Somehow after 24 hours on the train I convinced myself to spend another two hours and see Norway before heading back to Abisko to hike ... and I am SO glad that I did!! I am in Narvik, Norway now (and will be for about another hour) and have really enjoyed seeing the snow capped mountains and fjords here. The Swedish mountains that I passed through and will be hiking in starting this afternoon were beautiful, but the Norwegian ones are more majestic.
The 26 hour train ride up here went fine. I met some really nice people right away in Gothenburg (a Swedish mother and daughter and a Danish guy) and talked with them for much of that first night, until they got off.
The vegetation up here isn't as dramaticly stunted as I would have guessed (I'll upload pictures later) and it's almost 80 degrees here in Narvik today! So much for the drastic northern trip!
Last night when I showed up without a reservation they apologized for not having any hostel beds left but gave me a hotel room for the same price! It was wonerful to have my own bathroom and not sleep in a bunkbed! Breakfast was also included in the price so I am carbo-loaded for backpacking after sandwiches and eggs for breakfast.
Another highlight was talking to an old Norwegian guy sitting down by the harbor. I could actually understand most of his Norwegian and my Swedish was passable enough that we could actually converse! Good thing I spent time in Alaska so I could talk a little about salmon!
Off to catch the train back to Abisko National Park. Later!
No comments:
Post a Comment