Umba is a small fishing settlement on the Kola Peninsula, just above the Arctic Circle, on the shore of the White Sea where the Umba river runs into Kandalaksha Bay. It has about six thousand people and a quiet, weathered look, with wooden houses and sheds at the water's edge, the hulls of old boats on the shore and a long stony beach. The land around it is boreal forest, bog and rocky hills, and the sky seems huge.
The town's roots are Pomor, the coastal Russians who settled the White Sea shore in the Middle Ages and made their living from salmon, cod, seals and salt. The Sami, the indigenous reindeer herders of Lapland, lived inland, and the two cultures shaped the region. The Umba river itself has been famous for its Atlantic salmon for centuries, and fishermen still come in summer. It is cold, quick, clear water, and in July the salmon run upstream past the bridges.
To the east, the long Tersky Coast stretches along the southern edge of the peninsula, a remote, lightly populated shore of sandy bays, rivers and old villages. At Varzuga, at its far end, a wooden church dating from the seventeenth century stands on a bank above the river, with a tent-like roof and a plain interior, and it is among the most evocative old wooden churches in the north. It is a long way down a rough road, and the landscape is utterly wild.
The road from Kandalaksha to Umba is a paved route that follows the coast and passes through the forest with a few long climbs, and beyond Umba the surface can deteriorate into gravel, with potholes and washboard in places. Distances are large and services are few, so plan carefully. Reindeer sometimes wander onto the road, and so do dogs, and the clouds of mosquitoes in July are no joke. A head net and repellent are essential.
Fuel is available in Umba, but supplies can be limited, so fill your tank at Kandalaksha, which has more choice. There are small shops and a few simple cafés. The white nights in June and July let you ride in daylight almost around the clock, and in late August the first auroras appear in the dark sky over the bay.