Narvik (68°27’N) is a port in a fjord on the Norwegian coast. Despite being in the Arctic Zone, it is open all year because of the warm Gulf Stream ocean current, which keeps the harbour free from freezing.

Fjords are inlets of the sea into the Norwegian land and dot the entire coast. Some of them are quite long and very pretty.

In December, it is nighttime all day, whereas in June, it is daytime all day. It is said, that in summer, the sun is always on the horizon. When I went to Narvik, it was in October, and nightfall was at around 3 pm.

There is one train service daily, which starts from Stockholm and takes over 24 hours, ploughing through immense snowfields. The town Kiruna, in Sweden, which is also above the Artic Circle, was all lighted up in the perpetual semi-light of the day, completely covered with snow, yet seemingly quite alive.

A sign along the railway tracks announces that the train is crossing the Artic Circle.

In Narvik, I stayed at the youth hostel. Discussed with other inmates who were planning to go across to Finland through Lapland. Abandoned the idea, as it involved eating reindeers. Outside I bought some fruit from a shop. The lady did not look like an Eskimo. Narvik looked like a normal small town, though on the quiet side, and pretty dark most of the time.

Just before reaching Narvik, at the head of the fjord, is a World War II half-sunk German battleship Tirpitz that was put beyond function by a commando action. Tirpitz was a major threat to allied forces and eliminating it was of great importance.
(see story at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/tirpitz.html and http://www.geocities.com/iturks/html/photos_norway_ww2.html ) based on which a film was made (“About Us The Waves”, 1955)