Day 4: Kirkenes

Gunnar is great, although I feel a little awkward staying with a family I've never met. We talk a lot about the area; the history of Russian relations over the years. I have to stay here for a couple of days while the local Russian consulate processes my visa, which can be used one time only, for four days. The travel agency that handles the visa application is pleasant, but bizarrely insists on replying to my (English) emails in norsk, even though my contact, like everyone else in Scandinavia, speaks fluent English. My Norwegian is serviceable, but not good enough to speak fluently at length; I'm secretly glad that someone is giving me an opportunity to practice for once.

Kirkenes is an interesting town, and Sør-Varanger has a free wi-fi network across the whole Kommune. While we're only talking about maybe 7000 people, it's pretty awesome; I can use my iphone everywhere without paying AT&T's insane data fees.

During the days I drive out to Grense Jakobselv, the northernmost point of the Norway/Russia border ('grense' means border), where I meet a bunch of hilarious Norwegian soldiers, bored to tears from guarding such a sleepy assignment; then down the Pasvikdalen. Back in Kirkenes, I shoot a lot at night; the midnight sun has a great look to it, but I would have liked a hair more darkness.


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Day 1: Lillesand

I fly direct into Oslo for a change - there's a daily flight from Newark. It's not the cheapest, but at this point in my life I don't know how much more I can handle of Heathrow, especially with so much luggage. The camera is a large backpack that just squeaks in as cabin baggage, and the tripod is a fairly heavy steel affair. Then there's lightly-packed clothing for seven days, a film changing tent, a digital camera (which will provide most of the shots you see here), and a couple of books to help me pass the inevitable interminable waits.

I spend three days near Lillesand with my family. It's super restful; swimming in the fjord, painting the house, generally taking it easy. Wish it could have been longer. Mia calls her third cousin's friend Gunnar (who she has never met) to ask for hotel recommendations in Kirkenes; he refuses, and insists that I stay with his family.

So I hop back on the bus to Oslo, to spend one night with my cousin and his friends. It stays light til about 11. We go to bed at 4am; get up at 8 to catch my flight north. Here goes.

And we're off

I had a couple of weeks to kill before starting a new job. One day it looked like I was going to Costa Rica - nice! cheap! close! The day after, I had decided to go to Murmansk, which I think is the northernmost large city in the world. Not nice. Not cheap. And not close. But after some examination of satellite images, it looked like it would be interesting, at the very least. So I packed the cameras and headed east.

I hadn't intended to blog it; this began as a series of emails, written to friends during periods of downtime. But here it is.