19
Aug - Thursday (Or, Thor's dag, as they say in these parts)
After a
continental breakfast (not yet called a "breakfast" because we aren't really on the continental mainland) of bread, spread, meat, eggs (they have disposible egg cups here!), cheese, and coffee, we got into our little Skoda--
We haven't yet talked about the car...Ellen borrowed a cute little bright blue Skoda (Czech made) from her cousin who was on the transsiberian railroad while we used her car. The hatchback sat
the three of us and the rest was completely filled with our stuff. Ellen doesn't have a driver's license yet, but as fully licensed American drivers, Kate and I could supervise her driving. So, we had a magnetic "L" (for 'learner') that went on the back of the car, and a second rear-view mirror for the supervising passenger that suction-cupped to the windshield.
--and began driving. We were aiming at the Trollstig, but to get there, we had to pass through a couple of valleys. During the first valley, Kate turns to Ellen and says "Don't bother going to Yosemite when you come to California. it pretty much looks like this. but with more people."
The valley was spectacular. A beautiful small river wound through the bottom of the wooded valley, farms dotted the road, and spectacular cliffs rose high and narrow on all sides; waterfalls poured down water (as they do, all over Norway). Kate and I were especially impressed with the picturesque roadside, clean, free, WCs. Each bathroom break was accompanied by a little walk and perhaps some berry picking. (The Norwegians are absolutely obsessed with their berries).
We turned out of the valley and into the Trollstig (Norwegian for 'troll-ladder'). This is an 11-switchback one lane road that carves up over a pass into the next valley. The one lane is for all traffic, there are little pull-offs (Ellen calls them meeting-places) at strategic places so that you can let cars that are barrelling towards you past without ending up in the waterfall. It was a scary bit of driving, Kate clenched towards alternating directions, and we finally got to the top. However, we did see something very very creepy. Preparing to take an upcoming switchback,
we glanced up the mountain to see if there was any downhill traffic. We saw a white cargo van coming down the mountain, one switchback ahead. By the time I got to the turn, I pulled into the "meeting place" and waited for the van to pass. But the van never came. So, gathering up courage, and encouraging everyone in the car to clench at once, I turned the bend expecting to see the van coming straight into us. But it wasn't there. We continued up, expecting the van to be waiting at the next switchback, but it w
asn't there either. It was gone with absolutely no place where it could have turned around. An
d thus was born the legend of the Trollstig Ghostvan (Norwegian for "troll-ladder ghost-van")-- forever cursed to drive down the
same stretch of road from where the van plummeted long ago to its frothy demise.
The next valley brought us down to the Tafjord and the small fjord-side village of Valdal. A picnic lunch of moose, cheese and bread at the picnic area next to the fjord gave us a nice chance to let the trollstig inspired adrenaline dissipate. A nice drive along fjords and over mountain passes eventually brought us to Aalesund (I'm using the old spelling since I have no idea how to make the little circle appear over the 'a').
Everyone should see Aalesund. It is breathtakingly beautiful. The city is spread over a couple of islands and peninsulas jutting into the North Sea, and protected from the wind by a large almost-mountain hill. Much of the city is built in an Art Nouveau style, with the back walls of buildings often dipping down to sea level. After a stroll in the town center, we got a spot in the hostel (a family room that could have slept 5 with en-suite bathroom and WC and a little kitchenette).
Next, a climb to the top of the hill in the middle of town to get a bird's eye (or tired mountain goat's eye) view of the city and the surrouding fjords and mountains. Did I already mention that it is breathtakingly beautiful? If I haven't then here goes: It is breathtakingly beautiful.
On recommendation from a friend of Ellen's we ate at the fancy fancy fish restaurant. Since it was on the menu, and you know, when in Rome and all, we (mainly I) tried the Hvalkjott (whale-meat). It tasted somewhat like a gamey cow that had done a lot of ocean swimming in its life. Kate thought it just tasted like an odd piece of beef. If you find yourself in a restaurant on the west coast of Norway serving it, go for it. However, I wouldn't recommend searching it out. A
nice long stroll through the town afterwards and we ended up sleeping soundly in our hostel attic room (slopey walls and all).
20 Aug - Friday
Another continental breakfast (not quite as good) in the hostel dining room. This hostel is decidedly not a Youth hostel. It is a hostel full of families and older travelers. I spent the breakfast working up the nerve to try out my limited hebrew on a little israeli toddler. I never worked it up. (Counting exercise #1: one of one hostels playing Bob
Marley music)
We took our first ferry (yay! ferry!) to Hareid and worked our way across the island and over bridges and around other islands and some scary one lane bridges (meeting place at the very top!) and finally got ourselves to the Parkering (Norwegian for 'Parking') area for the Runde seabird sanctuary. Runde is a blustery island pointing way out into the North Sea.
The weather was threatening, so we put on some raingear, and started up the mountain. The weather stopped threatening and started acting on its previous threats. This seemed to us like a hardcore North Sea storm: rain, wind, rain going sideways, rain coming up somehow?, more wind, more rain, the mountain trails getting muddier and muddier, the sheep bleating more and more loudly, Ellen losing more and more faith in Kate and I as we started to wuss out. After a 40 minute hike up the mountain, we came over the top and saw down into the bird nesting/hatching area. It was a steep cliffy drop to the roiling seas with
many white bird dots circling below. We took the requisite picture, put the camera immediately back into a waterproof pocket and started back down the mountain. By the time we got to the bottom, it had stopped raining. It did not rain again for days.
More ferries! (Yay! Ferries are fun, if expensive) More fjords! More spectacular views! Norway is very greedy for hogging all of these beautiful spots and vantage points. Greedy greedy Norwegians. More ferries! Lunch in the cute little college town of Volda, more beauty! TUNNELS! Very long tunnels. Multiple long tunnels. Scary evil troll inhabited tunnels (they even have doors into the walls of the mountains). Beauty! Valley with cliffs! Glaciers! Glacier-melt streams!
We stopped at a set of beautiful cottages next to a river. However, since it was next to a petrol station, Ellen said: "not good enough". We moved on. We ended up at a cottage next to the Glacier museum, with stunning views, two rooms, 9 beds total, kitchen, bath, etc. (by the way, all this and it is far cheaper than the hotel in Dombas. however, you do have to make your own breakfast here). Dinner and wine and great conversation, followed by sweet sweet sleep.
21 Aug - Saturday
Wake up... breakfast... clean the cottage...
This is our long driving day, need to get back to Oslo. We are a few valleys, fjords away. Start by going back to the spot right under the glacier. Hang out at the glacier melt lake for a little bit. Stare at the glacier. The edge of it is the most amazing shade of blue, we don't think that the camera has adequately captured it.
Start the drive. We go through a couple of long (7km) tunnels. The last one ends immediately in a ferry dock, it is somewhat surprising. At no end of this ferry is a town, just a dock outside a tunnel on one end, and on the other, a dock at the beginning of a mountain road. Just another part of the road system.
Still driving. We end up lunching at another beautiful picnic spot along the road. In farmland, surrounded with birch trees. The WC here lets us down: it's just a plain old latrine, however clean it may be.
Still driving. Kate falls asleep in the back seat.
Still driving. Andrew falls asleep in the back seat.
Pull into Ellen's parents' driveway. Andrew wakes up. Kate and Ellen discuss getting somewhat lost in the fast roadway tunnels under Oslo. We have a nice dinner with Ellen's parents and regale them with stories from our adventure. They discuss further cloudberry hunting, and the mountain farm that is being rebuilt near the farm in Narbuvoll.
Conclusions
Norway is amazing driving country: sinuous roads that climb mountains, descend into beautiful valleys, go along fjords, in tunnels, and ferries. I don't think we drove a single kilometer that was straight. The people all throughout that we met were friendly, and spoke English very well. The Norwegian diet of sour cream, moose, reindeer, cheese and bread will kill us, but it tastes great while eating it.
Ellen is a brave soul for comitting so much time to us. She continued to laugh at Andrew's jokes though out the trip- this means she is a special person.
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