The (other) empty quarter

After a great dinner and a few alcohol-free drinks (in keeping with my White January-promise) with our long-time friend Clare at the Moxy, Anna and I went to bed early only to get up six hours later and hit the road in our Toyota Rav4.

First, we drove 118 kilometres to the east and Skibotten before turning south onto the E8 and into the great uninhabited area known as the “Finish Arm”. Though a world away from the desert dunes of the Rub' al-Khali (or the ”Empty Quarter”), entering Finland and being greeted by big warning signs for extreme cold, we certainly got an adventure as the temperature dropped down to -33 degrees and the white expanse seemed endless with no people anywhere to be seen.

Luckily, our car did not break down and, a few hours later, we entered Sweden and stopped in Vittangi for coffee, gasoline, and a sandwich. After dropping Anna off in Kiruna, I turned west again, and drove the remaining 216 kilometres back to Evenes Airport, stopping only in Björkliden for an incredible photo-op just as the mist was lifting with "Lapporten" (Čuonjávággi) in the background. All in all, we got to drive 1,149 kilometres over two days and it is a journey I would love to do again in the summer at some point.