From Røldal to Vossevangen, with a detour to Bergen and further to Auerlandsvangen, across the snow-covered mountain Aurlandsfjellet

On Friday (24.7.2020) we continued along Route 13. As expected, the road was often very narrow, so we didn't need deodorant due to the temperature and had difficulties enjoying the still magnificent scenery (it's not for nothing that Route 13 is awarded as the "Norwegian Scenic Route". These are routes with a magnificent view of fjords, mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers).

Especially in rocky curves, when a truck or bus came thundering towards us (which is routine for them), we had a real shortness of breath and had to maneuver in tight millimeters, phew. The worst was a single-lane, dark tunnel that also curved. If, for example, a caravan had come towards us in it, none of us would have wanted to go backwards around a curve, especially since there were usually cars driving behind us (we stop several times to let the congested car column pass by ;o)

The route took us over the Hardangerbrua bridge, after which we were led into a large, kilometer-long tunnel system (Vallaviktunnele), which even includes roundabouts. Really crazy. Since both are still quite new, it was expensive for us, because the crossing cost 450,- NOK (about €45).

In Norway, the construction costs for roads, bridges, and tunnels are financed by toll collection. They are toll roads until the construction costs have been paid off. Some cities and towns also charge tolls.

When we have to pay tolls or ferries with our motorhome, it is not cheap, as we weigh more than 3.5 tons. The billing is done directly through AutoPASS, where we have previously registered our license plates and vehicle data (of course also for the Smart). We then receive the invoice directly digitally.

In general, there are extremely many tunnels here that run for several kilometers and are often fully lit. For us, this is of course quite unfamiliar.

On Friday and Saturday, we stayed at a campsite near Vossevangen, right under a waterfall that could also be heard in the motorhome.

On Saturday (25.7.2020) we made a detour to Bergen with the Smart (about 115 km one way). We thought that we should also take a look at the second largest city in Norway while we are here. The toll road led through extremely many long tunnels, one after the other. At the beginning, we kept opening and closing the smart's convertible top until we closed it ;o)

However, we did not like Bergen so much. The city center is not particularly big and in our opinion, it does not have much charm. Bergen also had a farewell gift for us in the form of a parking ticket for parking incorrectly, which was not obvious to us! We suspect that we parked in a residential area, but we do not know because the parking lot looked like a normal parking lot (not on the side of the road, but in a parking area with around 50 cars (unfortunately, the parking garage was full, otherwise we would have parked there!) But now to Norway and its horrendous prices, the parking ticket amounts to 600,- Kr. (about €60) !!!! So Bergen left us with even less joy. The only positive thing about the day was that the sun was shining ;o)

Today (Sunday, 26.7.2020) we continued with the motorhome to Auerlandsvangen. Unfortunately, the few sunny days are over again. It started raining already at night. As a result, the view is unfortunately not so grand anymore. Since it is not supposed to get better in the next few days either, we took a trip to the Stegastein viewpoint with the Smart. A approx. 7 km long mountain road led there, which was even very narrow to drive with a car. But the view (for the passenger ;o) upwards was magnificent. Unfortunately, there was no stop for taking pictures. There were road widenings, but they were intended to let oncoming vehicles pass by. When we reached the top, the view was not quite as good and therefore the platform was not quite as spectacular.

We then drove back on the approximately 24.51 km long Lærdalstunnel. This makes it the longest road tunnel in the world. Insane, right!? Already on the way here with the motorhome, we drove through several kilometers long tunnels!

As always, we have put together a few (more ;o) pictures for you to get a small impression of all this, even though it is naturally much more sensational in real life...