Sunday, 19.01, Narvik - Bodø

The only item on the agenda the next day before the bus ride to Bodø in the afternoon was the cable car ride to Narvikfjellet, the city's mountain. That turned out to be enough. After some twists and turns and a lot of uphill walking, I finally arrived at the valley station. But the efforts were rewarded with the view after the gondola ride. Just a reminder: I took the dim photos of Narvik and the fjord shortly after 2 pm. Until recently, there was even polar night in Narvik, and even now, the sun never really shines because of the surrounding mountains. Early evening light was the best we could get, and it was already dark by 3:30 pm.

On the mountain, I treated myself to a warming hot chocolate and a pizza. Instead of the ham pizza I ordered, I was served one with reindeer meat. An experience I could have done without, but well... It's dark brown and tastes like a dry, tough mixture of beef and pork. Not the culinary highlight for me.

Regarding my award-winning short story in the Göteborg post: Half of the people on the mountain were German, but that's typical.

There is also a ski resort on the mountain, where the locals zoom around. Since it gets dark so early, they simply use headlamps and even go off-piste and jump over rocks, a bit too daring for my taste. Nevertheless, I really felt like skiing, and it was quite disappointing to slide down the last part on my boots. Well, that can be changed soon.

After the exhausting hike to the bus station, the journey continued to Bodø, with the bus filling the gap in the rail network between Sweden and Norway (unfortunately not included in the Interrail ticket). The city will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024. I haven't noticed much of that yet.

Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be much going on in Bodø at this time of year: fortunately, I had a room to myself at the hostel at the train station, and I didn't encounter a single soul on the way to the harbor. I looked out again there, but unfortunately, rain and thick clouds sabotaged the plan. Still, looking into the distance at the end of the pier that extends far into the water was a rewarding end to my walk. Aaand I think I saw the Northern Lights shining through the thin clouds from time to time.

As a shock at the end of the day, I had to pay 13 euros for a kebab roll. Un-be-lievable. And it was bad too.