Heja Norge!

On Tuesday, June 13th, we took the slow route to Gothenburg. Using the Park4Night app, we searched for a suitable parking space. Just like in Malmö, many parking spaces seemed ideal but apparently were quite vulnerable to burglaries. You may have also heard that there is quite a problem with criminal gangs in the southern Swedish cities. Anyway, we found a good location right next to the castle park. There is also the Natural History Museum, which we visited. Since Lukas and I are quite interested in such subjects, we have a habit of reading and looking at every sign and stuffed animal. That's why we stayed until shortly before the museum closed, and we were running out of time for the parking lot. We spent two hours in the museum, and we haven't seen anything of the city itself yet. But we left it at that and decided to continue driving. About an hour north, we found a great place to stay overnight. After dinner, we rented e-scooters and went to the store, which by the way is open until 11:00 p.m. It was special to shop at 9:30 p.m. in such a big store and even get fresh bread.

On Wednesday, we drove northwest towards the Norwegian border. On the way, we stopped for coffee in a bay at Lake Vänern, the third-largest lake in Europe. Another destination for today was a car junkyard in Bastnäs. This was probably a car recycling plant from the 70s, maybe even the 80s. There were so many demolished cars everywhere, already overgrown with plants and trees. In the woods, the cars were even stacked on top of each other. It was very interesting, but after about an hour in the heat, especially in the woods with all the mosquitoes, it was time to move on.

Shortly after the junkyard, we crossed the very spectacular border to Norway. There was a pole with two surveillance cameras and a handwritten sign that indicated the way to Norway.

Then our destination was Oslo. A bit above the city was a campsite where we stayed for 2 nights. From here, we also had a view over the entire city, really beautiful. By the way, it was 32 degrees...

On Thursday, we took the bus to the city, which was very convenient because there was a bus from the campsite to the city every 10 minutes, and it took about 15 minutes. The Oslo Pass is also great. If you ever go to Oslo, buy it! It costs about 40 Euros for 24 hours, and it includes public transport, free admission to almost all museums, and discounts at some restaurants and bars. First, we took the museum ferry to the Bygdoy peninsula and visited the Norwegian Folksmuseum, an open-air museum with an ancient stave church from the 12th century. Right next to it was the Viking Ship Museum, which houses the oldest and best-preserved Viking ship. Unfortunately, it was closed due to the construction of a new building. After the open-air museum, we took the bus back to the city and visited the historical museum, which is spread over three floors, each room covering a different theme. And each room had its own security guard. We don't envy them for their job.

We left before the museum closed and walked to the opera building, actually just for a photo, and continued to the Aker Brygge quarter, where the restaurants and bars are lined up, and we also had our dinner there. After a nightcap, we also took another means of transport, namely the tram, and from the main station, we took the bus back to the campsite.

Friday was checkout day, so we followed the usual procedure: emptying and cleaning the garbage and toilet, refilling the water, and taking a shower. Then we headed southwest. Our main destination was Kjerag, a rocky plateau above the Lysefjord. The trip itself took almost 7 hours, and because we arrived there on the weekend, we decided to stop halfway and take a break. And at Lake Vravatn, we found the perfect place to do that. A small inlet between trees right by the lake. Since we were completely alone there and there was hardly any traffic, we stayed there the whole Saturday and did nothing except sleeping, reading, and swimming. Except for one thing, we made our first homemade pizza in our Omnia oven, and it turned out really well.

And on Sunday, we continued the second part of our journey. The landscape changed noticeably, and we also drove towards the mountains. We drove up mountain roads where there was still snow on the left and right. Just like on the Grimsel Pass, but only for about 1.5 hours. We also experienced a thunderstorm at the Lysefjord, and it was the first rain for us in 5 weeks! Imagine, three weeks in Ireland and one week in Scotland without rain.

Today, we had to get up very early. We wanted to hike to Kjerag before the crowds and especially before the bad weather, which was predicted for noon. The night before, we stopped by the visitor's parking lot, and a very friendly man of the same age gave us a lot of information. Even though we had already decided that we wanted to leave early, he also recommended starting at 4 a.m. And that's what we did today. Officially, sunrise was at 4:20 a.m., but unfortunately, the sun was constantly covered by clouds. Nevertheless, we had a beautiful climb over steep rocky slabs, and there was no sign of any humans far and wide. Only at the destination, Kjeragbolten, we met two Germans who had started shortly before us. Kjeragbolten is a large stone wedged between cliffs, about 1000 meters directly above the Lysefjord. If you fall, there is no chance of survival. We marveled at this impressive stone and even dared to walk out onto it. It is a true tourist attraction, and thanks to the early time of day, we had it all to ourselves. After a snack, we started the descent, and now we encountered more and more people on their way up. Some of them commented that we were really early.

In the parking lot, we met the attendant from last night again at 8:45 a.m., and we immediately started talking with him again. We learned a lot of interesting things, such as the fact that there hasn't been a fatal accident at the stone itself in the last 5 years. There have been a few rescue operations, but mainly due to twisted ankles. We asked him if the café was open today, but he wasn't sure, so he gave us two fresh coffees from the staff room! What a gesture. We talked to him for at least another half an hour, and when we said goodbye, he offered us that if we ever visit his home in the middle north, he would arrange a parking space and a warm shower for us. Don't let anyone say that Nordic people are reserved...

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we have another hike planned to an even bigger tourist destination, Preikestolen, so we will be getting up early again tomorrow morning. Not at 3:00 a.m. like today, but still early enough...