Have allowed 3 weeks to slip by and not done a blog. This is largely because we have been out in the wilds and not staying in hotels with wi fi. We travelled up the Kola peninsula without any bother. The road was difficult and the towns we visited very poor and down trodden. There is very little for the tourist and so we pottered along dropping into little towns and then heading back to the main road. We visited Belomorsk on the coast and also petrozavodsk a large city. We visited the only local attraction a waterfall which was rather uninspiring. The vision to the island of Kizzhi was not possible because the only boat was full.
We arrived in Murmansk to torrential rain and freezing cold. It even snowed. We visited the war museum but it was all in Russian and difficult to understand. We saw the huge monument of a soldier overlooking the city . Camping up in the car park of a hotel without a shower wasn't easy!
We even visited a ski resort but it was awful , full of tower blocks that had seen better days and the residue of the snow was dirty and very slushy.
It was quite a relief to cross the border into Finland . This was easy , especially as we had been to a vet in Murmansk to sort out the paperwork which impressed the border guard!!!!
Inari in Finland was lovely and so civilised! We went on a long hike to a church which is only accessible by boat or hiking .But it was very cold so afterwards we parted ways with Jackie and Peter and headed north into Norway to Northcap.
They headed south to try and find some warmth!!!
The weather changed and the sun came out as we visited this northerly point although we balked at paying £50 to drive to the very tip! There is loads of deep snow and beautiful landscapes.
Today we are in Alta. the weather is glorious and we have stopped on a campsite to have a very welcome shower and do some washing .we have done a very long walk.
Tomorrow we will go along the fiords south and then head into sweden to see the Abisco national park