Day 26 – Top of the World

Day 26

Alta Norway – Top of the World – Tana Bru Norway

The day started off cold and grey but this time I wasn’t going to be caught out and put on all my cold weather gear. As the day wore on it never really cleared up but the clouds weren’t as low as yesterday and so got treated to some wonderful scenery.

Everyone told me that going up north would be boring and there would be nothing to see. Again they couldn’t have been more wrong. While the tourists all tend to head to Nordkapp I headed to Mehamn/Gamvik/Slettnes . Nordkapp is the northern most point on the European continent but Slettnes is the northern most point on the European mainland. The tourists go to Nordkapp and the cool kids go to Slettnes. You can quote me on that.

The road leading up to Mehamn was absolutely fantastic both for the scenery and the quality of the road it self. If you ever get a chance to ride to Mehamn listening to Philip Glass I highly recommend it. The surreal layered on the surreal. It was truly sublime.

One thing I’ve noticed on my travels is that Europeans love to tell you that anywhere there not from, at, or going to is boring. So far they’ve always been dead wrong. As far as heading to Mehamn is concerned they were spectacularly wrong. Maybe it’s a humor thing that gets lost in translation, but they’re very consistent.

Tomorrow I should be crossing into Finland. I’ve really enjoyed my time in Norway. The Fjords were very nice as were the people. Not quite as nice as the Swedes but still very nice ;). Another thing I really liked was all the pretty service girls singing out “Hi-Hi” as you approached the counter. I swear it’s the cutest thing since sliced bread.

The one thing I didn’t like was the cost. Western Europe is about 1.5 times more expensive then the USA primarily due to the exchange rate I think (except for gas which is about 2.5 times more expensive). Norway is about twice as expensive as the rest of Western Europe. The charm of $20 hamburgers wears off pretty quickly but all in all it was more than worth it.

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