July 13th: Off to the South!

Final Departure

I have left Dale so many times before, but this time it's final. But at that moment, I didn't realize it, it felt like just another farewell and that I would soon be back.

Early in the morning, I left the house (the day before, I said goodbye to my roommates), and I felt like a criminal. But before I started my journey, I was invited to have breakfast with Gro and them, before they all had to go to work. These conversations there also made the final goodbye easier.

Aurlandsfjellet (B)

Now I finally headed south, the second part of my road trip was about to begin! Once again, I chose a national tourist road, this time through Aurlandsfjell, which is also called "Snøvegen", the snow road. The roads were again characterized by narrow switchbacks. What was particularly special about this road was the variety: at the beginning, the road was lined with green birch trees and looked like something out of Astrid Lindgren's Sweden. 

On the high plateau ("Fjell" or "Vidda"), it became rockier and eventually the whole landscape was covered in snow. I stopped by a large lake where a waterfall splashed into it. From there, you also had a great view of the giants of Jotunheimen, towering monumentally. According to the sign, you should also have been able to see the Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier on the European mainland, after all, I was at an altitude of 1306 m. 

At another rest area, the legend of a bear was told, to which an artist had created something. For this, you had to go into a small cave and illuminated by lamps, you found a bear that was in hibernation, of course not real! But the bear was lying on plastic garbage...

A few kilometers further, the road wound back down the mountain and the oncoming cars increased. I had arrived at Stegasteinen. A wooden and metal construction provided a view over the fjord. But the parking lot was more than overcrowded, so I didn't even bother trying to find a spot and instead drove a few meters further, where there was a small bay on the side of the road and from there, I almost had the same view of the Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord.

By the way, if I hadn't taken the mountain road, I would have passed through a 24.3 km long tunnel, the longest road tunnel in the world!

Flåm and Undredal (C)

From Stegasteinen, you could see the fjord where Flåm is located. Flåm is mainly known for its railway that leads here - maybe not particularly special in itself, but in Fjord Norway, there is no railway, so that's quite extraordinary. When I arrived in the city, I knew that I didn't want to take the train or visit the museum about it, so I continued driving until a sign on the side of the road announced something cultural. I turned off and drove into a landscape where cheese and butter commercials could be filmed. Occasionally, you would encounter herds of goats drinking at the stream or just grazing. At the end of the road, at the end of the fjord, was the town of Undredal, where you could buy Geitost ("goat cheese") and also visit Norway's smallest stave church, but it was too crowded to find parking or even just stop, so the journey continued.

Skjervsfossen (D)

Since I had hardly taken a break and my legs were starting to hurt, I decided to take a short walk at a random rest stop. Lucky for me, this rest stop was a gem. I parked at the top of a waterfall, and you had the chance to walk down 400 steps to the bottom. But that was too boring for me, so I just increased the pace. Slightly more exhausted, I continued on. The waterfall, by the way, was beautiful and really tall! Interesting fact: there is a rest area both below and above the waterfall.

Steindalsfossen (F)

Once again, I headed to the Hardanger region, but this time with a specific destination in mind: Steindalsfossen, the only waterfall behind which you can walk without getting wet. Although it was already drizzling slightly, there were quite a few people there. According to the signs, it used to be a true tourist attraction.

Røldal (E)

My camping site was located in this charming little village, which is mainly known for winter sports. But with my luck, it was still raining, which didn't stop me from visiting the local stave church.