Well...

I guess we jinxed it. I wake up to a 3.5-hour delay. How could this happen? We should be in Nattavaara by 07:25, but we are only in Jörn. Not that I really know where those places are. I text my contact person in Andenes, telling him about my delay and that I might not make it today. I hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble and that he won’t be mad. Originally, I had planned with a 3-hour transfer time in Narvik, so if the train made up at least some of the time, I might still make it. Although I would probably still have to drop the visit of the pizza place, I was planning for lunch. So, no lunch and a late arrival. Hopefully, not too late for grocery shopping, since tomorrow is a holiday, and all the stores will be closed. Let’s wait and see. For now, I’m still good when it comes to food. Eventhough my breakfast just consists of an oat bar and an apple today. But hey, it’s food!

With time, everyone in the compartment gets up. They all can’t believe that we are so badly delayed. „Three hours? That’s crazy!“

We listen to the loudspeaker announcements, and I only understand half of them, as the first one is always in Swedish. Turns out our train will end in Boden and will not go to Narvik due to the heavy delay. They can’t be serious! SJ will send a replacement train, but it might take an hour. We don’t know how crowded it will be or if it’s going to have a cafeteria. And even then, it’s still a good six more hours to go.

When we are exiting the train in Boden, I’m glad I repacked my thick jacket to the top of my backpack. Though even with the jacket, it’s still quite cold. We take the undercrossing to the other side. There is a heavy smell of oil colors in the air. No wonder, since all the walls are covered in paintings. At first, I think they are new, therefore the smell, but in some of them, the paint already starts peeling off.

All the passengers from the train crowd into the small, indoor waiting area of the station, which is not made for that many people. Many of them have to stand or sit on the floor. A group of young men, seemingly on their way to a multi-day hiking trip in the wilderness, unload their huge backpacks in the middle of the room. And I thought my backpack was big…

Paintings in the Undercrossing of Boden Central

I take a look at the timetable for our replacement train in the app. I definitely won’t be in Narvik before 18:30. I search for hotels - unaffordable - and airBnBs - one of my options is booked out within minutes, so I choose the next best place I can afford. Hopefully, SJ will come up for it anyway. At least that’s what all the Swedes tell me.

Our train was supposed to leave Boden at 11:14 - already after one hour of waiting - but the departure time keeps getting pushed further and further back. Around 11:40, we go to our platform. There are supposed to be two trains arriving at approximately the same time. The one arriving earlier is only going til Kiruna. Far enough for our new friends who need to get to Gällivare. So we say goodbye to the two of them. The train to Narvik arrives a few minutes later. Luckily, it even has a small bistro and is not half as crowded as I had expected. We must have lost the girl going to Abisko somewhere. It’s only the two of us anymore, both going to Narvik. We talk a lot, even play some cards in between. She tells me about a couple who were with her on the train once, and who wanted to see the Northern lights. „I hope they went in winter?“ - „No, that was the problem. It was a similar time to now. But I didn’t want to tell them that they wouldn’t see anything. I hope they at least got to see something else nice, like the midnight sun.“ I chuckle. So far, I’ve never seen the specialty in the midnight sun. I mean, it’s cool when you can stay out all night and the sun doesn’t set and everything. But it’s still the same sun. And at midnight, it just looks like anywhere else, just before sunset. Though I’m open to it, to prove me wrong this year.

There is still a lot of snow all around us. The lakes are still frozen and only the most courageous plants are starting to show their very first greenery. Although it’s late May and almost summer in Germany, it’s only early spring up here.

View of Rombaksfjorden on the way to Narvik

Finally, in Narvik, I say goodbye to my travel companion and make my way through the grey, rainy streets to my apartment. On the map, it looked so easy, but Narvik is more hilly and steep than I had expected.

I quickly drop off my things at the airBnB, then I’m back outside, pull the hood of my jacket down low over my face, and set off into the rain. Although the sun doesn’t set here, the thick layer of clouds makes the town cold, dark and unpleasant. I stop by the supermarket to buy some basics for breakfast and the bus drive tomorrow. Polarbröd, vegan cheese, tomatoes, nuts, an apple…

And then, lucky me, I guess I’m going to have some pizza today after all! I’m generally more into thin Italian pizza, but who can argue with a thick pizza crust dipped into aioli?

We have long since left the big cities of Sweden behind us. The North is only sparsely populated. The train stops in small towns with 10 to 20 thousand inhabitants now and then. The group of hikers leaves the train in Gällivare, and I make a note in my head to research interesting trails there.

We slowly make our way up the snowy mountains and pass through countless tunnels that are used to protect the tracks from snow and falling rocks. Every time the train enters a tunnel it honks and this sound doesn’t seem to stop anymore. Up in the mountain we must have crossed the border. The sign at the next stop point contains an ø in its name. Bjørnfjell. Bear’s Mountain.

From here on, the train is only going downhill. Soon we have Rombaksfjorden to our right and the view is amazing. I can’t even imagine, what it must be like in good weather with a blue sky and the sun illuminating everything. Now I do understand the recommendation from my airBnB host to do a train trip from Narvik to the Swedish border and back. So if you are ever around here, do it and choose a sunny day!