[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/Day 19.gpx”]
Today we woke up in our room. It was a pleasure to get up in a warm room with the prospect of a breakfast buffet. A nice alternative to porridge. Finishing breakfast at 10 we got back to pack our stuff as we were supposed to leave at 11. Utilizing the opportunity of running water we cleaned all our kitchen gear and the reminder of yesterday’s dinner, as well as our visors. At quarter past 11, obviously we needed longer, we even got a text message from the reception, that we are supposed to leave at 11. Five minutes later we handed back the key and left for the common room, as we needed to finish the postcards we bought at Nordkapp – especially as we supposed, that the stamps are only valid I. Norway and we wanted to be in Finland by the evening. Being a little lazy and enjoying the warmth we decided to stay a little longer, have lunch and catch up on blog posts.
As soon as we recovered the laptop from our packet stuff, another German guy joined the common area and we started chatting. He was riding from Sicilia to Nordkapp by bicycle and finished after 136 days of riding. That sounded very demanding and we were happy to be motorized. We had a nice prolonged chat about our journeys, traveling in general and gear over coffee and snacks.
Just before finally heading out into the cold and wet, we saw reindeer browse between the huts of the campsite. We got going, adamant to do the full extent of the TET as there was one part with a nice viewing point we did not want to miss out on. We left tarmac and rode a couple hundred meters of muddy back road and got to an dead-end in front of a river. To the right we just missed an even muddier trail. As the .gpx track was not very clear about it (we were not on roads according to our navigation systems) but still indicated we had to cross the river. It was cold and we no bridge in sight for this much faster wider and deeper river. So we turned around and took the tarmac road back. With dry feet I was a lot less cold and did not shiver. We continued and hit the reserve part of our tanks. No gas station in sight. After another 30 km of hoping and wishing and not really enjoying the view as much as on our way fro (it was misty this time) we reached a gas station. We filled up all the way and headed into the supermarket belonging to it. It was pricey. We got salt and had lunch in the warmth. Another German motorcyclist talked us up and we chatted for a bit. On our way out we saw a couple push starting a hopelessly overloaded old honda street bike. They got it going and while the driver played with the gas to keep it from dying (maybe the idle did not work?) she climbed the tower and they drove away.
The following section was treeless, cold and wet as every time we drove it. Still beautiful though. While driving south to Alta the temperatures rose steadily and the step from 8 to 12 °C made all the difference between chilly and very comfortable. In Alta we took a break and ate some more snacks. After some longer talking (still not used to the lack of intercom again) we hit the road and decided to take the second part of the old post road as well. This one was a blast. Fast-ish open road sometimes a bit loose always scenic. Enjoyed it quite a bit.
But this one ended as well on the highway and we did not backtrack the other part and took the highway as it was getting late. We filled up our supplies and build camp shortly after on some road right next to the highway. Traffic was nonexistent on our road and almost none on the highway. There were quite a few mosquitoes so the guy with the mosquito headnet was on cooking duty while Benni was chilling in the tent. We had mashed potatoes with chicken and peas. The first frying experiment in the titanium pan went surprisingly well.
