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Yes, I definitely needed a break. Not only to let my muscle rest, but also to do something different than waking up in the forest and cycle the whole day.

This weekend I had the chance to attend to the first rap gig of my life, and it wasn't that bad; I doubt it will happen a second time, though. I happened also to photograph a bride floating in the Muonionjoki river, which sounds weird as long as this post will be without pictures, later you will understand. And finally I watched football quite greedily and with a certain degree of satisfaction, I have to say. I have to thank once again Marja to let me stay at hers and to give me the possibility to meet a lot of interesting people. Kolari is a small place, but it seems there are really a lot of people hanging around.

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Another rainy day. It started yesterday evening before falling asleep, and it went all the way to Kolari. The only positive thing was tailwind, which let me keep the pace to almost 20 km/h. I had a quick trip in the morning through Muonio, with a picture in front of the Shell gas station, which has been a historical stop for the bus that brings us to the Tromsö International Film Festival every January. As I needed someone to take the picture for me, I noticed that there were some Italian riders refueling (on their way to North Cape, surprise surprise), so I just asked one of them. And the other ones suddenly started clapping, thinking that I made the whole way from Italy to Muonio by bicycle. I told them that it didn't go that way, but it sounded good anyway

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The last night I had the best night sleep in tent so far. I guess the temperature was perfect, I just woke up once during the night. After having breakfast, I decided to have a tour of Hetta, the core village of Enontekiö. From there starts maybe the most famous, or at least most popular, hiking paths of Lapland, heading to the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, which is just on the other side of the river. Also on the north there are up to 26 km-long hiking walks, which start from the Tunturi-Lapin luontokeskus, a Natural Centre worth visiting in itself, as it hosts temporary exhibitions of Sami culture, manufacts, and art. This time there was the exhibition of a Lappish painter, which used a particular burning process to make black drawnings on pieces of wood.

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This morning I had a tour around Keutokeino. Which was quite fast, as it is not that big town. I made to the top of the ski jump, which didn't seem in use for some time, as in some places there were quite big holes on the floor, from which you could see the grass 10 metres below.

At the supermarket I happened to realise that people here do speak also Finnish, that is they are trilingual, being Norwegian and Sami the other two. And it was also the first time I heard Sami language spoken live in an everyday situation. It was a real pleasure to my ears.

I left Kautokeino at around 14, and I realised immediately that my legs were not working properly. I don't know how to say it in English, but it's not the ache you feel in your muscles when you've done some sport after a long break. In Italian you say "avere le gambe legnose", which literally translated means to have woody legs. Practically the muscles don't respond, they are tired, lazy, hard. I'm pretty sure it was because of yesterday's harsh stage (many mountains, strong wind, me being angry, etc. etc.).

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I Kautokeino kan ingen høre deg skrike.

In Kautokeino no one can hear you scream. I saw the trailer of the Norwegian film Kill Buljo a few years back in Tromsö. It is a parody of the more famous Kill Bill, and it is set in the Norwegian Lapland. Hopefully one day it will be texted so that I will be able to enjoy the film. But the slogan was somehow striking that it was maybe the main reason why I decided to take this detour through Norway.

In Kautokeino no one can hear you scream. Because either there’s nobody, or the wind blows so strong that they can’t hear you. This is more or less what happened today on the bike. A lot of wind, and a lot of swearing. Shouted out loud, as nobody couldn’t really hear me. Fortunately it didn’t rain. As this was a part of the trip I didn’t really planned – that is, coming to Norway – I didn’t have really put attention beforehand at the road between Karasjok and Kautokeino. Well, there is nothing. I mean, no villages, no shops, no gas stations for 120 km. But what impressed me the most was the absence of animals, except birds. Not even one reindeer. Maybe they were also scared by the wind, who knows.

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The idea of having a stage of the tour abroad is not new. Every now and then both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia have some legs in neighbouring countries. So, potentially, it was a good idea to cross Norway for a 150 km  trip and get back to Finnish Lapland on the west side. The road looked like a perfect arc to start finally to move towards south.

Potentially it was a good idea. Practically it has been a disaster. At least up to now. I have to say that if such a day had happened at the beginning of my tour, I wouldn't have been as enthusiastic as I have been until now and hopefully in the future.

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The weather changed overnight becoming cloudy. However the temperature was still very good and the wind was blowing from east, which was also good as after stubbornly heading straight north, now my route changed towards north-west. Road 92, departing from Kaamanen, was the hilliest I have found so far, with slopes reaching a gradient of 10%. I have to say that more than on the legs, I felt it on my body temperature. It’s a sort of funny, but it feels like being a car without a proper cooling system. If you cycle with a moderate tailwind, you are actually getting no wind at all, since you move more or less at its speed. This means you go faster, but it also means you don’t get any breeze. And when you start climbing up-hill, there’s no way to cool down. Maybe someone should invent a big fan for bicycle or something like that.

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Now I know: the world starts from Ivalo. Or at least the scenery changes drastically. Today it was the most touristic day so far, and the entire road from Ivalo to Inari was a spectacle of blue lakes and sky, with a wonderful shining sun in the background. And warm it was, with temperatures reaching 23 degrees it was the first day since the beginning of the tour that I had to take off the long johns and show to the world my wonderful skinny calves made completely red not by sun tan, but by mosquito bites, hyi!

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After yesterday's long leg, a much shorter one today. For several reason, one of which was to be on time to see a football match which is better to forget straight away. Not a big deal being so far away.

However, leaving this morning from Kakslautanen I realised I had again run out of water, so I had to postpone breakfast of about 10 km, reaching a nice spot (that you can see in the picture) close to Saariselkä. That place was the northernmost I had reached on north-east Finland, so I'm proud to have overtaken it by bicycle.

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I'm trying to post this while I'm in the middle of the forest, so at least for the first version there will be no picture whatsoever, as I still wonder whether I'll be able to post it at all through the plain GSM network.

Anyways, here's the surprise: my tour plan has changed. While I originally thought to turn west from Sodankylä and go towards Kittilä and Kolari, after all I realised that once I've got up here I could also go a little bit further. That is: further north!

I left this morning with no big hurry, after having a brunch with Annina, Pauliina and Lauri, some of the few people remained at the school once the film festival was over. And everybody was heading north: Lauri also by bike, Annina and Pauliina hitchhiking towards Utsjoki.

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