NORWAY 2019 - Part 3: Exploring Fjord Norway by Rental Car

There are images of places that have a very suggestive effect on me. Images that I have known for years from various travel books or other relevant illustrated books, while I have not yet been to the places themselves. Places that have an indescribably strong attraction on me due to the suggestive effect of the images . . . - That's exactly where I want to stand someday, I think to myself when I look at these pictures. Exactly where the different authors of these pictures stood when taking the photos. I want to see the respective places exactly like that. To see them as they are depicted in the images that I am familiar with.

Today, we want to visit two such places that I have only known through pictures: The impressive and mythologically enchanted stave church in Borgund and the famous waterfall of Voringsfossen.

However, to get there from Bergen, it is necessary to rent a car. And so we start at 9:45 in the morning, as we have a huge tour ahead of us in terms of travel time and distance. The car rental agency closes at 9:00 p.m., and by then, we want to return the car to avoid any additional charges.

It is 220 kilometers to Borgund, and in Norway, it takes about three and a half hours to drive there. However, we make our first stop after nearly two hours at the Twinnefossen before continuing to Borgund via Aurland and the 25-kilometer-long Laerdal Tunnel. I don't want to describe the stave church itself in more detail. The fascination that such places exert on me should be reflected by the effect of the pictures alone.

On the way back, we drive through Aurland again, passing by the Twinnefossen towards Eidfjord. We reach the Voringsfossen via an exceptionally adventurous road that winds up to the plateau of Hardangervidda like a corkscrew through switchback tunnels. The water masses plunge a total of 183 meters into the valley there. I could watch the spectacle for hours, but time is pressing. It is almost 6:00 p.m., and we still have to cover 170 kilometers to Bergen. After a total of nine hours of driving, my head is starting to ache. Only the passion with which I travel keeps me going, and so we reach Bergen on time, where I sign the return form exactly at 8:48 p.m. and hand over the car key to the rental agency staff.