Whew! We met some new friends on our Crab Safari, they weren’t very talkative, but they were really really tasty!  Check out the full review of the Crab Safari later, it was well worth the money.

On our ride back from the Safari, Egil mentioned some interesting stuff.  The people who live within in Kirkenes within 30 km of the Russian border get an automatic visa that allows them to cross over the border into Russia for up to 14 days.  It’s common for the residents of Kirkenes to drive to the Russian side just to fill up their gas tanks.  The prices are up to 1/3 cheaper over the border.

Sometimes the richer Russians cross over into Norway to buy stuff that they can’t get over the border, and sometimes the Norwegians cross the border to buy less expensive things.  Some items like dairy, milk, and veggies are not allowed to cross the border so, its not a always a sure thing.

Egil doesn’t speak Russians, and a lot of Russians don’t speak English.

Also, it takes at least a day to drive to Oslo from Kirkenes.

On the way back from the Crab Safari