Norway Part 2: The Lofoten Islands

We spent the first two nights in the village of Å i Lofoten. The village sign is short because the village is actually called Å. The first day was covered with deep rainy clouds. We visited a few villages in the area, but the weather just wouldn't improve.

The next day, we woke up to a clear sky. What a difference!

We left Å and drove through the same villages as the day before (there was no other choice), but this time we had great weather! We also took a short hike in Sørvågen. There are several lakes here, each feeding into the next until the water reaches the sea. The trail was sometimes hard to see. There was a lot of snow here and it was difficult to walk, but the view was excellent!

We drove north via Hamnøy, crossed the bridges at Fredvang, visited the beach of Flakstad (you can surf here! Bbrbrrrrrr...) and the church of Buksnes. The highlights on the Lofoten Islands are really along the way. Every few meters we stopped, marvelled, and took photos.

From Leknes, we took a detour to Haukland Beach. The sun was just rising and the clouds were bathed in beautiful colors. We were in the right place at the right time!

The Viking Museum in Borg unfortunately has very limited opening hours during the winter (Wednesdays and Saturdays). We could only look through the window. Too bad! ...but not too bad, because the weather was still great and during a short photo stop, Cerina spotted some hikers on a nearby mountain called Ytretinden. It didn't look far, so we decided to go there too. The snowy slope was quite steep and there was a cold wind at the top. But what a view, a 360° panorama! We met a couple with a dog who live on the Lofoten Islands. She doesn't like the winter at all, she said. But is this really the right place to live for her? She prefers the summer, but the Lofoten Islands are crowded with tourists then. The hiking trails are like highways, she said. Around midsummer, there are tents everywhere here on Ytretinden. There were only four of us (and a dog) and we didn't meet anyone else on the way. It must be really beautiful here in the summer, but with so many people, hiking loses its sense of solitude and tranquility.

We continued along the road to Henningsvær. This small village is spread out over several islands and looks really cool from the air. We drove through the village in drizzling rain, which didn't make it look so spectacular from this perspective. Maybe it was the dusk combined with the rain.

We had to drive many kilometers to our accommodation that day. The next day, we had to do the same again. With snow, rain, ice, and little sunlight. The highlight of the day was supposed to be Narvik. We imagined the city typical Norwegian: fishing huts by the water with a beautiful promenade where you can take long walks, the corresponding fishing boats, narrow streets, and houses here and there on the rocks. But that was not the case. Narvik was founded in 1902 only to load ore from Kiruna, Sweden onto ships here. Then it was mostly destroyed during World War II. The city looks more like an industrial area. Too bad!

But the accommodation we had in the south of Narvik was even better. We had a large room in a villa. There were horses outside, a dog and a cat inside, a sauna, and we could wash our laundry for free. The sauna felt really good after such a long drive!

Then we drove back to Bodø on the E6. Almost 300 km in over 6 hours... the winter had given a lot of snow. We returned the rental car, walked to the accommodation. Here too, there was a sauna! The huge apartment was right in the city center, just a few meters from the pier. Our Northern Lights app promised a high chance of seeing them tonight. So we alternated between the sauna and the window, and then went outside with glowing cheeks to have a better view. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was still too thick for any Northern Lights to come through. We spent the last 100 Norwegian Kroner (about 10 euros) on ONE 0.5 liter beer in a pub. Only around 1:30 am did the sky clear up a bit, so we could see the Northern Lights from the apartment. Thank you for this farewell, Bodø!

The next morning, we walked to the airport feeling a bit tired, where we packed our warm clothes (down jacket, sweater, hat, gloves) in our backpack before checking in our luggage. We probably won't need them for the next few days. The plane took us to Oslo and from there we flew directly to Bangkok, Thailand. Different world, different climate, jetlag, we have to get used to it again.