Going north

Today I made 2 lovely new friends! They're both 45+ year old mums that live in the absolute boonies of mid-Norway.

After an early breakfast, I had a 1.5 hour hike to Hjenkinn train station. The town of Hjenkinn turned out to be 3 huts and a train stop with a small herd of sheep chilling in the shade of the railway building. The 2 hour train ride went through gorgeous country side to the town of Vinstra. Since my bus to Skåbu was supposed to go in the afternoon, I took my time, did some grocery shopping and then spent most of my time in a little outdoor café. Only problem: the bus never came. Another bus driver replied to my question about my bus with the dry one-word response: "tomorrow". Turns out it only goes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (must be a Norwegian thing ;-) ).

So I decided to hitch hike (it would have been a 6 hour walk on the road). Within 3 minutes, I had 2 rides offered. Say what you will about their bus drivers, but Norway has the kindest drivers. One very warm hearted lady took me on the 30 minute ride to the post office in Skåbu, which is by the way proudly the highest town in Europe with a doctor, supermarket and post office :) There I picked up my food and resupplies for the next 13 days and rearranged my backpack to make it all fit (barely ;-) ). From here, I caught a ride with Helga, who lives on a small farm in the mountains. She drove me another 15 minutes into the wilderness to my trailhead. And then for the first hour of my hike into the woods, I skyped with my mum, thanks to exceptional cell phone reception in the middle of nowhere.

Now I'm reading in my tent on a bed of soft lichen in the 9pm sunlight and am extra thankful for life!!Lue lisää