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After
6 weeks in Norway our time is over, and we start the journey
home. From the Lofoten we drive to Narvik and from there
to Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden. Its a mining city and
150 mio. t of iron ore are transported 150 km by train
every year to the next ice free port in Narvik.
On the road north of Sarek and Kebnekeise National Parks is hardly
any traffic. The road is straight and we make easy progress, especially
compared to the roads in Norway, where progress is rather slow.
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Kebnekeise National Park
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Reindeer on the road
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I
ordered a new number plate from Germany to the post office in Kiruna.
But we are told that the package was sent back 2 days earlier. We check
out
Niemisel (60 km from Luleå) a small steep wall with many hard
routes from 7c to 8b. But the rock is dripping wet so we can't climb
and I drop the camera. The pictures from now on are a bit out of
focus.
What a day....
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Niemisel
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We
drive through sunny Finland to Helsinki. Our Russian visa will expire
in 4 days. Near Espoo, 25 kms from Helsinki is Falkberget, one of
the biggest walls in Finland.
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Sebastian on Urteiluhullu (7a) Falkberget
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Its
red granite has smooth holds and the routes are up to 30 m long. The
bolts are quite spaced and the rating is very stiff. On our second day
we meet Peter Hammer, a local with German roots. He has a big climbing wall in Helsinki and kindly prints a new number plate for us.
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Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg
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The
next morning we arrive early at the Russian border. After 5 border
crossings without stopping and no border guard in sight, 2 hours of
Russian bureaucracy are a cultural shock for us. But with the help of
Finish dealers we manage to fill out the customs form in cyrillic. The
state of the roads and the driving standards are pretty shocking. 4.8 mio people live in
St. Petersburg, as many as in Norway or Finland. We
are overwhelmed by the splendor of palaces and ancient cathedrals.
After 10 hours we arrive in Narva (Estonia) and are back in Europe. On
a sunny Saturday we check out Tallinn and are suprised to see how much has
changed in this little Baltic country since 1991. We can even pay with
our Euros.
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City wall around Tallinn
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Part of the old town in Tallinn
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We
spend the evening on the Baltic Sea and I manage to bog the van while
searching for a good spot to camp on the beach. After much digging and swearing and with the help of two friendly people
from Hamburg we are back on solid ground one hour later. We stop for a
day of sight-seeing in Riga, the capital of Latvia. With its ring
of posh Art Nouveau houses from the begining of the last century. And the
big Russian market is a heaven for cheap shopping.
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Art Nouveau houses
in Riga
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One day later we cross Poland from north east to south west and stop at Łódź. Where my father was born.
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Our
last stop is Nachod in the Czech Republic where Pavel
Lisák a friend I haven't seen for more than 20 years is living.
He is a publisher
and produces climbing guidebooks for Adršpach and Teplice. He's
our guide for a very good climbing day in Kreuzberg, across the
road from Adršpach.
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Big and small guillotine in Adersbach
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On our last day its only 500 km to Erlangen. Its good to be back home after more than 10.000 kms on the road.
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