As emotional it was to arrive at the shore of the Barent Sea in Kirkenes, it was easy to leave town after a rest day. Everything that was going to come would be the icing on the cake. With arriving in Kirkenes I reached my goal that only became obvious within the last 300 kilometers.
As the road to Kirkenes is a dead-end road, I decided to take a bus back to the turn off to the west further inland, and with that I would save me from cycling in quite hilly terrain (well, Mareike, welcome to Norway 😋).
I cycled along pretty fjord scenery that got more dramatic the closer I got to the coast again. I have already decided to visit the little fishing village of Bugøynes. It was recommended to me by a B&B host down in Lapland. He said it’s a special place, I should go and see myself.
It better be because it took me some effort to get there. Another dead-end road of 20 km leads there. Although I cycled along the coast, it was extremely hilly, and a strong head wind made it even more challenging and I took quite a lot of breaks. The coast was rugged, there were small patches of snow telling stories about harsh long winters. In the distance, to the north, Varanger Peninsula, my goal for the next couple of days, was already visible through the haze. Suddenly a rainbow visualized ahead of me and a group of five reindeer entered the road. I stopped to watch them for a bit and then continued to what felt like the end or beginning of that particular rainbow. Then, Bugøynes appeared. Windswept houses, a small, almost austere church, a tiny sandy beach with a sauna (originally, it’s an old settlement of people immigrating from Finland; sauna is not as common in Norway as it is in Finland), and a Restaurant & Café where I hoped to get my daily dose of coffee and waffles. That’s what I expected when entering the place. I was already enchanted by the little town, but when I was greeted by the hosts, I felt a huge wave of warmth floating through me. Later, I explored the area a little, put my feet into the cold water of the sea, marveled at barren, beautiful granite rock scenery, let my view wander over the glittering sea. The sun is not setting here at that time of the year which makes the concept of time almost futile. And that warmth was still floating through me and I didn’t know at that time that it will linger for quite a bit longer.
