Tromsø, Norway (within the Arctic Circle) - 2780 miles from London

12.45am in Tromsø
After leaving Hell we headed north for Tromsø¸ through some terrible weather. We stopped briefly at the Arctic Circle which is celebrated with a big car park, a Russian military memorial (for a reason unclear to us) and a circular cafe which was very tempting due to our sodden state, but closed. Although it wasn't getting dark, it was getting late so we decided to stay in a log cabin which was affiliated with a petrol station and was approximately 10 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Tom at the Arctic Circle
The next day we continued on to Tromsø and, after a long ride in the rain during which we were stopped by the police and earlier by some deer that had wandered into the road, we arrived in Tromsø with an hour to go before the England Sweden match started. It was at this point that we found that every hotel in town was booked up - something to do with a midnight marathon and the summer solstice some people said. One of the hoteliers was kind enough to make some phone calls and we found ourselves booked into a Catholic bible school which was open as a hostel in the summer months. We decided not to tell them when we checked in that we had been in Hell only the day before and we were given a couple of mattresses on the floor of one of the classrooms for a very reasonable price with breakfast included. We caught the second half of the England game and wandered around the town. Tromsø had sounded promising as the chapter in the Lonely Planet opens with the remark "Simply put, Tromsø parties". In the time we have been here we have found this to be wildly inaccurate. To be more precise "simply put, Tromsø conferences" turned out to be another reason why all the hotels are full and "Tromsø has alot of alcoholic Norwegians who have half killed themselves with home brewed moonshine".

The mid-night sun in Tromsø
The longest day passed without celebration in Tromsø¸ but we are told that it would be more lively on Friday. However to avoid any disappointment and because we really ought to move on, we have decided to leave tomorrow morning and head for Nordkapp from where we can walk to continental Europe's northernmost tip. We are also considering bringing our date for entry to Russia forward in an attempt to save some money. This would mean entering Russia further north than we had planned (possibly entering at a point level with Murmansk). We have found Norway extremely expensive. Here are a few examples of prices in Norway:
A beer in bar - between four pounds fifty and five pounds fifty;
A bottle of Coke from a shop - approximately one pound sixty;
A bread roll - approximately sixty pence, but you could be lucky and find one cheaper;
Milk (half a litre) - approximately one pound eighty;
Internet access in an internet cafe - approximately eight pounds an hour (we are currently in the public library where it is free); and
A night on the floor in the bible school including breakfast -approximately thirteen pounds (bargain!)


Tom talks to Halvard in a bar in Tromsø

Written by Tom