To Nordfjord

From Oppedal, we took our next ferry across the Sognefjord and drove on, on the E39, for quite a distance, stopping now and then for pix of mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, etc., for some Zone Commerciale shopping in Forde, on to the next ferry, from Anda to Lote, and then west along the E15 and the north side of the Nordfjord. Along the route we caught a glimpse of the Jostedalsbreen, Norway's (and Europe's) largest glacier. Maybe we are becoming inured, but the scenery in this fiord seems a good bit less spectacular that the last few days', despite its 3 star status. Our next destination, just a few miles away, is the coastal island of Vagsoy, and its fishing village of Maloy. We are camped at a rest stop on the fiord. A big cruise ship just passed by....

Another ferry ride, this across the Sognefjord

Even out in the hustings, there are practice ski jumps

The Jostedalbreen, or a portion of it

Ditto

It was a two ferry day, this one over the Nordfjord

Look kids, a waterfall!

Nearly all the buildings have grass growing on the roof; 
this one even had trees

Norway is very RV-friendly

The Good Ship Boudicca sails by our campsite on the Nordfjord

Hanseatic Fiske*

After a brief but costly stop at Dale's of Norway's sweater outlet shoppe in Dale, we drove on in to Bergen, Norway's second largest city, and lucked out with a parking spot just a block from the harbor, the Brygge and the Maria Kirke. We missed the English language walking tour, unfortunately, but decided we'd just do it ourselves. Pretty much everything of interest in Bergen is within walking distance of the harbor. Of particular interest were the Brygge houses, 18th century German merchant homes and business, mostly conserved and not restored. Some are pretty rickety, but all are in the gentrification process. It's another World Heritage Site. Bergen was a major Hanseatic League capital, and indeed capital of Norway briefly in the late middle ages, so there is all that (yawn) Hanseatic history. The harbor also features the fish market, which indeed had some fish, in addition to the usual tourist trinketry. The fishmongers were generous with free samples, and I managed to down a fair amount of salmon, cod, shrimp, and—a first for me—smoked whale. (Does not taste “fishy”). Also some more reindeer and moose sausage. All in all, the fish market was disappointing, more touristy than fish. We walked about the sentrum area, saw the Maria church (oldest building in Bergen), the most completely littered junk store I have ever seen, and then did some internet. It was cloudy and gray, threatening rain, so we decided to forego the highly recommended funicular for the view from up the hill. Somehow, Bergen did not send us. We proceeded on, after dinner, up the E39, across the Osterfjord, to Oppedal, on the Sognefjord, at a beautiful rest area, where we'll catch another ferry Tuesday morning. *would make a great name for an 80s Bergen rock group

Ground zero Bergen, especially the turbuss At the fish market, Norwegian caviar, not bad Smoked whale; about $30/lb; does not taste "fishy" Brygge, the old Hanseatic German quarter Vicki en route to the Christmas shoppe; the stairs eventually got her there Brygge back alley Ditto Maria church, oldest building in Bergen, they said, 13th century City Hall and square 

Archaeological Find at Rest Area West of Voss

Norway Department of Transportation engineers have built a rest stop/picnic
area right on top of a neolithic site!

The three guide stones are on a north/south axis; sun light
from the fjord illuminates them in order on winter solstice;
or possibly summer solstice

Note the stone circle surrounding the north picnic table

Stone circle around the south table, or maybe it was the middle

The entire site is encircled by a gigantic stone circle (much of which, alas,
is buried beneath the E16)

A stone table for human sacrifice?

Tests suggests it was perhaps a neolithic picnic table

We believe the mizzen to be a later addition

Vicki adds:

Voss, Norway July 5, 2000

Before I forget I just want to mention how boring the 7 hours drive from Stockholm to Oslo was--all pine trees, rolling hills and lakes with very few houses let alone villages. It was pretty for the first hour but after that—those of you who have driven across upper Minnesota or southern Canada north of the Great Lakes will know what I mean. These are not even old growth forests—not when people have been living here since the last ice age! Anyway one quickly saw why the Swedish immigrants felt quite at home in the upper mid west.

In contrast, Norway is a scenic wonderland and we have been to some awfully wonderful places before. First we drove through Lillehammer of 1994 Olympics fame. It is really a tiny city—not half as large as Missoula, at the end of a gorgeous huge lake and right at the beginning of the big mountains. Spent the night in the parking lot outside the Olympic skating venue along with about 9 other “free” campers. Then we turned west into the big mountains that run all the way to the west coast and fjord country. I’m sure Mark will describe his big hike, but we basically drove for two days through country much like the Beartooth Highway—except more of it. Wild, desolate and just entering mid spring, even though it is early July. We are so far North that treeline stops at about 3000 ft. and even the 4500 ft. peaks look like the Alps with all their snow and some of the largest glaciers in Europe.

The last two days we have driven over the wet-your-pants highways with dozens of hairpin turns, impossible drop offs, and large tour buses passing you on a 1 lane road with pull offs. Rick Steves advises passengers not to scream until actually hit or having left the road. I was able to comply but have ground about an inch of enamel off my teeth. The views were worth it though, especially when the mountain pass area ended and we stopped to gaze at the Sognefjord 4000 ft below us. It was truly one of the amazing sites of my life. (However, today when we started down another of these crazy roads and we passed a sign saying 18% grade ahead, we both decided that turning around was the best thing to do and we would just have to miss that waterfall.)

By the way, though Norway is absolutely wonderful, both Mark and I are constantly seeing things that remind us of similar sites in Montana. Okay, Montana doesn’t have fjords but it has drop dead scenery that can hold its own against almost anywhere else we have been.

Naeroy and Aurlands Fiords

The boat cruise from Flam to Gudvangen (and vice versa) takes in two of the more scenic arms of the Songdefiord, the Naeroy and the Aurlands fiords. Both are unusually high and narrow. The Naeroy, another World Heritage Site, narrows to 250m at one point, and the cliffs/peaks along the fiords can reach 4,000 feet. Typically, one boats just one way, then buses back, either beginning or ending the day on the Flamsbana, a 20km alpine railway thrill-ride. We decided that neither the bus ride nor the Flamsbana were of interest and so elected to do the cruise both ways, from Gudvangen to Flam and back to Gudvangen. The photographer among us observed that this would give us good views and light on both sides of the fiords. Anyhow, this is what we did, driving (mostly tunnel) from Flam to Gudvangen, and then spending most of the rest of the day on the cruises, including the return stop at the formerly isolated village of Undredal. The fiords, such as we have seen now, are awesome. We were very impressed with the fiords we saw in New Zealand (although they are mostly inaccessible to the normal tourist), and also Alaska. Norway's fiords seem on a different scale altogether in size, height, extent and complexity. The glaciers that made them are gone, although vestigial glaciers remain in the high country. The work of those ancient glaciers was colossal, their effects beyond any words or images. We drove on from Gudvangen, past Voss, to a rest area on a lake just east of Dale.

The Good Ship Lykkeper, at Gudvangen Waterfalls on the Naeroyfjord Typical Naeroy view On the Naeroy Gulls follow the cruise boats everywhere, hoping for a handout Aurlandfjord The village of Undredal (at the bottom of the mountain) Geology students: note U-shape More waterfalls Us 

Old Aurland Highway

At Sognesdal we provisioned up and sought advice from the local tourist information center. The fiords of Norway are vast and intricate, not little indentations in the coastline, and some serious planning is in order. Despite all the tunnels and bridges and ferries, there are some places you can't get to from here, and some places you have to go through if you want to get there. Throughout Scandinavia, the “I”'s (tourist information centers) have been consistently helpful and informative, as was Sognesdal's. We drove down the west side of the Lustrafjord from Sognedal to Mannheller, had lunch on the dock, and then took the ferry (every 20 minutes) across to Laerdal. It's a 10 minute boat ride, but it saves perhaps a hundred miles of driving. From our sometime guide, Rickie Stevie, we had determined to drive from there to Flam, from which there are a number of interesting scenic options. The new road to Flam involves the world's longest tunnel, 24km, which apparently goes under mountains and glaciers. But we eschewed this, taking instead, the old Aurland road, across the 4,000 foot Hornadalen, one lane with turn-outs, 12 real hair-pin turns, all of which Rickie Stevie says “is worth the messy pants.” In some respects it reminded us of the Beartooth Highway in Montana, alpine plateau and plenty of mountains, frozen lakes, glaciers, waterfalls, and the rest to see. It was not really all that bad a drive. We stayed at a real campground in Flam and made our plans for the next few days.

Aurland Fiord Typical terrain on the old highway We were parked, admiring the scenery, and this couple pulls up, hops out, the woman starts climbing the slope, skis and poles in hand, then skis back down; then back in their car and drove on Standard hairpin Vicki made me pull over when she saw the turbuss coming 

Driving from Spiterstulen to Sognefjord

En route from Spiterstulen to Sognefjord, a side trip up Leirdalen, the valley of the Leir

We were going to take the interpretive hike out to this glacer...

But they hadn't put the signs up yet

We followed the Norwegian ski team for some distance

Saw skiers at the pass

And cairns; they build cairns, hundreds of them, at every high point

It's not quite high summer here yet

Finally, our goal, Sognefjord, or at least its Lusterfjord arm; Sognefjord is Norway's largest, with many different arms and branches; here we are perhaps 150 miles from the sea; we'll continue along Sognefjord for a few days

Campsite on the fjord near Sognedal