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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We spent our second day in Oslo in the open air museum or the Norwegian Folk Museum after a breakfast at 7-11. There, there are many buildings from various time periods and districts of Norway and also indoor exhibits. It was a bit kitsch and a tourist trap but also interesting too.

Then we took the ferry to the castle and caught the last guided tour, since it closed at 16:00. It was interesting but rushed. Afterward, I dragged Hendrik to the Vigeland Sculpture Park since I had seen it on a postcard and it looked like a place where tourists were supposed to go. It houses many statues by Gustav Vigeland and both of us thought it was very cool. The statues were of nude bodies in various positions representing various stages of life and even though they were quite bulky they formed the park and it all flowed together well.

After Hendrik took a nap in the grass, under the sun, which we were very pleased had accompanied us the whole day it was that time to find food again which wasn’t going to put us into the poor house. Hendrik had a meal at McDonald’s and I got a salad at a sandwich shop which I ate at the campsite. We still spent about 10 Euros each.

 

It rained the whole drive up to Oslo, and since we had planned on camping, we were weary of the circumstances. We even put another campsite which offered cabins into our GPS. Right as we entered the vicinity of Oslo, the sky opened and the sun peaked through so we decided we could pitch a tent. We went to the original campsite which was Ekeberg camping and were able to set up our tent right before it started to rain again. Regardless of the dry fluke in the weather, this was far from comfort, but when looking at the price tags of hotels in Oslo, the campsite which was far from cheap for a campsite seemed like the only affordable option. Soon enough we were headed to Oslo on a city bus. It was only about 15 minutes by bus and then we were free to sight-see. After unwillingly paying close to 10 Euros each for a sandwich at 7-11 we went to look at the palace and City Hall including the room in which the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place.

I was surprised to see that the building along with the statues around it reminded me of Russia and its towering communist structures and massive statues depicting people hard at work.
Afterwords we went shopping again since Hendrik’s shoes were completely soaked from putting up a tent. They were also old and worn and we had planned on going hiking. So he bought himself shoes that could withstand the wet. Clothing was not more expensive than it is in Belgium, but finding food which wasn’t going to be more painful to eat than not to eat even though our stomachs were rumbling because of the price was a challenge. Now this challenge awaited us and we had to find somewhere to eat that wouldn’t bankrupt us. It was about 3 times as much we would pay in Belgium and 5 times as much as the US. We were able to connect to the internet on an unsecured network and looked up the “best deal” restaurants in Oslo on TripAdvisor. The first one was hardly a deal let alone even appropriate price and the second was a real Chinese restaurant, and we prefer the westernized ones. Near it there was a kebab/pizza shop which was relatively decent priced. We both ordered a pizza and it turned out that the pizzas were huge, we both had half left for lunch the next day.
Afterwords, we wandered around some more and visited the opera house. Oslo was definitely trying to revitalize its harbor, but if they want to succeed in having a Sydney-like harbor they need to get rid of the massive highway that pretty much encircles the opera house. The only way to access it is by pedestrian bypasses over the streets. The Opera House itself is amazing and more impressive than Sydney’s. It stuck out on the harbor like a beacon of light reflecting in the water. The whole thing was encompassed with a relatively flat roof so you could walk all the way to the roof for views of Oslo. People just hung out at the top playing cards and socializing. The inside was pretty neat too. It was very modern and the design did not disappoint.

In the morning, we headed straight to Sweden through Malmo over the Øresund bridge, the longest and quite possibly the most expensive highway and railroad bridge in Europe. Unfortunately there wasn’t a place to stop to take pictures of the engineering wonder. Out stop for today was Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. The city seemed to be one big shopping mall and we had never seen so many H&Ms in such close proximity that they all seemed to stream into one gigantic H&M complex engulfing the whole city. No matter which direction we would turn the red H&M sign was sure to be somewhere in sight.
So we did what everyone else seemed to be doing in the city and went shopping. We had come across rain too often already in our brief stay in Scandinavia, so we decided it was best if we get proper raincoats. We were headed towards a country where it rains more than it doesn’t. We live in Belgium, anyway so I’m sure we’d use them again. After shopping, we ate Indian take away in our room at the B&B we were staying in since it cost quite a bit extra to eat in and oriental food is a little bit cheaper than other kinds of food in Scandinavia.

I was jarred awake or more like startled out of a semi-relaxed state by bombs exploding on the canvas above. It was pouring and suddenly the inside of the low tent seemed pretty agreeable. Eventually it let up a bit, and we dared to venture out of our polyester cave. Rain always makes a tent seem like a battlefield, but outside the rain had practically stopped. Packing up a wet tent is never fun, and everything we had and ourselves ended up damp. It was very early in the morning and we felt like the only creatures alive. So much so that we joked that the apocalypse had eradicated everyone but the ones who were sleeping hidden away deep in a forest or perhaps it was because we had watched episodes of Jericho on the laptop in our tent before trying to go to sleep. Either way, the countryside had an eerie feel of abandonment. The far and few farms occasionally had an Icelandic horse or two grazing in the pastures. We were worried about finding food since we were both hungry. We stopped in Kolding because it was the nearest largest city and because the Rough Guide had acclaimed its castle.

We followed signs for a car park and low and behold in front of us, right next to the car park, there was an open coffee shop. I must say that Danishes did not receive their name in vain and that it was the best I’ve ever had. Luckily or unluckily, depending how you look at it, the coffee shop was literally the only open shop in the entire city. We wondered through the ghost-town like streets noticing all the lemon and lime rinds which were scattered on the street like confetti, after a rough Saturday night, before the apocalypse of course. The only other people we saw were a few “walk of shamers.”
The castle was relatively disappointing as was the city as a whole. The next stop was Copenhagen. To get there we had to cross over an amazing but awfully expensive bridge. It stretched from an adorable island with the cutest lighthouse on top of a small hill to the opposite end. With dark rolling clouds lurking above it it was cutely eerie. We had a hotel booked but since it was only about noon we highly doubted we’d be let into our room yet. We were pleasantly surprised when we were handed a key. It was nap time since we were pretty much dead and even though it was a budget hotel it seemed like the most luxurious bed, and we were quickly swept away into dreamland. After about an hour we were awakened by what we think were other guests trying to open our door by accident. It was a good thing because we only had one day to sight see Copenhagen and would have slept away the afternoon. After a shower, we went exploring but first we had to find something to eat. Hendrik was determined to eat smørrebrød literally meaning “bread and butter” but really was just an open sandwich. Every café and restaurant which offered it had an awful price tag along with it. The travel book said to only pay a third of the price, so we wandered from eatery to eatery gaining hunger and annoyance. Eventually it began to pour the type of rain that if you stood outside for 3 seconds you’d look as if you had just gone for a swim. It had more pressure than out shower. We ducked into the nearest joint and decided this had to be it. Hendrik was disappointed in his smørrebrød because they did not have the one he wanted and because it was a sandwich that he had to put together himself. I had nachos which were huge. We also discovered that internet was easy to come by and most places offered it for free including this café/bar. After we were fed, our email had been checked, and the rain had subdued, we saw all the sites we considered to be major such as the palace, the marble church, and of course we had to make our way to the mermaid. We walked across the whole town, even though Hendrik said he had heard that it was not there. Upon approaching the famous alcove where the mermaid is supposed to be perched upon a rock we were greeted with a screen which had a live stream of the mermaid as it sat in its temporary new home in Shanghai where it was on display for the World Expo.

The closest we got to the statue were the ones which a vendor was trying to sell next to the screen, and for some reason he still seemed to be doing good business. We stared at the screen for a bit along with other disgruntled tourists, and I do admit the building in which the mermaid was, was very sleek and modern looking, but I wouldn’t expect anything else from the Danish designers. There were some swimmers prancing around the statue. One of the spectators who was filming the screen told us that one of them was their daughter. They were the only happy spectators in the bunch, the rest of us were fully disappointed. Afterwords, to drown our sorrow, Hendrik had an 8 Euro Carlsberg in Nyhavn and we were quickly disappointed by a new revelation, we simply could not afford to drink alcohol in a bar or restaurant and it had the revers effect of what we were going for, to cheer up. At least we had brought half a case of Jupiler with us.