The Lofoten Islands
I woke up early-ish and packed my bags. Frøde was unfortunately still asleep, so I left him a note thanking him for his hospitality and I went on my way. I needed to go into Bødo, to the harbour and take the ferry going to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands.
Stepping outside, it was a hot and sunny summer day. Great weather to visit the islands! As previously mentioned, there was a bus stop "next" to Frøde's house, so I went there to wait for the bus. There were a lot of cars passing by, so I pulled my thumb out.
Another neighbor of Frøde's stopped at the entry to the big road, to check his mail if I recall correctly, so I took the chance to ask him if he was going into the city, and if I could have a lift. He didn't seem willing at first, but said "Oh, alright, get in!" at the end. In hindsight, Rulf was a scary looking guy, with a big body, white beard and tattoos, the "biker" look, but he was friendly. He is also a fisherman. He asked me where I came from, and when I said Indonesia, he said he was there as a sailor, in Belawan, in 1966. Actually I had no idea where that place is in Indonesia, so I just said, "cool". I started to imagine how life was back in the 60's. Indonesia was a land in political turmoil back then. We started talking about the past, and how everything was different back then. But it was a short ride, we reached the city after a short while, he let me off near the ferry terminal with some tips, and I thanked him. I still had to walk a bit to get there, and returning to life with a heavy backpack was quite hard, especially in a very hot day!
The ferry terminal of course had other travellers, some backpackers as well, all waiting for the ferry to arrive. I sat outside in the sun and it was a warm day, but the blowing winds were actually quite chilly too. I wondered if it'll be like that at the islands, and if I had enough preparation.
Soon enough, we were allowed to board, paying 149 Kroner (about 17 Euro) at the drawbridge (the bridge that drops down from the ship and cars drive over to get onto). Having a schedule was quite different to waiting uncertainly for a driver to stop, and I also knew what time I was going to arrive that day! Some people went directly into the cabin, which I thought was foolish, I was going to enjoy the sea, the sun and the air!
Leaving Mainland Europe
Tiny Islands
Long Island
Lofoten in the Horizon
The Lofoten Wall
Entering the Harbour
A Fjord! And A Yawning Lady
After a wonky (it got pretty windy in the middle and the boat swayed from side to side) 3 and a half hour ride (I don't remember it being that long, but that's what the timestamps on the pictures say!), we got to the destination, the city (village?) of Sørvågen at Moskenesøya (Moskenes Island). Even with the chaotic gathering of information I had done on the internet the last few days, I was still not sure where I was going or what I wanted to see. My plan at that moment was to go up the small hill/mountain to a cabin called the Munkebu Cabin, sleep outside of it (because it would have been locked, and borrowing the key would've required money and membership with the Norwegian trekking association), and to go the next day to a beach someone on the internet described as the best beach on the world, Bunesstranda (in English, and some more pics.), or to have it reversed, go to the beach, camp there for the night, and hike up to Munkebu the next day, although that means I have to go back down to Sørvågen to catch the boat, because hiking from Bunesstranda to Munkebu is doable, but the other way around is apparently very hard.
Unfortunately I had already missed the last boat that could take me to that beach that day, so I decided to hike to Munkebu instead, and to go back down to Sørvågen (actually I would have to trek to Reine, which is slightly north of Sørvågen) the next day and catch the boat then.
Maps
An overview of the paths I'm talking about.
For comparison, here is a map of a trip some other hiker made. I basically hiked the yellow route from the south to Djupfjordheia. They went up the mountain Merraflestinden though - had I known I could do that, I would have!
A very nice map from a Norwegian site, including the walking trail and high resolution satellite pics. Why did I not know of this site before?!
There is even a 3D Map of Norway (you need a browser plug-in) which is like Google Earth, but with very high-res photos and terrain. Just enter "Moskenes" in the Search (Søk) field.
I made this decision after looking inside the tourist office for more info (especially the boat departure times), and I started walking to the beginning of the trail, which is just left of some shop, 3km away. Outside of the tourist "office", I met 2 German girls who were also backpacking. They wanted to go to Å (that's what the village is called, for real!), which is the same direction as where I was going, but further away. There was a bus, but it was going to be a long wait, so we decided to walk. I took some pictures along the way.
According to Google Maps (see "An Overview" above), I would have to walk about 3km on the road until I reach the start of the trail, and as I said before, it wasn't going to easy with my heavy rucksack and the hot sun (heh, I should've been thankful it was a cloudless day!). Walking next to the road, I stuck my thumb out just in case, watching the campervans and cars drive by (a few of them had German plates, one was even from Stuttgart, basically a neighbour of Karlrsruhe!), until a black small Suzuki hatchback with NL plates stopped. Woohoo! But because I was just walking a short distance (or so I thought then), I asked the two girls if they wanted to go with the Dutchman, who was going to Å. His car was actually full of things, so it would have maybe fitted 2 people, but not 3. The girls told me to go ahead, so I got into the car and said my hello to Klemens, the Dutchman going from the north to the south of Norway. As he drove away he yelled to the girls, "I come back!". As it was just a 2km ride, it was really short, he asked me where I am from, and I said, "a former colony of the Netherlands, Indonesia!", and that was all of our conversation. I got off at what I thought was the right spot, and he turned the car around, to pick up the girls, his kindness amusing and bewildering me.
I still had to walk a bit to the real start of the trail, doing so I saw some kids ahead, sitting next to the road talking to each other. I was preparing to be made fun of, as I thought kids tend to do to foreign-looking people (that's what Karlsruhe/German kids do!), but I asked one of them, in English, where the trail starts "is it this way?", and one of them answered, also in English, "yes, that way!". I was amazed! One, because they spoke English, two because they were curteous, or at least they didn't make fun of me!
I then thought, "Well, they're basically village kids, without any stupid influences that city kids are exposed to, no wonder they're nice. Amazing that they spoke English though! I wonder what they do for fun around here?".
Soon enough I was behind the houses that faced the street, and was at the start of the trail. It was well-trodden, with plenty of footsteps. I walked along a small stream, crossed it on a tiny bridge, and kept walking, towards the mountain.
Sørvågvatnet
Sørvågvatnet and Tindsvatnet
Stuvdalsvatnet
2 of the Munkan in the left, Reinebringen, some Atlantic Ocean, and Merraflestinden mountain in the right
The various information sites say it takes 2 and a half hours to get to the Munkebu cabin, but after that much time hiking, I had not yet seen it. But I knew I was a lot slower with the the huge backpack, I took a lot of breaks (and pictures!), the thing wasn't easy on my shoulders.
At around 22:30, it started getting dark. At that point I had reached a small plateau (on research for writing this I found out it was the highest point of the of the trail), it was windy at the top, and I was wondering too if I was lost, maybe taking a wrong turn. It didn't help that the signs pointing to places was broken, and were unreadable anyway. The place had great views though, of the (Djup)fjord, with a bridge at the end of it, and beyond that, the ocean that separated the islands with mainland Norway. I couldn't see the mainland though. It was all quiet and peaceful up there...
Not knowing how long I had to go, and considering it was getting dark, I decided to camp at that plateau. This was to be my first time building a tent, and sleeping in one in this journey. I found a grassy patch of area, next to 1 meter tall rocks that would cover me from wind, and set out to build the tent.
Building the tent was easy enough (actually the picture timestamps say I took the before picture at 23:11, and the after picture at 23:46), I didn't stick the nails right in, but oh well, it was still standing. The inside was surprisingly roomy, it fit 2 people, or me and my backpack. After this I had something to eat, being amazed at where I was (on top of some mountain, in the middle (well roughly speaking) of the Atlantic Ocean). Then I climbed into my sleeping bag and slept.