Goattejavri

After a fairly restless night which brought in fresh aches, we set off from Masi just after midday. It was a 70km ride to Kautokeino which consisted of steep descents snd climbs throughout the day. The plateau remains fairly sparse in terms of population, but we managed to get water from a caravan site - where we had a good chat with some local who reassured us we'll have a few days off hill climbs when we reach Finland! - and a Sami woman opened her shop especally for Owen to buy dried reindeer meat for lunch. We saw a great number of reindeer which led to us herding thrm at one point as we followed them along the road (also mearly resulting in Owen crashing into one of them). We also saw an artic fox cross our path.

Two days of pulling 20kg of luggage up hills had us both fairly exhausted so when we arrived in Kautokeino we went out for a meal in a rather classy establishment (see photo for evidence of this) and for a bargain price hired a hut to sleep in - luxury!Read more