Into Norway August 17, 2006

Today was an easy day. After a few hours of messing around the Hotel Fjallet in Bjorkliden, we caught the 11:56am train to Narvik, Norway. (One curious thing is that the hotel does not provide a shuttle service to the train station which is a 15 minute walk down the mountain from the hotel. They will take your luggage if you put it outside the hotel’s front door at 10am and it will be left outside of the train station exposed and unattended until you walk down. The strange part is that they have a full sized passenger van that goes down to meet the 11:56 train to pick up luggage. The van is equipped with seats. This is a remote area and there are no taxis or buses.

The train to Narvik gave us our first view of the dramatic Norwegian scenery with a ride along Vestfjorden. Areas of the walls of this fjord plunge vertically almost 1000 feet and the tracks of the Ofotbanan Railway run within feet of the edge at times. (See accompanying picture)

The Ofotbanan Railway was built in the late 19th century to facilitate movement of iron ore from the mines at the inland town of Kiruna to the seaport at Narvik. The Norddal Trestle is an impressive structure that was built by the German engineering firm Man which ironically the Nazis were unable to destroy during WWII even after several attempts. Currently the Ofotbanan Railway carries 16-18 million tons of ore annually between the two towns.

The town of Narvik was the scene of fierce and prolonged fighting during WWII. Because of its iron ore production and shipping facilities and links to the mines in Sweden, the Nazis sent a fleet to capture the town in April of 1940. The British dispatched a squadron but the Nazis took control of the town and its port. In May, troops from Norway, Britain, France and Poland took back the town, however the Germans didn’t retreat and ultimately regained control which they held until May of 1945. As a result of the prolonged and continued fighting, the town was decimated. The town has since been rebuilt in a postwar industrial style which does not fit the surrounding landscapes of forests, mountains and fjords. Today's rainy, misty weather does nothing to improve the look of this place.

It was a short one and a half hour train ride from the station in Bjorkliden and when we arrived at Narvik we got directions to the Victoria Hotell from the information desk at the train station. 15 minutes later we arrived at the hotel and settled in. After a late lunch I started on the blog and picture postings while Holly attended to her laundry. I had done my laundry by hand yesterday after the hike (see picture of laundry in the "Sweden 2" folder on the Webshots picture website). They offer free use of laundry facilities at the Victoria and Holly took advantage of it. Sometimes it pays to wait.

I updated the photo site today with the latest pictures of Sweden. The site address is http://community.webshots.com/user/davishongkong

(Holly here: thoughts on Sweden - I loved Sweden! A metropolitan area in the south and a beautiful wilderness in the north with freedom to roam and explore. The public right of access law grants people the right to hike, fish, hunt, camp, etc. anywhere within reason and as long as you are not interfering with or damaging someone else's property or rights. We met some really nice people who enhanced our journey with their own stories and advice. Several people we met brought up the issue in the US of everyone being able to sue or be sued and they find that frightening and crazy. The only negative thing I can say about Sweden is that no hotel that we stayed in had a bathtub and the shower facilities are shall we say, less than adequate. You know it can't be good when an industrial size squeegie is provided in the shower to mop up the floor because the design of the shower allows water to go everywhere.
This is a hiker's paradise and we could easily spend months wandering around. Gary has seen a lot of photos of what it looks like in the winter with snow everywhere and the ghostly strands of the Northern Lights which has made him keen to come back, he knows he'll have to find another travelling partner for that trip!)