent... maybe they are ... Austrians! They flew here to Rovaniemi and borrowed a car for going around in Finnland and Norway. They donated me their camping-site-map of norway and some Packlfutter ;o) because they were going to return to Austria the next day. Nice... We talked a few minutes and decided then to go to bed. because of moskitos....



Looks quite diffrent from yesterday in the evening light...



Na Kathi, do you like them more than in other pictures?

Click: Once more a bus stop offers me shelter of the rain...
Click: I never thought my KTM Life Space would be so much Living Space as it is nowadays...


Do it like Douglas Adams tells you: Have always a towel with you!

Click: Le chef recommande: Farfalle ai pomodori con prosciutto e aglio