I'm back! Back from the interesting land of Norway! I say "interesting" because I was baffled/amazed by a lot of things there. Let me preface this post by saying Norway is a GORGEOUS place that everyone should see before they die. Basically the entire country is UNESCO and on the World Heritage list. Despite the rain and windy weather, the fjords and scenery were still breath-taking. And our "Norway in a Nutshell" tour made traveling from place to place easy and worry-free. Here's a play-by-play so you can understand why I loved (parts of) Norway in its own special way:
Flew to Bergen. The flight was delayed (as written in my last post from the plane!), so I arrived at my hostel at 12:30 am. Needless to say, I was exhausted, so it was unfortunate that I was rooming with 17 strangers in one room, which was pitch black when I entered, and I couldn't even see to properly make my bed. Struggles on struggles. But I survived my first hostel experience!
DAY 1: CRAZY LONG DAY
Woke up at 6 am (eek so early!). Met Rhett, Maggie's friend from UNC that traveled with us, and we bussed to the train station, finally meeting Maggie there around 7:45. We left on the train for Voss, then took a bus from Voss to Gudvangen, and then a fjord cruise to Flam! Despite the drizzle, we stood on the deck, taking great pictures an absorbing the beauty. After arriving in flam (which is a teeny town), we checked into our hostel and went for a hike. Now, let me explain this hike. We read about it on a "Flam hiking" list, and it was called a "Category 3: hike with climb", so we thought it would be doable. It was through a farm area and up to a waterfall, so it sounded great. As we start the "climb" part, we realize it is a straight upward climb on a barely marked path through the mountain up to the waterfall. Oh, and did I mention there were grazing sheep EVERYWHERE? Literally all over our path and next to us. Rhett touched a lamb. Insane. Anyway, we majorly struggle up this mountain, FINALLY reaching the top of the waterfall. We head back down and it starts raining harder, so the path gets very slippery, and Rhett steps on a part of the path that gives and he falls, dislocating his pinky finger. Like, very visibly dislocating it, with the knuckle completely bent to one side. Not good. So when we get back to the hostel, the nice hostel owner called us a taxi to the nearest hospital, which was 40 km away! (What happens if someone has a heart attack or is violently ill? Do they just die?! That shocked me.) after a $200 cab ride (outrageous -- classic Norway ridiculously high prices, though), we get to the hospital, and it's basically deserted. We FINALLY found a doctor, who agreed to treat Rhett even though he didn't have an appointment - apparently Norway doesn't have ERs, and you have to schedule all hospital visits. So strange. (Again, what do sick/injured people do if there's a real emergency?) But after three hours and another $150 cab ride, Rhett's finger is popped back in and we're home. Oh, and it only cost Rhett $300 for x-rays, painkillers, and treatment, so the cab rides cost more than getting his finger fixed. RIDICULOUS! That was a long, long day.
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| First fjord! |
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| Brekkefossen Waterfall |
DAY 2: ADVENTURE DAY!
Maggie and I signed up for a kayaking trip, so we traversed the Sonjefjord via kayak for four hours! It was fun when it wasn't raining or super windy or severely splashing us... Which was only 25% of the time. But we survived it, and we got to stop at a cool waterfall that had a rainbow over it, too. After a nap, Rhett joined us for a fjord safari down three of the most beautiful fjords. We had to wear massive "fisherman suits", gloves, hats, and goggles to keep us warm, and to protect us from the pelting rain. Despite the weather, it was still beautiful, and we saw waterfalls and glaciers aplenty. We also stopped in a tiny town called Undredal, which is famous for its brown goat cheese, and we got to taste it. Mmmm! It was so delicious, Maggie and I bought some to take back to Copenhagen. No regrets. We called it an early night, all huddling under our covers for warmth and passing out soon after.
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| Goat cheese tasting |
DAY 3: TRAVELING ONWARD
Finally, the weather cleared up and it was sunny and warm out! In the morning we hiked to Otternes, an old Viking farm town, but when we got there, we found out you had to pay $10 to walk around the town. Again, classic expensive Norway. So we hiked back and stopped to have a picnic on the fjord along the way. We even spotted two seals in the water! After, we went to the beach for an hour and rested, then it was time to leave. We boarded the 1-hour Flam Railway, famous for being the steepest train in the world, and also for having great views. It was a tad overrated, in my opinion, but we passed some epic waterfalls. Then we transferred to a 5-hour train to Oslo, which had great views of meting glaciers, snow, and little farmhouses. We hopped off the train and walked to our hostel, which we were very displeased with in the end. Here's why:
They charged us an extra $10 for linens. The hallways were dirty, the paint was peeling, and the bathroom was disgustingly dirty. At 6 am, two girls who had clearly been out all night came in the room and made SO MUCH NOISE. In all, it was a bad hostel experience. :/
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| Our beautiful view from Flam |
DAY 4: BYE BYE NORWAY
After leaving the hostel, Rhett and I accompanied Maggie to the train station because she had an earlier flight than us. After Maggie left, Rhett and I visited a Viking Ship museum, which sounded cool. But after a 30-minute bus ride, we were very underwhelmed when there were two total ships in the museum, and it cost us $7 to enter. Bummer. Not wanting to spend money, we walked through a weird sculpture park, with strange naked sculptures everywhere. Not our cup of tea. So we left for the airport early because there was nothing else to do. Basically, Oslo was a major let-down. So if you're reading this post, do not go to Oslo! Go to other parts of Norway. Despite our Oslo disappointment, though, I really did love Norway. I'm very excited to sleep in my own bed back in Copenhagen tonight, though. All in all, a successful break in Norway! Now for DIS session 2.
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| One of the two Viking ships |
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