Narvik is a wonderful city in the region Nordland. Its ice-free port has played an important role to the country, and was also one of the reasons why Germany invaded Norway during WWII. Ofotbanen Railway Line or Ofoten Line, a 43 km long railway, was constructed to transport iron from Sweden, thus proving the strategical value of the city. Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to visit the city and the majestic fjords and islands surrounding it, and boy, was it love at first sight!
It was summer and yet, the skies were gloomy the day we left Oslo for Harstad/Narvik. The flight took approximately an hour and 40 mins, and then, we took the bus to the port where a boat was waiting for us.
At Kjeldebotn, a small village on the southern shore of Ofotfjorden, we were picked up by our hosts and before we finally reached their beautiful house, we stopped by in a camping site to do some grocery shopping. The house was fairly isolated, so we had to hoard the necessary stuff from the shop.
The house was beautifully situated in Ballangen, a municipality which is traditionally part of the Ofoten district. I was very, very amazed by the majestic mountains and fjords that surrounded me at that time. Although it was just a small part of what I was about to experience, I was already hooked by the beauty of the place. Seriously, it was like the perfect honeymoon destination, ie, if you were married in summer. The midnight sun and fjords and the ice-topped mountains — what else could be more romantic? In winter, I have read that it’s also possible to see the northern lights in the region as well. Anyway, the house belongs to a lovely Norwegian couple to whom I also owed my first ever skiing experience, as they also accomodated us in their cabin in Valdres two winters ago.
At around noon time, the skies interestingly started to clear up. We were told to put on our life jackets and get ready for some boat riding and fishing! Never in my life had I experience fishing where fish was caught in a matter of seconds! (or a couple of minutes) The seas were teeming with fish!
Now, those fishes were enough to feed us all throughtout our stay! haha But of course, we also feasted on traditional Norwegian food, like salted fish, and salted whale. And some fish liver stew. The next couple of days were spent boating in Lofoten, a famous tourist destination! The archipelago is a paradise, I have to say. It was like being in a Land Before Time movie! More on that in the next entries.. For now, here’s me enjoying the fishing experience.
I also watched our Norwegian hosts clean the fish we caught. The wild birds feasted on the fish innards that lovely afternoon.
My first glimpse of Ofotfjorden was love at first sight. I wonder how luxurious and yet simple to have a little cabin in that place, far away from modernization. Hmmm… I love the city, but I also have a knack for a couple of days’ stay in the wild. 😉 So, this was day 1 in Nordland. More about my stay there next time! Cheers to Norway’s majestic fjords!
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