August 9 To Norway (Day 317)
Our short stay in Sweden was coming to an end as we boarded the train in Lulea to take us to Narvik, Norway, north across the Arctic Circle. The train route was begun in 1884 to haul iron ore from the rich deposits in north-central Sweden to the ice free fjord in northern Norway. After many hiccups, bankruptcies and hardships the line was completed in 1903!
We stopped in Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, built in 1890 to service the Kiruna Mine, currently the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world!
Just before crossing the border into Norway.
Still in Sweden, we traveled along the bank of Torneträsk Lake, passing through Abisko National Park, about 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle now!
Across the border into Norway!
This lonely outpost is in the permafrost area before we begin descending to the fjords of Norway.
Gorgeous scenery!
As we approached Narvik we had a view of the Hålogalandsbrua, a suspension bridge which crosses the Rombaksfjorden in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway.
And finally, after we disembarked, walked to our Airbnb and settled in, and walked to the grocery store, we got this view of the ice-free harbor of Narvik, Norway as the sun lit up the mountains surrounding the small town!