5th of October, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Finland.
Hitchhiking in Norway.
Entering Russia.
Today is the day! I have to cross to Russia and leave Schengen! Will I? And what would be the consequences if I don’t? Norwegian people are usually so nice… I can’t believe they would make a huge problem for me if I only exceed one day… Would they?
It is still dark when Sami stops for me. Actually, he tells me he passed by me first, but didn’t have enough time to stop, so he turned around and came back. How sweet! He is going to Ivalo, which is about 2 hours from here. Yay! And he is a very kind man. He is an engineer and is going to work.
The next lovely person to stop for me is Seita. She is beautiful and looks much younger than her 41 years of age. She teaches maths, physics and chemistry in Inari. Yep! Which means she is going there! Yay! Seita is half Sámi and half Finnish and tells me about the North Sámi People and the Inari Sámi People. They all live up North here but they have special rules and designations for each one. For example, only Inari Sámi People can fish at Inari Lake. I think it is all so interesting.
Outside of Inari I get another cardboard in a shop and this time I write Kirkenes: the border town between Norway and Russia.
A young man in a van stops. He tells me he can drive me until the intersection with the road leading to the closest border crossing to Kirkenes. He even tries to arrange me a lift to Kirkenes, calling a friend of him who usually does this route, but he is not doing this route today.
It is a secondary road now so not so many cars. I decide to walk. I am happy! I am so close to make it! And it is nice to be here, further North Finland.
After a little while, a car passes but then stops. I could see it was a woman so I am guessing she is just deciding if she should take me or not. Luckily her heart speaks louder and she comes out of the car.
Piia is another beautiful and stylish woman! Finland and Scandinavian countries are full of gorgeous women! And she also has a nice hair style! She tells me she was in the phone with a friend when she passed by me, so she asked her friend: “There is someone hitchhiking… It is a girl! Should I stop?”. Laugh. Luckily for me she did! Piia sells candies. She drives from company to company selling and advertising her products. She is going all the way to Norway and passing by Neidem, where I have to go before Kirkenes. Yay!
We have a great time together! Piia is so much fun! When she drops me at the highway, she gives me three packages of nuts covered in chocolate. Oh, dear Loki! They are so delicious!
I might be only 30 minutes from the border. Yay! Unbelievable! I knew deep in my heart I would make it. I am so happy! And it would get even better!
A couple, Nasha (Latvia) and Audrius (Lithuania) are going with their young son to Kirkenes, so they pick me up. They are nice but I have the feeling that, when I tell them I am actually crossing to Russia, they were laughing about it. They don’t drive me all the way to the border, even though is only about 5 Km. Were they scared?
I walk! But I am still trying to catch a lift. Quite a few cars pass by. But the area is quite empty. No people.
Just before I get to a tunnel and a sign which shows “no people around for a few Km”, a van stops. Aleksei and Aleftina are from Estonia and are going to Murmansk. I believe Aleksei has a transport business, so I tell them I cannot pay for the lift. But he is OK with that.
At the border, Russian police officers are nice and polite. They take both my passports (the old and the new one) to another room to take a closer look. The only thing they ask me is about why the back of the information page is different between the passports. I answer that because one was issued in Brazil and the other in Norway. That is it! They don’t ask me anything else or about the PCR test. Wow! How lucky am I, hãm?
Aleksei drives us all the way to Murmansk! Yeah, baby! I not only manage to cross to Russia as also to Murmansk! U-hul! I love my travel style!
10 Years Around the World 