We realized early why TrollActive rafting was half the price of other companies.  The length of the river that they use for the rafting is minimal and we even walked back and did the main rapids again.  Nevertheless, it was fun and the guides tried hard to make it fun with games and stopping to jump off a small cliff into the river.  We did have a good time and it really wasn’t our fault that we couldn’t do another rafting trip but the lack of tourists.
After rafting, we drove down to Kristiansand from where we planned on taking a ferry to Denmark the next day.  We checked into our hotel which was pretty much next to the Ferry port.  We went to the grocery store to buy some Norwegian treats such as the brown goat cheese for Hendrik’s parents and “smash” which is a snack like bugles but they are covered in chocolate and also taste a bit of peanut butter.  We then wanted to find something to eat and wandered around the cost which was surrounded by some brilliant apartments, lovely playgrounds, and a beach.  It looked very pretty compared to some of the other parts of town.  We found one restaurant near the marina which had open air seating, a great view, and was reasonably priced, considering it was in Norway.  At least the portions were quite large as well.  Of course we did not have any alcohol or our bill would have been double.  On our way back to the hotel, we followed a walking tour outlined in one of our many guidebooks.  The center of town was rather cute so we were glad we went.

McDonald’s in Kristiansand

When we were about three blocks away from our hotel we saw another playground.  There was no lack of playgrounds in Kristiansand.  There, there  was a swing which was more like a ½ a basket in which you could practically lie. Hendrik swung me on it and I noticed I had to keep my legs stretched out as after all it was meant for children and even though I’m short, my legs would still scrape the ground.  Since it was quite fun Hendrik had a go.  He is quite taller than me and in one swift moment he let his guard down and in one rapid swing he let his legs drop and his foot got bent the wrong way.  I’d never seen Hendrik in so much pain.  I immediately stopped the swing and he just laid there turning a bit green.  Eventually, he managed to make it to a nearby bench with my support, which was a good sign since it meant it was probably not broken.  He sat there and I went to get the car since he would not be able to make it back to the hotel.  I went to get the car and he was able to hop into it on one foot which was impressive.  I didn’t know he was such competition for kangaroos.  In the lobby, I asked if they had ice, they did not.  I quickly went into the store next door and at first couldn’t find ice so I debated getting a bag of frozen peas but then noticed that the ice was right next to the peas.  I was able to buy it just before the store closed.  We iced his foot a while and the next day he was feeling slightly better and was even able to drive his share of the 10 hour drive through Denmark, Germany, Holland, and finally Belgium.

We drove around the Lysefjorden fjord up a very scenic road to a restaurant from which the hike to Kjerag began.  We started the hike and soon realized why the pulpit was more popular.

The trail is marked hard meaning that it leads straight up a sharp rock surface with a chain rope strung along it for support.  I wasn’t having too much trouble since for some reason my Adidas running shoes did not slip while Hendrik’s new shoes were not serving him well at all and he was constantly slipping.  Not to mention that he is petrified of cliffs and this was kind of like a cliff.  If you lost your balance you could have a very bumpy and even deadly ride all the way to the parking lot. We didn’t even make it up the first steep bit since there was a steeper longer bit behind this one and Hendrik did not feel safe we decided it wasn’t worth risking.  Even this little “round trip” took us an hour.  I would love to tackle this hike again and def recommend good non-slip shoes.

Windy road on Lysefjorden

With that settled, we decided to drive to Evje and take the scenic upper route since it was supposed to be prettier.  When we reached the intersection in the road to go left or right we were stopped by a police officer who told us that we could not go left to the upper road because there were 5,000 sheep crossing the road blocking it and that this ordeal would take about an hour.  So we went right instead and passed by the relatively long queue of cars waiting for the sheep.

In Evje we had found a place where we could finally go rafting.  When we arrived we drove straight to the rafting center since they also had accommodation there.  They were all full so we went to a nearby campsite and stayed in a cabin trying to keep out of the rain.

The next day we backtracked a bit to get to the road we were supposed to take and even further back to the place where we saw a gorgeous waterfall.   It had been dusk when we passed it yesterday, but we went to get a better view this morning.  It looked better in person than on photographs.

Then we headed straight to Stavanger.  We were going there to hike up to the Preacher’s Pulpit but first we wanted to visit the famous sculpture of 3 swords which we had seen featured on so many postcards.  We didn’t know where it was so we swung by the center of town assuming it would be there somewhere.  We had to go into a paying lot and when we got out Hendrik was able to pick up a random wireless signal and start googling on his phone while my mission was to go to the tourist office and ask.  There were a lot of people there, unusually since tourist season was over and all and I had to wait for a long time with a number in hand.  After some time when I felt it had to be my turn, Hendrik called saying he had located the swords.  It was in some sort of park by the side of the road near a lake.  I was quite disappointed thinking the three swords were some sort of ancient stone structure made by Vikings in a mysterious way, when in reality they were a new sculpture made out of metal complete with graffiti.  Anyway we could check it off our list, take a fun picture and move on to something more worthwhile.

Sverd i Fjell - the three swords

That more worthwhile thing would be the Preacher’s Pulpit or Preikestolen a perfectly square cliff edge hanging over Lysefjorden.  It is probably so popular because the hike is not too hard as other hikes in Norway, but it is steep at times.  The worst part is the bits over big boulders where I had to think where to put each foot for each step .  They are large and my legs are short so the big steps I had to make were tiring.  Where the path split we took the green route up since we thought it was easier since it is a bit flatter and lower than the red one, thought the red one seemed to be the more popular option probably because people thought it was more direct.  I’m glad we took the green and it was very pretty as well since it took us around the top of the mountain and the view slowly opened up for us.  We were luck to have a sunny day and the view was spectacular.

View from Preikestolen

Unfortunately, the sun also made it impossible to take spectacular pictures of people on the cliff since it made everyone look like a silhouette.  After taking silhouette pictures of each other and another group of travelers we took some more snaps of the view.  Then Hendrik went up on the red trail first to take a few pics of me on the Preacher’s Pulpit from above. I then joined him for a quick picnic of chips, crackers, preservative laden cheese and cookies.  It was harder to hike down the boulders than up them.  The entire trip took 5 hours, but it was well worth it.

Me on Preikestolen

Since I wanted to do the Kjerag hike to the boulder wedged between two cliffs the next day, we had planned on taking the tourist ferry down along the fjord from Lauvvik to Lysebotn.  Since it was now autumn in Norway at least, it was out of season and not running, which was a shame since it was a nice day and would have been pleasant and I’m sure other tourists would have gone too since Preikestolen was quite crowded.  There was another ferry that went there but you had to book ahead of time and their office was closed and it left a 6:15am which was too early anyway.   We slept in a farmhouse that night.  When we passed by we saw a symbol of a bed and went to ask for one.   The owner was not expecting guests at all but was getting the place ready for a big group the next day.  She hesitated to let us stay in lieu of the preparations but she agreed, which was good since it seemed to be the only place for miles.  It was a nice place with a huge living room and dorm style bedroom but we were the only guests so we only had to share the bathroom with each other.

Since the weather was better the next day and there was sun and no rain we decided it would be a good time to see Bergen from the bird’s eye view and go up the hill overlooking the city. We had seen the cable car yesterday which goes from the city, but since it was rainy and cloudy we did not bother.  We wanted to save on a cable car fare so we decided to drive but of course the road was closed off half way since they wanted people to use the cable car.  We started to walk up from the midpoint where we were able to leave our car but it was taking much longer than we had anticipated and we were able to get a good view of the city as it stretched into the sea. We had planned on going to Skundeshaven as a detour en route to Stavenger so we did not want to spend too much more time in Bergen trying to get a better view.

Since we had eliminated Skundeshaven,  we needed a new detour and I had planned on going to another glacier but Hendrik wanted to go to the Fjells.  He said he hadn’t been impressed with the other glacier and I said that we had already seen Fjells as well.  We ended up flipping a coin because we couldn’t squeeze both locations into our itinerary.  The glacier won, which made me happy.  I had actually found the glacier when looking up a place we could go skiing.  The glacier is the Folgefonna Summer Ski area, but unfortunately, the Start of September is too late for summer skiing so we could not ski but I was still curious to see it.  To get to the glacier we had to drive up a very narrow hairpin turn road full of potholes.  This road itself was gorgeous and the higher we drove the more moon-like and awe inspiring the landscape became with aquamarine pools scattered around the sharp scenery.

Once at the glacier, we could see the ski-lift poles make their way systematically upwards.  There were holes and patches of bright blue ice in the glacier so it was clear that it would not be wise to go skiing on it now or even go for a walk.  The most impressive thing about the glacier was by far the intense scenery which surrounded it.  We were the only people there under the glacier after a group who seemed to have gone on a glacier hike or mountain climbing left and it was magical.  It was the most beautiful and interesting landscape we’d seen in Norway.

Folgefonna Summer Ski Centre

On the way back down the narrow windy road we got stuck behind a small flock, or should I say gang of sheep.  They wouldn’t move to the side of the road since there was no place for them to all go and standing one after the other would be too lonesome for heard animals who need to stay shoulder to shoulder which in this case meant blocking the road.   We tried revving the engine and speeding up and though this did frighten the sheep it did not make them move to the side but rather resulted in us almost hitting a sheep in the butt.  We also tried honking which resulted in a galloping heard which I guess is better than a slow moving one.

After the road became a bit wider as we descended we were able to pass the scampering aggravated sheep.  I got out of the car to take a picture of our obstacle and they began walking towards me.  At first I was glad that they were coming closer for the picture but their pace was steadily increasing and soon enough they were galloping towards me full speed ahead – a flock of charging sheep.  I dashed into the car and before I could even close the door Hendrik had taken off.  He didn’t want them to overtake us again.  I didn’t want them to make me into a chew toy.   He was also laughing hysterically at my near death experience as my heart pounded out of fear.

Charging Sheep

The peninsula on which the glacier was located was also the area of the most fruit production in Norway.  They grew all sorts of fruits apples, plums, pears and cherries.  Plums were in season and as we drove around the peninsula to the ferry port most every farmhouse would have a fruit “stall” or in other words a tiny rickety table with a few boxes of plums on it and an honesty box.  We bought a box of plums from a charming farmhouse.  It was quite possibly the cheapest food we bought in Norway as we left the suggest price in the honesty box.  They were perfectly sweet and ripe and quite possibly the best plums I’ve ever had, especially since I’m not too big of a fan.

Taken from a ferry heading to Kinsarvik

We left the peninsula on a ferry to Kinsarvik and from there drove along the edge of the fjord.  Along it, all the while we could see the glacier on the fjord across the water on top of the mountains like a white pie filling rising from its crust.  After passing through Odda, we began to be a bit restless about finding accommodation and our GPS did not have anything in it for another 50 kilometers in our direction.  It was a bit of a shame because then we were surrounded by waterfall after waterfall and it was getting a bit too late to enjoy it.  Earlier, we had tried our luck at “wild camping” which is legal in Norway if you are a certain distance away from a house.  The problem was that any place like this was far from a road and here either we were next to a house or the road was surrounded by a steep incline, which is definitely not fit for tent pitching.  We also passed by a campsite with cabins which was closed.  We decided to head off our rout towards Roldal.  Since that was a ski area, there were cabins and soon we came across one.  We were happy when a lady appeared next to the cabins we had pulled up next to as besides that it looked like the previous campsite – abandoned.  Of course we took the accommodation and were pleasantly surprised how large it was and it had a bathroom attached so there was no comparison between a cabin near a city and in the middle of nowhere.

In the morning we found out who bought all the tacky Norwegian souvenirs.  There were about 3 large tour buses parked at the entrance and all the passengers were mingling around the waterfall and the shop stalls.  I guess the buses did not frequent rafting centers.

Today we were headed to Bergen so we decided to try to find a reasonably priced B&B before we left the campsite and did not have internet again.  All the semi reasonably priced B&Bs were fully booked of course and Bergen seemed like the most expensive city yet.  We decided to stay in a campsite a bus and tram ride away from Bergen and it was the most expensive cabin we had stayed in and also by far the worst. It was sub-par and the facilities were dirty.  It took us 40 minutes to get into Bergen but, once there, it was quick to walk through the center to the fish market for lunch.

We had high expectations reading so much about it in all the tourist books, that when we got there we were stunned at just how small it was.   It only consisted of two clumps of stalls, every single one of them selling the same thing yelling at tourists to sample their products.  It was far from what we had envisioned of a dead sea of various creatures as far as the eye could see.  We walked around it in 5 minutes.  Nevertheless, we bought sandwiches there anyway and were not too impressed.

We visited the Hanseatic Museum and Schøtstuene after, which focuses on the German traders who lived there between the 3th to 17th century.  It was one of many museums in Bergen but probably one of the most interesting ones.  One thing we noticed about Norwegian cities and towns is that there will always be some sort of museum there, no matter how small or insignificant, baiting tourists.  Most were folk museums, but we also saw fishing and road museums.  Since Bergen is the cultural capital of Norway, it was expected that they should have lots of museums, so this one was probably more worthwhile than many of the others such as the knitting museum.  While AU has its big things, Norway has museums.

The old Town of Bergen was adorable.  Particularly eye catching was the well endowed unicorn.  We ate Chinese food for dinner since our guide book said that Chinese food was the most reasonably priced and we agreed, though reasonable for Norway, not for any other country.  Despite the charm and museums we were slightly disappointed in Bergen and this seemed to be the common trend of Norwegian towns and cities so we decided to skip Skundeshaven in lieu of more nature.

Because we were frozen solid the night before we decided we would stay in cabins from now on because the money saved was not worth a shivering sleepless night.  We were headed to Voss, the outdoor activity capital of Norway and were hoping for similar excitement like in Queenstown New Zealand.  We arrived at the tourist info expecting a plethora of exciting choices laid out in front of us and we were particularly interested in some white water rafting.  The rafting trips needed more than 2 people and apparently it was out of season and they could not find enough tourists to join us.  We were a bit disappointed but continued our search for an activity.  We debated going para-sailing, but I’ve always thought para-sailing was not worth the money since the ride was always quite short.  In the end we decided to play golf, riveting, I know, since we thought it wasn’t going to be too expensive and would occupy our whole day.  Once everything was added though, cart rental, balls, entrance, it came out to a hefty fee.  I guess we should not have expected anything less in Norway.  I had fun but Hedrick was frustrated.

That night we slept in a cabin on a campsite, Tvinde Camping (http://www.tvinde.no/) underneath a massive gorgeous waterfall, which was part of its charm.  When we checked in, in the evening we wondered why there were many tourist stalls that sold junk like horned Viking helmets and toy reindeer and we poked fun that all these people with their campers must buy a lot of junk.

Miraculously, the sun was shining for the third day in the row.  We were headed towards the most famous fjord in Norway, the Geiranger Fjord, and in a short while we were hair pinning it down to the fjord and town of Geiranger.

Geiranger

It was packed with grey haired tourists who had gotten off two huge cruise ships which were parked in the fjord and completing the postcard photos of the fjord.  The older generation tourists milled around town and meandered up the roads obstructing it like the cattle we had come across many times.  We did two reasonably short hikes around Geiranger for the views and then took the hour long ferry to Hellesylt.  We passed by waterfalls which were bountiful and small farms which were scares on the fjord’s sharp faces.  At least the sun was still shining so the views were remarkable.

Once we docked we drove to Briksdalsbreen from where hiked to the tongue of Europe’s biggest glacier.  The stream and lake below were exceptionally blue-green from the glacier that it appeared to be a water color painting instead of real.  Around the glacier lake, the landscape was desert-like, all brownish yellow with just the white ice lapping into it.  On the peaks which surrounded us, we could see bits of the glacier peeping down.

We had planned on going to Kaupanger for the night but since we were running late, we decided to camp somewhere on the way. We wanted to try our hand at wild camping again but the roads around the fjords were just too hilly and every road away from the main road led to a farm house.  So following small roads led us nowhere and we realized that finding a convenient, and legal wild camping site was not so easy.

Bøyum Camping in Fjærland

Giving up, we chose the nearest campsite on our GPS and went there.  Bøyum in Fjærland camping was very peaceful, adorable, and surrounded by high peaks with bits of glacier seeping out of them.  They had clean facilities and internet so the 18 EUR it cost to pitch a tent seemed worth it.  It was a very empty campsite, and we only came across two other guests, this was probably because it was already autumn and in hindsight we should have spent extra money and got a cabin since it was freezing at night and our tent failed to keep the heat inside and we were kept awake by our own shivering.

At least our way overpriced hotel had the most amazing breakfast spread that the price almost seemed fair, for a second at least since a buffet like this I imagine to cost 70 Euros a person in Norway.  The whole room was full of food on multiple counters and you could have anything from herring to 4 different types of eggs to fruit and pancakes.  It was by far the best meal we had in Norway, and Hendrik wanted to stay another day so he could try more things at the breakfast buffet, but our bank account couldn’t handle it.

After checkout, we drove down the Atlantic Road over many beautiful bridges crossing over the island landscape.  Bridges overtook tunnels with ease and got a massive head start so I began to worry for my tunnel team.

Bridges of the Atlantic Road

We were headed south towards Geiranger and started to drive through the fjord region.  The Troll Road or Trollstigen was part of this area and we twisted and turned up through the hairpin turns.

The Hairpin road

We had excellent weather all the way up the mountain allowing for exquisite views of the bends.  From a distance they looked rather horrifying but when we were on them they were less hair raising.  On the top, we stopped to go to the lookout area and as we walked towards the main one, which was actually closed because the walkway was being repaired but all the tourists just made the barricades into an obstacle course, it began to rain.

Troll Road

Even though our pictures than had rain droplets in them, it was still better than not seeing the winding road at all, because just as we were heading back to our car on the broken path, a thick cloud rolled into the valley and around the lookout area obstructing the view.  Even when we continued to drive the whole road was completely covered in a marshmallow white.  We considered ourselves very lucky as we crossed tourists going the other way just making their way to the lookout point when there was nothing to see but a dense film of white.

Further along and 2 ferries later it was getting dark so we were on a lookout for a place to stay.  We saw signs advertising cabins with a fjord view and skeptically followed it to a location where we saw three red cabins on the side of the mountain.  We were given the best cabin unit in Hothaug Gard, a place known only for its cabins, since as we were told ours’ was ensuite with a toilet AND a shower.  It wasn’t even a ¼ of what we paid last night, but also didn’t include any food, so since we were in the middle of nowhere we had Ramen and got cozy with a fire.  After the not delicious but on the other hand cheap meal, we went for a walk to check out this fjord view which was advertised.

We walked further up the road we had driven on and Hendrik saw a hill which he demanded on climbing.  It was getting dark but it was a marked trail so we set off.  The ground was like a sponge and wherever I stepped water came up through the soft ground into my shoe.  At one point it was a pool of mud instead of a path and Hendrik, like a gentleman, carried me across to dryer ground.  We couldn’t go much further because it was getting dark fast and the trail seemed to be going around the mountain rather than up which was the original intention of going up the trail.  Little did I know that Hendrik had other intentions in mind which made this walk especially memorable.  On the way down we had to cross the mud pool going downhill this time.  As if he was well trained in carrying me across less than ideal terrains, Hendrik swooped me up so my non-water proof shoes wouldn’t be ruined.  He could have used some more training because before I knew it I was lying flat on my back head pointing down with Hendrik on top of me, my bum and back seeping up the mud.  Not only had he dropped me in a pool of wet dirt, but he also used me as a shield for his own slipping and fully protected himself from landing face first in the mud.  It was only a bonus that I had put on fresh jeans that day since now they were caked in mud.  At least it made it a perfectly memorable walk.

We awaked with the sun peering through the window.  It was like a miracle since we hadn’t seen the sun once in the morning so far and today we were to go horseback riding and I was convinced we would be going in the rain.  At breakfast we packed ourselves a lunch, there were mainly lunch items anyway, so I guess it was the Norwegian way.  They provided bags and fresh baked bread.  Then we went down to the barn where I was expecting to see tacked horses.  No such thing they had to be gathered from the pasture, and we had to brush them and tack them ourselves.  The horses were run across the street to the muddy paddock next to the barn.

Horses crossing the street

At least the horses were fetched for us because I did not want to go into the paddock as I had no riding or protective equipment.  I got a brown horse with a white main called Imar and Hendrik got a beige horse with a white main named Ljøme.  They were so short I kept wanting to call them ponies.  We took them to the barn for breakfast and to groom them.  I helped Hendrik since he had never groomed a horse before and Ljøme was way muddier than Imar. We both needed help tacking the horse since Icelandic horses wear the saddle further back and not on top of their withers as I was used to.  They are also ridden with long stirrups with the knee barley bent so it felt weird to me and the taller people’s feet ended up below the horse’s stomach so it looked as if they could drag their feet through the ground.

Wading through the pond

Shortly after we had begun to ride we brought our horses into a tölt which is a gait somewhat like a trot but smoother and it is unique for Icelandic horses.  It was comfortable and smooth and apparently it doesn’t tire a horse out as much as a trot.  We even tried a canter which was pretty advanced since Hendrik had never sat on a horse before but he did very well but lost a stirrup but that is normal for beginners.  We waded our horses into a pond which Imar did not seem to like and at every opportunity tried to escape the water.  Near the end of the ride we climbed atop a small mountain overlooking the farm and the whole valley.  We were able to take some great pictures.  Then we had to go back and it was pretty steep coming up and for me going down something steep is harder on horseback then going up especially since Imar decided he knew a better route than following the trail at one point. I thought he know best since he was the one going down but that was not the case and at one point I was so vertical I thought I was going to fall off.  Afterward, I made sure he stayed on the path.  All in all it was a great and beautiful ride and sunny the whole time.

On top of the hill

After the ride, we ate our lunch which we had packed in the ranch and then set of for Kristiansund, from which the scenic and famous Atlantic Road began. Kristiansund is an island city and to get to it we had to cross over several expensive bridges only to come to a town that wasn’t worth our time.  We decided to spoil ourselves in a nice hotel, Rica.  We wanted to find something to eat and went on trip advisor and found a highly rated fish and chips place.  We decided that would be great since we were in a fishing town.  We arrived at the shop at 6:30 only to see that they close at 6:00.  Most everything else was closed as well.  We thought that was incredibly strange since in many places restaurants don’t even open until 6.  We were quite disappointed because our other options seemed less enticing and much more expensive.  We went into a wanna-be American family style pizzeria chain called Pepe’s Pizza. The service was less than subpar and after getting the menus ourselves and ordering at the bar we were forgotten about.  It wasn’t until the waitress’ friends had come and gone that she noticed us and realized she had forgotten about us for an hour.  She panicked a bit when she saw us and was apologetic but tried to blame the mistake on the server instead of her social life, but she did give us a free appetizer of our choice which was good since we could save some of the pizza for lunch and also gave us 20% off the total bill so all in all it only turned out to be semi-outrageously expensive with all the discounts. We went to use the sauna when we came back to the hotel but we could only use it for about 15 minutes since Pepe’s had drained all of our time and the sauna was turned off at 10.

We headed out of Oslo in the morning and stopped at an Exxon station for breakfast since they also had a coffee shop.  They had a special on coffee and waffles and the attendant gave us two different kinds.  One had strawberry jam which was good but the other had sliced brown goat cheese.  Yuck! Hendrik and I both detest anything that comes out of a goat.  What we didn’t know yet was that this brown goat cheese would follow us all around Norway.  This stuff was ubiquitous and people ate it anytime of day.  At least it was easy to peel off the waffle since it was sliced cheese.

Soon we were out of Oslo and the road quickly turned into a small windy road trough the valley.  We stopped in Lillehammer, by the ski jump where people were training.  The skiers slid down a ramp that was like a water slide with water running down and landed on a grassy types substance and then came to a halt on real grass.  After trying to avoid paying for the minimum for parking which was 4 Euros for three hours a fellow tourist gave us their ticket since no tourist stops there for 3 hours.  In turn we put the ticket on the machine when we left.  We were then able to drive up to the top of the ski jump and venture straight to the area where the jumpers took off.  At the top, parking was free.

Lillehammer ski jump

We drove further up the pretty The Gudbrandsdalen Valley and stopped by the Ringebu stave church.  Further, we spotted signs advertising rafting on the Sjoa River which we were both interested in but when we went to inquire, they said that they need at least 6 people and they didn’t have enough.  We weren’t aware that tourist season was over in Norway at this point.

Ringebu Stave Church

We continued along the road north towards the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park.  Since it was evening it was about time to find someplace to stay. We drove by the cutest hotel with wooden buildings with grass on the roof.  We looked at the menu in the restaurant and it was reasonably priced but it said it closed at 18:00. It was now 18:00.  We were shocked to see a restaurant close at 18:00 since in Belgium many restaurants open at 18:00.  They were also out of rooms which was probably a good thing since looking around we were the only ones there with color still left in our hair.  The next place we stopped at was a campsite that didn’t look too appealing and the lady there looked a bit like a troll so we decided to go elsewhere.  The next place was also a ranch which organized horse rides scoring points with me at least.  We got a room there, even if it was a bit expensive but it included breakfast, internet, and lunch which we later learned.  We ate ramen for dinner since the only place to eat around here was the ranch restaurant and it was of course very expensive. Later in the evening, Hendrik called the rafting place to see if somehow they had collected more people for a trip, but they hadn’t.  So we signed up for a trail ride for the next day instead, which was my first choice anyway.  That night it was only 5 degrees since we were in one of the coldest parts of Norway, so we were glad we were not in our tent.