Alta

Just arrived in Alta. Spent most of the day in Nordreisa, walking around, sitting at a cafe and reading. There's very few hours of daylight, and am not really well equiped to go hiking, but went a little way into a forest, following the cross country ski tracks someone had made. Totally silent, as if there really weren't anybody else around. Felt as if the trees were daring me to go among them and try to find my way out again...

Anyway, i should have come better prepared. If i had a very, very thick sleeping bag i'd spend a night out, just looking at the sky. It is very clear tonight, and one of the breaks the driver took on the way here coincided with the most amazing northern light i've yet seen: spread out from horizon to horizon, green, but shimmering with waves yellow, red, and almost blue, shifting shape, sprouting spikes...

Tomorrow i'll spend sometime here, but in the afternoon i'll get on a bus and go somewhere else. Maybe cross to Finland or Russia? I don't know if the inland bus lines operate in winter, but there's this city, called Rovaniemi, that i've wanted to visit since i watched Medem's "Los amantes del círculo polar". I'll have to ask.

Gotta get off, they're charging me by the minute!