West Norwegian fjord landscape

Sorry - no short version possible :-)

Tue 20.06.2023

Too soon we bragged that we wanted to get up early. At 5:00 a.m., the alarm went off, which we nicely ignored. It wasn't until an hour later that we woke up. Well, at 7:40 a.m., we started the hike, which took a little over an hour. There were of course already some people on the trail, the first real early risers were already on their way back. Shortly after 09:00 we were at the top of Preikestolen. The almost flat rock platform measures about 25 x 25 metres and drops 640 metres vertically. So, if you're at the front of the edge, you should hope you don't get caught by a sudden gust of wind. From up here we had a wonderful view of the Lysefjord, the same fjord as the day before, only this time from the other side. Even though we overslept, we were lucky, because at that time there weren't quite as many people up here. We exchanged mobile phones with a group of French to take pictures of each other. For this very photo, the tourists politely queued. After a short break and a summit schnapps, we headed back to the parking lot. Now masses of hikers crossed us. And not only were we surrounded by them, but also by nasty little mosquitoes. After all, most of the trail was through the woods because it was quite humid.

Before noon we drove on, a route of about 5 hours was ahead of us. We drove through beautiful landscapes surrounded by valleys with the lovely typical red houses, fjords and waterfalls. For a place to sleep, we had the surroundings of Odda as our destination. Odda is situated on the Sörfjord, an arm of the Hardangerfjord, Norway's second largest fjord. But we didn't like it here, so after dinner we drove about 20 minutes on the left side of the fjord. At a small rest area, we stopped, squeezed between two campers and sat with our chairs out into the grass. The mood was very relaxed, the French next to us were catching a fish with a rod, disembowelled it on the spot and fried it in a pan. While we were gazing at the scenery around us, Sarah saw a motion in the water. And indeed. After we had no luck in Ireland and Scotland, suddenly two dolphins appeared here! How lucky! We had not been here for 15 minutes and had the chance to experience this beautiful encounter. The dolphins moved inland and were not seen for the rest of the evening.

Wed 21.06.2023

We spent a quiet night and were the second last to leave the site. As the weather was not going to be nice, we took the day very easy. We planned to visit the glacier museum in Rosendal two hours from here. On the way, we stopped a few times for shopping, lunch, etc. And again, we only managed to get to the museum about 1.5 hours before closing time. But this time, we didn't read every plate, and yet, about 15 minutes before closing time, all of the lights and screens went out. The staff thought there was no one left. So much for our museum culture. Maybe one day we'll be able to go to a museum at 10:00 in the morning.

The night we spent a bit off the main road on a private parking space right by a small lake. The owner charged about Fr. 5.00 for the night and also provided a compost toilet.

Thu 22.06.2023

Then we drove to Bergen, about an hour and a half from our sleeping spot. And that's exactly how long we were looking for a parking spot. It really wasn't fun. The nearest real campsite was so far away that it would also have taken about an hour and a half to get into town by public transport. Then there was a parking space for campers near the city that was about as expensive as a campsite, but it had absolutely no service, not even a toilet. And it was, of course, fully occupied. And all the other parking spaces were either limited in time or height. But with a lot of luck, we found an empty space near the harbour, and we didn't even have to pay for it. Could that be? We checked the internet like crazy, tried to use Bergen's own parking app, and finally just gave up.
We didn't do much that day. We visited the aquarium (is this considered a museum? If so, we actually managed to see everything without being thrown out, ten minutes would have remained!) and then went to a swimming pool right by the harbour, which also had a small sauna. Afterwards we had dinner right at the fish market (of course fish & chips, we hadn't had it for so long) and walked around town. That evening Robbie Williams gave a concert in the park of the fortress. We even found a street where we could see part of the stage and the music was pretty good to hear from here. But we didn't stay long, because although he has two or three good songs, he doesn't really belong to our favourite style of music, and it rained again and again. Back to our van: no park fine!

Fri 23.06.2023

Today we were in the city all day. Since the weather was not so great, we first went to the shops, especially the sports shops. Afterwards we took the (Swiss) funicular to Floyen, a viewing park with a great view, down again, strolled through Bryggen, the UNESCO old town of Bergen with its leaning coloured houses and visited the Bryggens Museum. Yes, again an hour before closing time, but we made the tour in time. The museum was actually built directly above an archaeological site where the remains of the city's oldest settlement (12th century) were found and are now on display.

After dinner we attended a Midsummer Night Festivity near our parking lot. At 9:30 p.m. a big pile of 300 wooden barrels was set on fire while a local rock cover band was playing. As public alcohol consumption is banned in Norway, it was only allowed to drink Pepsi, Fanta and water. Well, the mood was still relaxed. By the time the pile was about half burnt, many people were already going home. Even of the many small boats that had watched the fire from the harbour, more than half had already left. We stayed until about midnight, when the pile was almost burnt down.

Sat 24.06.2023

We managed to stay 2 nights without paying in a parking lot in the town of Bergen without getting fined. Today the weather was quite warm and sunny and we drove almost 3 hours to Gudvangen, a small village on the Naeröyfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord. Here is the the Viking village of Njardarheimr, a kind of open-air museum with staff and volunteers who can explain many things from the Viking era. The village is not made up of artefacts, but was built on history, archaeological finds and a bit of their own imagination. Here we were able to practice axe throwing and archery and talked with the local actors.

After the visit we tried again to bake a pizza, and we succeeded again wonderfully. Strengthened for the bright night, we first drove up to the viewing platform Stegastein, from which you have a great view over the Aurlandsfjord. At that time, we were almost alone. Our place to sleep today was at the pass of Aurlandsfjellet, it was so nice and quiet up here.

Sun 25.06.2023

We drove back the same road and again went to the Stegastein. Last night the light at dusk was not so good, so we wanted to enjoy the view again today in the beautiful sunshine. We could see a lot, but of course we were surrounded by many other tourists this time. So, we quickly decided to drive down the narrow winding road and then drive through the longest road tunnel in the world, the Laerdal tunnel with a length of 24.5 kilometres.

We continued by the Sognefjord, the second largest fjord in the world, so the largest fjord in Norway. It has a length of 205 kilometres and measures 1303 metres at its deepest point. We stopped for a coffee at a hotel where Sarah had been a guest 11 years ago.

Now… we had a lot of ideas about what to do for the next few days. Hiking in Jotunheimen National Park with the two highest mountains in Norway, glacier tour on Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in Europe. And you know what we decided to do? Nothing. We removed Jotunheimen from the plans, because it would be quite a detour geographically and would have cost us at least 3 days. So, we aimed more for a hike on the glacier, which was still three hours away by car. It was already 5 p.m. and we wanted to shower at a gas station, eat dinner and drive to the starting point for the hike. So, it would get a bit late. To do all this, we drove over the Gaularfjellet Pass. Suddenly Sarah said, 'It would be so nice to stay here overnight.' And less than 10 minutes later our van was parked amongst the trees right by the river. We were first euphoric about the great location and the completely thrown out plans, but we realised quite quickly that we would rather spend the nice evening inside the bus, because the place was completely dotted with big red ants. Well, it was nice anyway.

Mon 26.06.2023

Because we still wanted to see something of the glacier, we drove the 2.5 hours to Briksdalsbre. Here we went on a campsite for the first time since Oslo. We were on the road for almost 2 weeks now and could always stand free, because Norway maintains a very open camping culture. Fresh water is available in so many places, and grey water is removable at many petrol stations. Showers can be found at almost every harbour, perhaps for a fee of one swiss franc. In Norway, the Allemansretten applies, so the freedom to roam. That means you can camp and park anywhere, as long as you are at least 150 meters away from a residential building and of course you take care of nature. This makes it pretty easy for us to spend the night out in nature.

Today, however, we decided to stay at the campsite because we could also make the 1 hour hike to the glacier tongue of the Briksdalsbreen glacier from here, we have shower and disposal in one place and do not have to look for a place for the night for once.

Tue 27.06.2023

Today we woke up to unsightly weather. It was raining again and again and the clouds were low. Before noon we set off towards Geirangerfjord. On the way we drove over a kind of mountain pass and were shrouded in fog. Only at Langvatnen Lake did the sun break through for a short while and gave us a wonderful natural spectacle of clouds falling. And a few meters further on was the almost completely frozen Djupvatnet lake. You could tell that we were getting closer to a very touristy place, because the number of buses and rental cars increased and we drove back down the hairpin bends at walking speed. A viewing deck from which you could see the harbour of Geiranger was packed with tourists. From up there we also saw a huge cruise ship (Google later said the ship has a capacity of over 6000 passengers), it just didn't fit into the picture of the village.

Arriving at the village, we decided at short notice to take the car ferry through the Geirangerfjord. It cost about Fr. 90.00 for the one-hour drive, but why not for once. It was a nice ride and we could see the famous waterfalls and UNESCO-protected abandoned farms on the mountain. Via Stranda and Valldall we are now on the way to Trollstigen, a very famous serpentine road whose view should be worthwhile. Today we sleep a few kilometres further down, still surrounded by deep clouds and fog. However, the weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow, so we are very curious to see what surroundings we wake up to in the morning. Good night!

Wed 28.06.2023

We woke up to perfect sunshine. Hardly a cloud in the sky. So, we drove down the Trollstigen. But it felt like there were fewer cars on the road than there were people at the observation deck. The view from here is really beautiful. After the Trollstigen, we drove on to the Atlantic coast. There is another tourist road on the Storseisund bridge over several small islands. In the last weeks of Norway, we were somehow always at the sea due to the fjords, but to be right on the open coast again was nice. Afterwards we drove a few deep tunnels down and up again (e.g. the Atlanterhavs tunnel with a depth of 250 meters below mean sea level) and then looked for a place for the night, which we found now off the main road in the middle of a forest surrounded by mosquitoes.