Norway

Here is an example of the small cabins we have been staying in, cosy to say the least but some have a fridge and a hot plate.

The famous Bergen waterfront. Old buildings dating back to the 1600's when Bergen was one of the main trading centers in Europe.

The Trollstigen(the trolls cape)Pass twists and turns 11 times it makes its way from 800 metres down to sea level. It was started in 1928 and finished in 1936. As we rode down the mountian we passed several cyclist on their way up.

The end of the Geiranger Fiord with 4 cruiseships sharing our harbour.

Typical old cottage, many roofs back then and today have sod with grass, shrubs and small trees growing on them. Notice the fruit trees growing beside the cottage.

A view across a fiord...just a nice view.

One of the MANY waterfalls along the road.

On the Hardanger Pass,which lays between Oslo and Bergen, we rode by glaciers and glacier lakes, the pass was spotted with many little vacation cottages in use for hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Ken having a bite to eat after our cruise up the Geiranger Fiord.



Norway...what can I say it has been accosting our senses ever since we cross the border from Sweden. We left the torential rains behind as we assended the Hardanger Pass, on the top we found views of glaciers, small mountian villages and still frozen glacier lakes. Then we twisted down into the very old and picturesque city of Bergen, with its famous and colourful waterfront.

Many of the highways around the major centers are toll roads but they are free for motorcycles...yeh one less expense because let me tell you there are many more. Gas is $2.55 a litre and there are many ferries along the way criss-crossing the fiords and they all cost at least $15 a pop for a 10-20 minuite ride. They tend to like ferries here opposed to bridges but we did see one bridge in the making that will be Norway's highest when it is finished. It is amazing the expense they have put into the roads here, so many tunnels, ferries and miles and miles of roads twisting through mountian passes and along the water. Of course, the prices are not outrageous to the norwegians, they have the worlds leading economy and their wages are approximately twice ours.

After leaving Bergen we rode some of the narrowest and twistiest highways yet, it took us all day to travel just over 200 km. Roads cut into the side of the fiords joining small villages were not wide enough to pass another vehicle, pullouts are plentiful and work well as long as you keep your eyes open. There is no time to speed here on these roads. Most times though I would have to say that the Norwegians prefer to "go through it", they will put in a tunnel just to reach a village of around 100-200 people. The longest tunnel we have had to go through was around 9 km. it even had a traffic circle inside with another highway taking off inside the mountian in another direction.

At one of our campsites the owner gave us some tips on what to see in the area not far away, namely the Geiranger Fiord and the Trolstigen pass. We have to thank her for that! We caught a ferry up the Geiranger Fiord, $70 for the bike, Ken and I, one hour and ten minutes with our mouths hanging open in awe. Some of the cliffs that lined the side of the fiord were close to 700 metres straight up and made of solid granite. Along the way the guide on the boat pointed out old farms that were located on the steep banks, small plots of land where they kept goats, cows, and horses(we have no idea how they got the animals up to the farm). They grew hay and fruit and raised their families there for generations, they had to tie and tether the children so they wouldn't fall off the steep cliffs. The farmers would reach their farm via a ladder up from the sea below, which was handy when it was time for the tax collectors to come around because they just pulled up the rope and the tax man couldn't come up the cliff. At the end of the fiord we found 4 large cruiseships anchored so needless to say the little village at port was very busy so we made a picnic a few miles down the road, before the big climb out of the fiord.

On the top of the pass we encountered snow and lots of it, not on the road but deep banks cut into the side of the road and glaciers beyond. At the end of the mountian pass, just as we were ready to descend, we thought maybe the road came to an end because it literally dropped down and zigzaged its way down the very steep side of the mountian. The view was tremendous as was the ride down.

Up and down mountians, across water, wind and rain...I have been wearing just about every piece of clothing and riding gear I have, in fact I bought another pair of long johns yesterday so I have something else to wear when I have to do laundry! The cool weather is the only not so good(I can't bring myself to say bad)thing we are up against here. We love Norway, the landscapes are unbelievable, that being said...I think maybe we have some terrian simular to these in Canada but we do not have the roads to access them like the norwegians to here.

After checking the weather this morning it looks as if we are changing our direction again. Instead of heading to Lofonten, where they predict rain for the next week, we will go back to Sweden and look for more favourable temperatures.