vivek sekar

we got off the train and got the keys to the car we had booked and headed into the car and were ready to set off to the northern reaches, all this time, a east asian couple were busy photographing themselves against the backdrop of the railway station and the train. how much love they had for portrait photography

after some time of trying to find a place to have breakfast, for which the petrol bunk served the purpose of half filling us up. with some crunchies, biscuits, energy drinks and fire wood we headed out on route 79. bordering the Swedish territory we approached the Norwegian side, and as a wake up call a family of reindeer’s appeared from the bushes and gardens on the highway side. hard on the brakes and some honking later they cleared off. reminding quite a bit about the bus journeys i had from home to college through the cattle infested old mahabalipuram highway.

approaching the Norwegian territory the landscape started to get a little undulating and added some character to itself from the flat planes in Finland, long straight stretches of highway clearly highlighting the undulating topography. a few kilometers into Norway we took a break for some half cooked bread and salsa mix, followed by some male demarcation of territory next to a lake. compared to the landscapes surrounding us the weather was very dull and monotonous - cloud cover with drizzle at times.

from undulating plains came small hillocks, from there onto hills, ravines, crumbling mountain ranges and finally the famed Norwegian Fjords. but uncharacteristically, the northern Norwegian Fjords were more of the crumbling old age version of than those i had seen in the mid Norwegian areas, vegetation was more bare and limited to moss and a few scrubs but predominantly loose gravel.

we entered Alta right in time for lunch, after some information kiosk raiding and  pizza’s we were ready for a planned trek to some mountain nearby. but then a little challenge of cycling became into a proper - rent a bike, strap on your gears and lets head to a famed trekking route. this impromptu plan was on track, with the bicycles all ready we started to a nearby dam 45 kms from Alta, which had a good trekking route. not knowing the route and over estimating over capabilities we rode out of town, and in the outskirts itself we faced difficulty getting up a steep slope without stopping. the road was flat for a bit and helped in keeping our spirits in check after the bad blow the first steep slope had. slowly the road became mountainous and more steep which also meant we would get great down slopes to ride on, but the going up a slope was becoming a major hassle.

not wanting to give up, i put in all and was pushing on. blood was pumping hard and fast, but a long stretch of slope had me accept defeat, eye’s fully bloodied by the exertion and stress. it took 15km of arduous riding before giving up.

But it was a beautiful place to give up, a small secluded bay reaching inwards between two mountain to the sides (Fjords) with another mountain backing up and a waterfall flowing into this bay.

a spectacle to behold!

after some refilling of the water bottle at a local household and some ramblings about setting up tent, we decided to go down the road and find a public entry point to the bay. after some confirmation with the locals we headed down into the bay. we had our slice of heaven to relish on a cold, windy and damp day. first up we started a fire, since most of my friends were thinking of getting bath in the waterfall. after testing the waters - very cold would be a understatement , they decidedly came back and got busy with getting firewood for the camp fire we had started.

the night just passed like any other usual day, it being as bright as it was during noon. midnight sun on a cloudy day, may be.

after an hour of loitering around after waking up, it was back on the bicycles for us and to Alta. on the way back i stopped once to push the bicycle up hill and afterwards set a personal challenge of not getting down till i reached the car park, i went about getting to the car park without having stopped. the physical exertion was again visible by the blood flow in the body and i was all fired up. sitting on the car seat was like heating up my ass in a stove at most times as we were headed to Honinsvag skipping Hammerfest all together due to time constraints.

and again close to lunch we were at Honinsvag closing in on the northern most point in Europe. the rest to follow.

all the while inside a little metal shell