Russia

I am sad and grateful, fighting back tears through a smile. The final leg by bicycle, to Grense Jakobselv and the open Barents Sea was completed on Friday. The weather window was short but ideal. I took my usual bike and trailer rig, with a few extra celebratory supplies, and Helene provided the company and local knowledge. These are a very special last 60km: arctic vegetation struggles to hold onto 2.6 billion year old rock, half the age of the earth. At last a true sense of wilderness and silence.

Since the beginning of this project my target had been to reach Russia. I’m relaxed about the sailing, eating, sleeping, and people - that will be fine. But borders and visas unsettle me more. The required authorizations are time consuming and sometimes costly to attain. And still uncertainties remain. They impinge upon appreciation of the day to day, like clouds that won’t clear.