The journey from Kiruna to Narvik should have taken about 2
hours in the end it took me 6, I just had to keep stopping to take in the
views. I had thought as I left Kiruna that the journey would be boring as the
countryside was flat, wet and barren but about an hour in the mountains began
to close in and frozen lakes lapped the road edge. What were the little black
dots on the lakes? Men ice fishing! I had to stop to see. The man in the
picture was maybe 50 mts. from the beech and there was no way I was going out
on the ice as the edges were unfrozen and you had to wade several feet out to
the solid ice. Later I was able to see that the ice was in fact still over a
foot thick. I had it explained to me that the ice forms from the bottom but
thaws from the top so even if there is water at the top underneath it is still
frozen! I was aware that the Norwegians liked their Trolls but this one was
20ft high and by the way was for sale! Navik is situated within the Oftenfjord
and was devastated when the occupational forces retreated in 1945. So as the
tourist board employee puts it, it was rebuild in the “Norwegian Ugly Style” So
there is little for me to say about the town, but I hope the photos portray
just a little of its stunning situation! And my bedroom view for the night!
