Day 20 started great but sadly ended with a... bang! ????

First stop of the day (after grabbing LPG and fresh bread ????) was the incredible Ice Hotel! ❄️ This hotel is split into two parts: the first is rebuilt every year using ice blocks from the river next door, with each room uniquely designed. It all melts away completely in the spring! ????✨

Then there’s Ice Hotel 365, which is open year-round. It has ‘normal’ hotel rooms and also a few ice rooms if you're brave enough to stay! I wasn’t… way too cold for me! ????

But you can pay to wander through, and the rooms are absolutely stunning. How they sculp the ice like that is incredible! It took about an hour to explore, but sadly the ice bar (with its ice glasses!) was being renovated so no ice drink for me. ????❄️

After that, I changed my plans again ????. Instead of heading west to the Lofoten Islands, I saw a good weather window up at Nordkapp and decided to do another long drive— about 6 hours (260 miles)! I crossed from Sweden to Finland and then into Norway, surprised by the lack of a proper border between Finland and Norway. I expected a proper check but nada!

I really enjoyed the drive; weather was good, scenery fantastic and I was really enjoying my audiobook (Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros— I highly recommend it if you love fantasy and dragons!). ????????

All good until the last 30 minutes… ????

I reached Alta around 6pm and followed directions to a park-up, but I took a wrong turn and ended up on a track filled with giant potholes and tree roots. While trying to get back on track, I caught my grey water pipe on something, and it got pulled completely off! ????????

In the dark, I managed to prop it up and limp the van to a lay-by, where I semi-fixed the bracket. But of course, it was -1°C and raining, so my fingers were freezing! ????????️ I’ll need to find a repair shop tomorrow and hope they can repair it better.????

To top it off, I spent the night in that lay-by on a main road… NOT ideal for light sleepers with traffic all night! ????????