Vast open spaces. Sun. Heat. Flying salmon. Cheap groceries. Military zone. A lovely day’s cycling.
Day 54. 120km. Bugøynes – Kirkenes. Map and gpx.
Bugøynes is a pretty village. The owners of the huts are very friendly. I should take some nice photos of the road to Bugøynes for the blog. Show people how nice it is. 🙂
Well, the sun didn’t play it’s part and stayed behind clouds until I hit the E6. The owners of the huts have some amazing photos of the Bugøynes Bay during the big thunder storm a couple of days ago. Maybe they can post a comment with a link to those photos.. 🙂
On the E6 heading south I had a headwind. Going at 12 km/h I had a lot of time to admire the scenery. It was lovely. The sun had come out, and the road followed a valley.
The valley opened out. I really got a sense of space – vast open spaces. Distances felt huge. The landscape seemed to go for ever. And it was beautiful.
In this vast, sunny expanse, I passed my 6000km mark.
I passed a German cyclist from Cologne. He was wearing the same running shirt that I have from the Cologne marathon 2005. He started in Kirkenes and is going as far south as he gets in 5 weeks. All the best!
Then it was time for watching the salmon jump. Being so hot, it was lovely dangling my feet in the cool water next to a gushing waterfall.
People were perched above the falls, peering through the lens of a camera. Why? The salmon were jumping. Massive ones. Springing high into the air against the raging torrents. And here I am. I’ve cycled all the way from Holland. To North East Norway. My feet are dangling in a famous salmon river. The sun is shining. It’s warm. And the salmon are jumping. Happy. Content.
By the way – the water from the salmon river is yummy – and cool. I filled up twice. Before and after my shopping.
Shopping up here is done in Finland. So much cheaper, and an exotic detour. So. Once more, it was time for..
Hello Finland.
Also, in Finland they have decent rye bread that doesn’t crumble, and they have my favourite chocolate milk. 🙂
The home stretch into Kirkenes was along a beautiful fjord. The sun was still shining, it was warm, and the waters were twinkling. Heading north again, I had a tail wind. Awesome.
And then an excursion through the military zone. No stopping. No photos Shame. It was pretty there.
Not only does the only road run through the military zone. The airport is in the middle of it too. The airport is 12km from Kirkenes. Those 12 km are all very steep up and down. It will be a nasty stretch to the airport in Sunday. I hope my nicely loosened pedals (so I can remove them for the flight) don’t tighten again on that stretch.
23C and sun tomorrow. Relaxing on the beach in Grens Jakobselv is planned. I can wave at Russia from the beach.
arctic-cycler.com 
By and large I think you’ve been very lucky with the weather during your stay in this region. I might have missed some, but as a spectator it looks a lot like a walk in the park, weather wise. Some years the weather can be pretty grim, even in mid-summer, I belive.
Yes. You’re right. Last year I went to the Nordkyn peninsula and it was freezing cold, wet and very windy. This year I’ve had a few days of bad weather but mostly is been lovely. I am very lucky.
How great post again. We love these Northern sceneries and that is why next September we’ll visit Lapland again, but not Norway.
This time I am not giving link to my post in my blog, but You can admire my wife’s video when Driving alongside Varangerfjord to Kirkenes.
I hope that You find something what You saw also.
Happy biking!
Thanks Sartenada. Today right to the far east of Norway. To the Russian border at Grense Jakobselv. 🙂