Norway

The flight was on time and we collected the next rental car and drove to Eidfjord to our airbnb which we had booked for the abandoned 2020 trip and was available again. It was in a lovely position at the end of a fjord. From setting off from Bergen the mountains and views were incredible - so much better than Sweden and Finland.

The next day we went to the Voringsfossen waterfalls which were amazing. In the afternoon we walked up for the view above the airbnb then along to see some Viking burial mounds. The village was very peaceful....different story the following day when a cruise ship arrived and docked right at the dock edge.

Kjeasen is an area a short drive away where a farm was built at the top of a mountain - all materials were carried up by hand. We parked at the power station and started the hike. It was quite slippy and there were ropes, steep slopes and ladders to negotiate. It was tiring. We stopped after about an hour and decided to turn back as if we had continued we knew what we were faced with on the return. Once back at the car we drove up to the farm on a road and through a tunnel which is supposedly one way up on the hour and down on the half hour. We had met some Germans when we were descending on our hike and they had made it to the top. However, they did not want to return the same way and had been hoping to walk down along the road. Pedestrians are banned from tunnels so we gave them a lift back to the car park. 

Because the cruise ship was in the fiddle museum was open. We had a great chat with the curator and the fiddles were beautiful but no photos were allowed. 

The forecast for the next day was rain all day and, after an abortive trip to see a bridge, we stayed in and chilled. Our host brought us homemade cakes (she is a chef) but they were all nutty.

There are many apple trees here and they are laden with apples. I hadn't realised that Scandinavians drink cider.

We left Eidfjord in the sun so saw the suspension bridge in all it's glory. We stopped at a waterfall then had a relatively cheap coffee in a Joker supermarket. Finally we reached Flam and walked around the village into the museum and even the shops. Our accommodation was a bit further round the fjord at a campsite. This was the cheapest accommodation I could find in the area and I was a bit nervous that it would be skanky. Luckily we were upgraded to a better than standard cabin.

The main reason for visiting the area was to take the tourist train up to Myrdal then walk back down to town. We caught an early train which stopped at a thunderous waterfall before making it's way up the mountain. The walk down was 14 miles and it was wonderful - no-one around, lovely views etc. 

The road down

On the way to our next stop in Olden we went through more tunnels - one had a light show half way, others we have used on this trip had different coloured lights to denote the quarters and half way. A couple even had a roundabout deep in the tunnel. 

Our host met us but had got out of his sick bed - we tried not to have too much contact having only just recovered from whatever we had had. The apartment had fabulous views over the fjord. We walked up to a viewpoint.

The drive and first view of the glacier

View from the apartment

The plan had been to take the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and hike to see the glacier. It was expensive and the weather was not good. Our host had recommended another way to see the glacier so we took his advice. The walk was interesting with information boards along the way and we had a great view of the glacier. It started to rain in the afternoon so we drove to Loen and sat overlooking the fjord for our lunch.

The final road trip was to Alversund near Bergen. It rained most of the way and when we arrived we had to abandon any thought of a walk as it was torrential rain and hail. 

Lunch stop:

We diverted on our way to the airport so we could drive through Bergen and see the famous coloured buildings in the old harbour.