It’s time to set sail once again and the destination, if ever it were possible, is even more enchanting: you are going to Finland. Now, try to imagine a land of deserted lakes where endless clouds make the sky a perpetual, hypnotic prospect. Hours of light getting longer and a night that fades kilometre after kilometre. The route towards the Great North is a beam of light that warms your body and soul and that you will not be able to do without. There is such a thing as “Mal d’Africa”, it’s true, but you will find that it is nothing compared to the attraction of the Terrestrial Poles.
With almost all of Finland now behind you, you’ll be a completely new person when, riding your bike, you go past the sign that reads “wooded hill” in Sami language or, if you read it in Finnish, “pile of stones”. This is Rovaniemi, the gateway to the Arctic Circle and home to the NorthCape4000’s most popular gate, gate number 4.
Now, no one can distract you from the surrounding wonder. It’s the last 750km to the North Cape and nothing, we assure you, will remain more indelible in your eyes than the pristine, crystal-clear beauty of these fairytale Arctic landscapes. The Lappish landscape is a right that you have earned and that no one can take away from you. A right that will accompany you for the rest of your life.
As you pass by dreamy places like Saariselka and the fantastic Lake Inari, it’s time to cross the last border at Karigasniemi, the one that brings Norway as a dowry. 100 km of beautiful undulating road that fades into unspoilt nature, no cars, no loud noises, no worries, these things belong to a life that is simply no longer yours.
Lakselv. For the umpteenth time, a completely new landscape opens up before you, namely Porsangerfjord and the Barents Sea. It is the Arctic, in its purest and most authentic interpretation. From your bike, you will enjoy lunar panoramas and inlets that follow the ancestral rhythm of the tides while, in front of you, families of reindeer graze undisturbed everywhere. Stockfish drying in the wind and fishermen’s outposts, the scent of seaweed and the end of the world.
You are alive, and incredibly lucky..