Mo 27.9. Alta

Beautiful sunny weather with temperatures up to 19 degrees.

In the morning, we pack our things into the car as we are moving to a cabin by the river on the campsite in the afternoon. Then, we hop on our bicycles and ride 5 km on bike paths and quiet roads under the sun and summery temperatures to Hjemmeluft Museum Alta, a UNESCO World Heritage site located directly on Altafjord.

Here, you can admire several thousand rock carvings that are between 2000 and 7000 years old. It is a large area, and we reach different areas by following a 3 km long path, mostly made of wooden boardwalks.

The great variety of motifs and scenes showcases the high artistic level of the hunters and gatherers of this arctic region over a period of 5000 years. We take our time to thoroughly admire these impressive depictions.

On the way to the first rock carvings, we pass by an old farmhouse (Tirelbild), one of the few remaining farms from before the Second World War. When the German occupiers retreated from Finnmark at the end of the war, they expelled the inhabitants, killed animals, and burned down almost all the farms. They wanted to leave the Russian pursuers with nothing but "scorched earth," unfortunately, they succeeded.

Even in the center of Alta, it is evident that there are only buildings from the post-war period, no "old town". This part of German history still feels very oppressive.

We admire the Northern Lights Cathedral from the outside as it can only be visited in the morning. We will make up for that tomorrow.

So we go to have lunch in Alta, sitting outside in the sun and being served by a waiter who speaks German with us.

We drive back to the campsite, settle into our new cabin right on the Altaelva river, do some laundry, and take a short walk on the other side of the river.