First Steps North

11:10 AM

Everything packed this morning. Quick shower, breakfast, pack the box, and get ready to leave again. Walked 5 km to the post office to send back the items I won’t be using. Curious whether it will arrive—they couldn’t even find the international paperwork. Phew, the backpack feels heavy, too heavy!!

At the tourist information office I’m allowed to wait inside for the bus. Outside there’s a viciously cold wind, so sitting indoors suits me just fine. Too bad they don’t have topographic maps—that would have made planning the route a lot easier.

360 photo Tourist Information:

12:00 PM

Grrr… I had to get off earlier, otherwise I would have had to pay more for the museum and all the facilities there. Oh well, we’ll do that another time.

360 photo Bus:

Well, that was something… I get dropped off at the ticket office. I have to pay first or I’m not allowed through to the plateau. If I had walked, I would have been allowed in for free. After a heated discussion about the 8,500 km ahead of me and why I should have to pay for these 200 meters, I eventually had to give in.

12:19 PM

Still worked up about the €40 being shoved down my throat because the end of the world is a horrible tourist attraction and source of income, I reach the plateau. Six packed tour buses with 60+ people were standing there, cameras clicking away. It’s waiting, waiting until it quiets down and people drift off because the wind is cutting cold. Before I get too chilled, I do my own shoot—you’ve got to get value for your money, right?

360 photo Children of the Earth:

Still, a point for the E1 organization: give hikers and cyclists free access. They’re not interested in that antiquity at all. They live in the now, with a future of 8,500 km still ahead!
There, statement made.

Ready to depart… yes, which foot should I start with? I’ll just put down the first foot; the second will follow.

12:41 PM

12:45 PM

Funny how family manages to track you down.

I was spotted on several webcams because of the yellow bag of taco chips I had tied to my backpack so it wouldn’t get crushed.

You can’t hide anymore!

1:42 PM

Twice I dared to walk the trail, even though every 100 meters it leads back to the same road. Twice I sank into the snow up to my waist. So I’ll just follow the road. On the bus ride out I saw six tour buses stopped by a Norwegian in traditional dress with a reindeer on a leash. Funny—that’s exactly the kind of photo I’d already seen online. Now I walk past the same man, but he’s far too busy setting everything up for his next photo shoot. Fine then; I just keep walking.

I turned around a few times and saw dark clouds piling up behind me, while ahead of me the sky kept opening up.

4:09 PM

Total: 15.6 km.

At the end of the road there was a campsite where I planned to pitch my tent. The campsite was closed and everything was buried under a thick layer of snow. What to do? Two kilometers off the route there were cabins for rent, which I used out of sheer convenience.

Ow, my shoulder! Ow, my feet, OW my back.

I told the girl at reception that I didn’t know when I’d be leaving—kind of depends on the weather. You could rent bed linen; I was too tired to answer and couldn’t even get a proper English word out anymore. It was more a mix of French, German, and Dutch.

The cabin was small, with a bunk bed for three people, four chairs, and a table. An electric stove and a fridge. Just no water. Handy!!!

I grabbed my sleeping bag and lay down.