Day 32/33 - Kautokeino - Alta

Reaching the Fjords...
After a "surprisingly" cold and short night in my tent, I started yesterday morning at 6 my ride to Alta along the Altaelv, one of the best salmon fishing spots in Europe. I quickly realized that flat roads belong to the past and that from now on it will be a constant up and down. In order to get some rest and "refuel" for the final step to North Cape, I decided to spend 2 nights in Alta. So today I started with an excellent and relaxed breakfast before I went for a sightseeing-WALK. First I climbed the roughly 200m hill "Komsa" from which I enjoyed a breathtaking view over the Alta Fjord and the city. In the afternoon I visited the Alta Museum, which is mainly about the famous pre-historic rock carvings which are more than 6000 years old and UNESCO World Heritage, but also about local history, Sami culture, Salmon fishing,... Tonight I will have a good meal and prepare for the next 3 days which will hopefully lead me to North Cape.

Day 30/31 - Muonio - Enontekioe - Kautokeino

Out of the forest...
I really like forest and trees, but after 4 weeks of endless forest, it was a relief to have a change in scenery. However the change was really quick! Landscape completely switched from dense forest in northern Finland to Tundra within less than 100km. Furthermore I have caught up with Winter. There is still some snow and most of the lakes are frozen. On the road 93 which I'm currently taking, camping cars are my main company: Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, German, Belge, Italians... even 1 French :-)
As the weather is absolutely perfect, I decided to camp "in the wild" today. Hope the night will not be too cold... By the way, I have now reached 69 northern latitude and the sun will not set anymore, so there is no night and no cold (hopefully :-)). Tomorrow I will reach Alta on the Atlantic coast and sleep in a real bed...

Day 28/29 - Oeverkalix - Pajala - Muonio

Goodbye Sweden, hello Finland...
The last 2 days were really exhausting. The towns are quite far apart which leads to long daytrips and on top I have strong wind from north. Sometimes it slowed me down to 10/12kmh on flat ground... But despite wind and cold, yesterday and today were really good: I crossed the Arctic Circle and left Sweden behind after cycling swedish roads for roughly 2000km. Tomorrow I will spenden one more night in Finland before arriving in Norway.

Day 26/27 - Pitea - Boden - Oeverkalix

Big rivers, hot weather...
Yesterday was for sure the hottest day of the journey in Sweden: 28 degrees and bright sunshine. Riding through pine forest growing on sandy ground, seeing people in swim suits at the lakes and smelling the hot air of the forest made me wonder if I'm really close to the Arctic Circle or rather in southern France. Anyway it was a great cycling day. In the evening I arrived at Boden, a rather big town with a very strong military presence. Apparently it played an important role as line of defence during the cold war. Today I left the Baltic Sea behind and followed the E10 to Oeverkalix I crossed the Lule river and the Kalix river which are both quite impressive fast flowing rivers in their natural beds. Tomorrow will be an important milestone: I will cross the Arctic Circle about 30km from here!

Day 24/25 - Norsjoe - Boliden - Pitea

Arriving in Norrbottens Laen...
Yesterday was a bit strange as I ended the day further south than I started it. The reason was that the Sverigeleden makes a slope to the Baltic Sea before continuing north. I decided to follow this route as it uses really nice little streets and avoids main roads as much as possible. The traffic up here is really low. Almost no private cars and only a few trucks transporting wood or stones (forest and mining industries). Today I reached Pitea on the shore of the Baltic Sea. There is not much to visit so I will take the opportunity to go to the cinema and whatch "Gozilla" :-)

Day 22/23 - Asele - Lycksele - Norsjoe

Cycling Laponia...
The last 2 days led me through "Lappland", and I was immediately welcome by some Reindeers with which I had a short race on the street. Unfortunately I had no chance to take pictures to post on the blog... The wildlife is becoming much richer in the last days:  Foxes, Mooses and Deers are frequently close to the street but not yet patient enough for extensive photoshootings... Today again I found myself infront of a closed Camping, but fortunately  the next one was not far. I will now plan in more detail the next steps.

Day 20/21 - Sundsvall - Langsele - Asele

Taking benefit of good conditions...
Yesterday and today I made a big step north. The cycling conditions were absolutely perfect: sunshine and wind from south. Yesterday was rather "boring" as I followed a main road through endless forest. Today in return was great: wonderful landscape, rich wildlife (If you are good you can spot the Reindeers on one of the pictures :-)) and great weather. Nevertheless I had my first bad surprise: The place where I wanted to sleep was still closed weich costed me an additional 52 km. It could have been worse... in the rain for example :-). Lessons learnt: Start early to look for a place to sleep!

Day 19 - Hassela - Sundsvall

Short ride and sightseeing...
After the long day yesterday, today program was about relaxing and checking the bike and gear for potential damages before continuing the trip in less populated regions. I reached Sundsvall at noon and went straight to the Tourist Information to find a room for the night. The employee was really helpful and booked a room in a hotel in the city center. After checkin I took the time for some sightseeing and discovered trat Sundsvall is a really nice and interesting place on the Baltic Sea shore with old houses, nice Cafés and lively shopping streets. Tomorrow I will be back in the endless forest...

Day 18 - Bollnaes - Hassela

Great weather, great countryside!
Today conditions were perfect and the countryside was amazing. Of course again lakes, hills and many, many trees,  but this is exactly what I came for :-). I took the chance to reach Hassela after 118km where I found a room in a Vandrarhem with an impressive Graensfors axe collection in the living room. These wonderfull tools are hand - forged just a few km from here.

Day 17 - Oevertaenger - Bollnaes

Early Start...
Today I took the road at 7:30h in bright sunshine but biting noth wind. After 2 hours the weather changed and I had my first snow... The rest of the ride was not really spectacular. I reached Bollnaes at 14:30h and checked in a nice youth hostel.