Sunday, 09 May 2010 00:00 Written by Billy van Graan

Today was another wonderful day of riding through some of the most amazing scenery of the whole trip. I think for people that are from these countries it must be just more snow and ice and cold but for us it is something we never see and it was very special. From Muonio we went straight north towards Norway and the further north we went the less the trees became until we reached the Norwegian border and from there it was pretty a much treeless tundra landscape.

But before we got to the tundra like landscape we stopped at a shop near Muonio where we saw a sign that said you could buy a coffee and a doughnut for only 50 euro cents. In Scandinavia nothing is cheap so we had to have this. It also gave us a chance to sit inside and warm up a bit. The shop uses the coffee / doughnut deal to lure customers in to view all the interesting stuff they sell. The whole shop inside is scattered with all kinds of stuffed animals of the region and you can buy clothes and gloves the locals use made out of animal skins. See the one picture below of me with a pair of massive fluffy gloves.



In Norway we got to a town on the northern coast with the name Alta and the weather looked like it was going to rain but at least to the north east where we were heading it looked clear so we just kept on riding. 40km out of Alta the road went up a small pass and the whole world turned bright weight. Snow was still very thick and it is the whitest landscape I have ever seen. I was very glad the road was perfectly dry when everything else was covered in snow. This lasted for about 100km until you descend down to sea level again. We didn't have the address of our host near North Cape so we stopped at a tiny hotel to ask to use the internet. As we were sitting outside logging on from our laptop two elderly men approached us and asked about where we are from. When we told them about our trip they were so impressed that the one guy couldn't stop talking and taking photos. It was quite funny.

The last 100km is all done right on the edge of the coast with one or two tunnels as well. North Cape actually sits on an island and the last tunnel of 6km goes under the sea. We were relieved to arrive at our host (Arnt) who lives in a very small village (only seven permanent residents) because we made it all the way without any snow or rain.



Arnt lives alone in an old house in this small village and works in Honningsvåg the biggest town on the island. He likes the colder weather and dislikes cities and crowded places and that is why his village, which is pretty much at the end of the world suites him just fine. Arnt is a very friendly guy and interesting to talk to. I find him fascinating mostly for the fact that he can live where he does because it just feels far away from everything. He cooked us some fish his neighbor caught for dinner (we loved it) and we drank a couple of beers. This far north it stays light all the time. The last two photos above was taken in Arnt's village at 11:10PM.

Tomorrow we will reach the northern most point of Europe. Nordkapp here we come!!!



Tags
Biking  Cape 2 Cape  Norway