A great Nordic Adventure

A relatively easy overnight bus ride from Oslo to Trondheim on a clear night with the full moon shining above. No sight of the elusive Aurora Borealis. The only light coming from the guy beside me busy chatting away to his mates on his laptop, with the occasional giggle always so often. I did the same myself after a while trying unsuccessfully to get to sleep; catching up on the missed episodes of Heroes.

7am sharp, the bus whizzed into Trondheim bus station. Useful that it is directly beside the train station for me to catch my next onward journey to Fauske. (In case you are wondering why did I end up taking the bus, read my previous post). The sleepy town was just waking up to the streaks of sunrise coming through the horizon. Grab a packet of fresh buns from a very friendly man over the counter wishing me "Happy Easter" and hop onto the train. The train on this leg between Trondheim and Bode is clearly less busy as there are less carriages and the state of the interior is older than ones that I have been taking before.

As usual, I attracted a few additional glances from the locals not used to seeing an oriental in this part of the world. Just after Trondheim, the train pulled up against the station "Hell" - I wonder what and how do people live in this place! (I was just kidding, I am sure the words do mean something in Norwegian). The journey up north was nothing short of spellbinding. One moment, we were at sea level, the next we were hurtling up the mountains with deep ravines precariously beside the tracks, then through miles and miles of white flat plateau, occasionally dotted with a red hut or a skier huffing and puffing across the Arctic tundra.

Apparently there was some problems with the food delivery for the train resulting in no food available at the kiosk. The train master was kind enough to offer free coffee as apology and even ordered pizzas for the passengers which were collected along the way. Had my first cup noodle left behind by my mate from his last travel - instant noodles never tasted that good before, although on hindsight I should really have kept it for my siberian trip but I am on a vengeance to reduce as much weight on my shoulders as possible after a painful strained right shoulder that wasn't too happy carrying all these load. Although the good news is that my soles have recovered enough to walk properly after much rest from sitting on the trains/bus.

Few miles past Mo i Rana, we officially crossed into the Arctic Circle, past the Latitude N66'33.705, and very much still heading towards the pole. Few hours after, I dropped off at Fauske, an hour from the last station of Bodø on the Norwegian rail tracks and waited for a bus that will take me to the tiny town of Narvik. If Lonely Planet was to publish a "Top 100 bus rides before you die", I bet this bus journey will be one of the top few listed; no pictures of mine are able to portray the magnificence and brilliance of the Norwegian engineering feat - winding roads up and down the peaks, through miles of tunnels within mountains so huge that you wonder how can it be possible. 5 hours of pure adrenaline, with the only exception being the bus going onto a ferry crossing a fjord that the engineers probably felt that is the most sensible option for that part of the journey. One will be amazed how accessible this part of the world is even with such daunting natural wonders. The ferry ride was a refreshing change, with the snowy peaks against the blue skies that was just turning dark, and the bone-breaking winds blowing across your face.

We arrived in the small town of Narvik after the driver drove like formula one to catch up on lost time from been stuck behind several cautious cars driving in the complete darkness. The hostel "Spor 1" - which literally means "Track 1" is conveniently located 100m from the station, beside, as you guessed it, the railway track leading to the port where iron ore is still be transported out. A shower after 3 days on the roads was very welcoming and a night sleep on a proper bed feels like a long time back.

The Swedish/Norwegian (the 70 year old mom was born in this town, the son in Trondheim and the grandson in a town outside of Stockholm) in my dorm room were very friendly and gave me on some ideas to spend the day, whilst they heading up the mountain behind the town for some skiing. Also got to know later that the son did the trans-siberian rail himself too 20 years back but in the opposite direction as the one I am heading. Oh, did I mention his mom is also skiing?!?! It's amazing how people in this part of the world keep themselves so healthy and fit; can't imagine my mom going for a run with me, let alone speeding down the mountains.

The guy reminded me of Lofoten, a group of islands at the far edge of the Nordic fjords, where time literally stood still for centuries and fishermen still live there in their colourful huts, air drying herring and cod catch for centuries. Unfortunately I just miss the 5 hour bus by 10 min when I got to the station, which was quite disappointing but I guess there is only so much I can take in and maybe this is something to bring me back to this part of the world again. Instead, I took a cable car up the mountain where families were spending the Easter holiday, having picnic and just enjoying the glorious sunshine, and of course, the incredible view of the fjords as far as the eye can see.

Still no sign of the Northern Lights. Guess one really have to be extremely lucky to see one at this time of the year when it only turns dark so late and the skies are more often cloudy instead of the clear freezing weather that it needs to encounter this natural sight. At least I managed to get a bed for the night stay,even though it was a really dodgy one - my keys say "TV room", and it literally was a tiny space with 2 fold out beds which I will amaze me if it can really fit two in there. Even then, still costs me NOK200 after I tried in vain to ask for a discount based on the fact that it wasn't really a dorm! Chatted with a nice Finnish guy who is working as a polar guide in Santa Claus town of Rovaniemi who is in town to enjoy the skiing. People around here are really friendly and it's a refreshing change to find good sensible folks in hostels instead of kids whose aim to live seems to be getting themselves drunk every night and sleep in during the day.

The next morning, I bid farewell to my new-found friends as they wish me luck for my upcoming long journey as I cross from Europe to Asia. Oh, and why do they always have to remind me of the movie "Trans Siberia" all the time? It's not like I have any russian dolls in my bag! :-)

Travelling in Europe on Easter Sunday is strongly discouraged - not a single shop is open and my stomach has been growling since last night as I had my 2nd cup noodle in 2 days. Had to watch my spending as I have easily spent a quarter of my planned budget so far. Everything is just ridiculously expensive in this part of the world, and I have still Sweden and Finland to pass through! Did not help that the train kiosk refused to accept my remaining Norwegian Krone coins since it is operated by the Swedish rail although they did accept notes. Reluctantly ended up paying over the top for a small sandwich, coffee and orange juice using debit card.

It started to snow as we crossed into the swedish border of Riksgrasen station high up in the mountains. The trees seem to be grasping for air as the thick coat of snow is at least a few metres deep. Winter doesn't seem to come to an end this north, in fact, it looks like it has just started - you jump off the train, put on your skis and you're off. Cars or shoes are useless in this part of the world, it's how the Scandinavians have lived for thousands of years.

The mountains and fjords slowly transform to flat plains of arctic wilderness as a lonely moose lazily looked back at the bewildered stare from me as it trooped off across snowy land. Probably my closest encounter to this incredible animal which reminded me of my conversation with the Finnish guy that they go around hunting these animals in Lapland and their meat is especially delicious in stew, chewy if you do not cook for long enough. The train stopped for 20 minutes in the town of Kiruna, the source of the iron ore that is delivered to Narvik and Stockholm on rails twice a day. We continued south, heading towards the imaginary line of the 66 degrees, ever closer to the Finnish border.

Switched to a connecting bus at Lulea, the last stop of the journey after another 7 hours on the train, followed by another 2:20 hours to Haparanda, the Swedish border town where I had to walk pass the huge Ikea, across to Tornio, the Finnish town across the motorway to catch another bus to Kemi to get onto my train to Tampere. Alas, I completely forgot that Finland is another hour ahead and bus schedules are severely reduced from the Easter holidays. It's no fun walking around a completely unknown town close to midnight in freezing weather, disoriented and starving. Checked into the only B&B for €30 after accepting that I will not be going anywhere tonight. On the positive side, I get to have a room to myself. Have to scale back my plans tomorrow as the bus and trains are reduced service for the holiday, hopefully everything will be better; Happy Easter all!

Note: Photos from my Norway adventures