As my previously planned trips were cancelled I had to regroup and decide on something within Norway so I started looking at options, and there are many. I finally decided to do a part of the country I've actually lived in for a year, but still have seen very little of. I was younger and I wasn't all that into going on hikes. Over the last 10-15 years however I've gotten more and more interested in traveling and hiking in beautiful places while taking photos. Maybe the evolution of mobile cameras and compact cameras plays a part in me growing to like hiking too. So I'm going to tell you about my 9 day holiday in the western parts of my country. And I'm sorry, but this is a long one. I guess I have a lot to say about these beautiful places with spectacular views.
I started with a bus, a subway, 2 trainrides and another bus. The first two would have been a train any other time of the year though. Getting to Åndalsnes by train from Oslo is quite alright, the first train ride takes a little more than 2 hours (to Lillehammer). The second train ride is absolutely beautiful, Rauma banen takes about 3,5 hours and the views are amazing. I took another 2 hour bus ride to start my holiday in Ålesund.
Arriving in Ålesund I checked into the camping cabin I rentet and then went to explore the area called Aksla, which is a beautiful forested park-like area above the city. It started raining while I was there and I ended up trying to find shelter, even though I did have an umbrella, but by the time I found shelter it had stopped raining. I guess that's the west of Norway (vestlandet) for you. After getting a few photos (okay, maybe more than a few) of the view from the lookout points over the city I went down the 418 steps and geocached a little in the city. After getting some food from a supermarket I decided to go back up the steps a little because I'd walked right passed a geocache without realising. I didn't manage to find it though, the view was pretty cool however as the sun was getting low.
On my first full day in Ålesund I got up early and left the cabin before 7am. I started the day exploring more of Aksla. And it was beautiful and peaceful this friday morning. After spending a few hours in the area I went down to the city and found a cafe for an early lunch. My goal for the day was to be conquered after some food. And so, after the meal, I took a buss to the outer parts of the city area and started up the trail to Sukkertoppen. On the way there was sun, clouds, a little rain. I kept putting my jacket on and taking it off again. I took my time getting up there, but didn't feel it was too difficult and the view at the top is amazing.
When I got back to my cabin I showered had a little nap and then put on a little make up. I thought I'd see if I could find some food and maybe a drink or two in town, so I walked towards the city centre. It seemed there were a lot of people in the few restaurants/bars I passed though so I opted for a chicken burger from a fast food kind of place and found a bench, the weather was alright after all. And the pistachio milkshake was pretty good. As always with this place however, it started raining. Luckily I'd finished my food by then and was near a place I had found on the map for drinks. But it turned out most of Norway had started travelling within the country and this place, as well as many others, was full. Because of the rain I decided to wait a bit though and got a table after about 15 minutes, but it was outside. I had one drink before I started walking towards the area where the buses passed. As I was walking I decided to try one more place for a drink before heading back. And I quite liked the place, they also had plenty of room, until around 11pm. It seems this place, Brooklyn, is popular among several age groups for partying on the weekend. I left before it got too crowded, but decided I'd try it again the next day.
Saturday in Ålesund was not a sunny day. I decided to sleep in a little since the weather forcast said rain, and I propably needed it. I was still out the door before 11am and got the bus to Atlanterhavsparken, which is an aquarium. Being there I would at least have the option of going inside. The real action was outside though and I quickly found I didn't really mind getting wet, the reward was worth it. The animals outside were so active and the oters were super charming. I could take photos of these beautiful creatures all day. And it's not every day you get to see a baby seal get milk from their mother. I truly loved being at the park. As I had gotten so much for the money though, and the oter feeding didn't really give me much, also this crowd is not really right during a pandemic, I decided to leave the park about an hour before closing, and before the seal feeding.
By this time I had learned that my aunt who had not planned on coming to Ålesund had arrived and rented the cabin next to me. So after a quick trip by the city centre for a few things I went back to the campground. After a shower and a little rest my aunt went to get pizza and we ate in her cabin, which was much nicer than mine by the way. My cabin seemed run down and the door didn't exactly seal tight, I kept having to kill bugs, and the wind made it cold. The view was amazing, but it would have been nice to not freeze and get mosquito bites at night. After dinner I went to get a drink at the bar from the night before, unfortunately my aunt couldn't come because of her dog. I was lucky that a couple of people wanted to sit at my table (with distance) and it was cool chatting with them while enjoying a couple of drinks. And when I got back to the cabins my aunt was still up, so we ate left over pizza and chatted some more. So overall, despite the rain, my Saturday in Ålesund was a great day.
The next morning I got up early to pack and catch a buss towards town. My next destination was Geiranger, the spectacular fjord you see at the top of this blogpost, and I was getting there by Hurtigruten. When I got to the harbour the waiting room was closed, not ideal this cold rainy morning. And one of the girls waiting with me found out from a friend on the boat that it was quite a bit delayed. It's annoying when you find out you could have slept for another hour instead of waiting in the rain.
When the boat finally arrived they let a few passengers on at a time as everyone had to be scanned for a fever and prove they’d filled out a form about corona, or they had to fill it out before being checked in. It didn’t take too long though, and after leaving my backpack I could go explore the boat. I found a cafe and decided to get a pastry as I was a little hungry, it was a pretty expensive pastry, but at least it was fresh. As it was raining and the most exciting part of the journey was still a couple of hours away I found myself a chair in a room with big windows and relaxed for a while. The last two hours were mostly spent out on the deck despite the weather though. I was a little disappointed the deck was only at the back of the boat, not the front, but the view was still impressive as we were making our way through the Geiranger fjord. When we got close everyone getting off was told to get down below, and to my surprise Hurtigruten doesn’t go all the way into Geiranger. From what I understand they have trouble turning if they go all the way to the docks. So we were told to go down to the car deck and were guided down onboard a smaller boat. This boat took us the last few hundred meters into Geiranger.
From there I had over 2km to walk, as luck would have it I didn’t have to go alone though. As I was getting my backpack before getting off Hurtigruten a girl getting hers next to mine asked if I was alone as she was too, and we were going to the same area, Homlong. This made the 30 minute walk with 15kg on my back not seem that bad. Before parting we added eachother on facebook and agreed to message one another later. As the weather was still a bit wet and I was tired I wanted a nap before anything else. I got checked in, and again the view from the cabin was amazing, but the cabin was seriously worn and dark inside, and the paint was flaking off outside. The bathrooms and showers were even worse. This place, Homlong camping, is in serious need of an upgrade. I’m guessing the only reason they’re still in business is the fact that this is one of Norways most popular destinations and when everywhere else is full people will come here. (There is no online booking, I did book via phone in advance though and arrived before the desperate travellers with no booking so at least I got the cabin with the best location.)
After a nap I checked the weather forecast and messaged my new friend. 40 minutes later she was outside and we started walking back towards town. After running into geocachers and that way getting an easy find (on my part, they’d been searching for a while), and a quick stop at the supermarket, we started making our way up through town. We walked by the waterfall, found another geocache, and explored paths and trails. We had a lovely walk and got the evening view from above the town. By the time we got back to our cabins it was past midnight but not yet completely dark. Norwegian summers; hot, cold, wet and light until late (or all night if you’re a little further north).
The first full day I had in Geiranger was spent walking a trail from the area I was living in. I started out early, and knowing my new friend wanted to sleep longer I didn’t message her when I got up. The first order of business was finding a geocache and once that was found around 7:30am it was time to start the trail, which started out pretty steep. I was climbing higher this day than I had previously, about the double actually. It was a beautiful hike though and there were many beautiful lookout points where I could rest a little.
The trail was well marked by the fact that they had cut the grass and weed on both sides of it, and walking in the lush green forest with the blue water in the fjord shining through on the north side was pretty amazing. It did feel like I was walking forever though, it felt like I walked a lot further than I did, but with a 500 meter climb in a couple of km I guess that is to be expected. When I finally made it to Homlong sætra I was really unsure if I should turn around, my real goal had been Skageflå though and I still hadn’t gotten the view I really wanted. So I checked the weather forecast and decided I could afford to go a bit further without getting rain on my way back, which I really didn’t want. And a few hundred meters later I found what I wanted; a fantastic view of the fjord across from the waterfalls called the Seven sisters. I got my photos and enjoyed the view for a while and then decided I could turn around. I had found what I wanted and I was happy. You know that good feeling when you’ve accomplished what you wanted, I definitely had that. I found a snack in my backpack and started walking back with a smile on my face. I ran into my new friend on the way down, as she was going up, she had decided to walk the whole way. We agreed to get in touch about dinner a little later and went in separate directions.
As I hadn’t had too much sleep the night before I had a shower, yes in the horrible shower, and then had a nap. I got a message when my friend was on her way back, unfortunately for her she did get rain on her way back, but she would get ready as soon as she could. So I started getting ready for dinner, it was nice to get a bit of makeup on and feel fresh. When we got into town we soon realised there was a line to get in anywhere to eat, so we chose a restaurant that didn’t seem to have too much of a line. Being a picky eater I was a little concerned but we looked at the menu while waiting in line and I decided I would actually have a burger (not my normal choice when it’s not chicken, but it had a side of real potatos and I wanted that). I think we waited for around 20 minutes or so, but we finally got a table.
I had hoped for a table inside, but outside was better than nothing. And we did enjoy our meals and I thoroughly enjoyed the glass of wine I got with the food. After dinner we stopped by the chocolate shop Geiranger sjokolade, the chocolate is made there and we wanted to try some. So I got a few flavours to take home and we got chili hot chocolates to go. The warm spicy drink was perfect for the late walk back to the cabins. When we arrived we said our goodbyes and promissed to stay in touch, she was continuing her journey the next day while I still had a full day left in Geiranger.
The next day I started out around 8am, it was raining a little bit but according to the forecast it would stop soon. I walked towards town, a walk that seemed so much longer now that I was walking it alone for the first time, and then went up the steps by the waterfall. I found a geocache and then started the chosen trail for the day. As always I was going up. The morning was a little magical as the rain had stopped and there were low clouds hanging by the mountain sides. For a lack of an English word for this I’m going to use a Norwegian one, it was Trollsk, basically meaning a troll like mood. When nature gives you feelings like this you can almost believe in trolls and other Norwegian folklore creatures.
As I got closer to a little farm, and restaurant, there was a break in the tree line and the view was absolutely breathtaking. The low clouds were moving fast, the sun coming in from the east, it was beautiful and still magical. Moments like these are why I like walking in the morning, even though I’m naturally a nightowl. Getting closer to the farm I saw some animals I think may have gotten lost, last time I checked they don’t really belong on this continent, although it seems more and more farms do get them here. Llamas were not what I expected to find in the Norwegian hillside though. I could almost recreate the photo I have from Machu Picchu in Peru. I soon discovered I had to go through the gate to the animals and some of them were hanging out by the gate so I was careful not to let anyone out and closed the gate properly behind me. The trail I was walking goes through fields of grazing animals, I didn’t see too many on my way up, but I saw a few resting sheep and some goats down the side of the path. I walked across this field for a little while and not until after walking in a stream doubling as a trail and up a steep rocky part where you needed the help of a rope did I reach a gate at the other end.
I kept walking and found a beautiful lookout point, I’ll admit there was a danger sign by this lookout point, but I did feel rather safe. And as I was looking out, debating if I should set up my tripod (which I did), I noticed movement down the mountain side. I quickly got my camera out and found there were a few birds down there, birds of prey it seemed. I zoomed in as much as I could and got photos of them. The photos are not as good as I would have liked, but at that distance it’s the best I could do with my compact camera. I’ve later found out they were most likely kestrels, I’m not sure if they were all the same species or if I saw more though. After marvelling at these birds for a while and taking some tripod selfies I continued up to Løsta, which is the name of the destination of this trail. The view from the top was cool, but I think I prefered the cliff where I could see the birds. Walking back down I met more of the inhabitants behind the gates, and there were so many of them. Some were curious, some didn’t care that I was there, they were walking towards and past me though. And one sheep demanded petting, it walked up and put its head against my stomach.
When I got back to the restaurant I ordered a waffle with icecream, mostly because I needed to eat something and they didn’t have a lot I like on the menu. After the expensive waffle I decided to keep exploring a little more before finding the shortcuts along the road back to town. After finding another lookout point and then deciding it was enough for the day I called my parents and started walking down while talking to them. As I started getting closer to town I suddenly had a helicopter over my head, I was still on the phone and we speculated what it could be. I’m not mentioning this to actually talk about what had happened, but as it affected my mood, and the mood in the whole town this evening I'm choosing to mention it. A little closer to town I saw another helicopter and as they circled above it was difficult to hear the other end of the call. We hung up and decided to talk again later. By the time I got down to the shop I had seen a third helicopter and a couple of ambulances. There had been an accident I will not talk about, other than to say it shook the whole community. After getting some food from the shop I found a bench and sat down as I didn’t want to cross the bridge the police had closed off until I absolutely had to. I was not alone however as many people gathered around the benches by the water waiting, dreading. You could feel the tention in the air. I think I sat for an hour or so, maybe it was more, I talked a little with a family and played Pokemon Go allongside the kids. But I was tired and I knew I still had a bit of a walk ahead once I got across the bridge. The police let me pass with no problems and I started the walk back while I called my parents again. I needed to talk. I spent the rest of the eventing on my little balcony, looking out on the commotion that was still not over in town. I went to bed fairly early as I had to pack up the next morning.
I left the cabin around 9am, which was later than I had intended, but since there was nowhere to store my backpack before 9am I wouldn’t be able to go very far anyways. So I made my way into town and left my backpack at the information/ticket office. There were still a couple of geocaches I hadn’t found in the area, so I found them and then found a cafe for some food. I believe this cafe had been closed a couple of days earlier, which I though was strange when Norwegians had started travelling. But I was happy to find it open this morning, they had a pretty decent sandwich and the cinnamonbun was really good. After the meal I got some souvenirs and then collected my backback. I was quite surprised to fint there was only one other person on the bus when we left Geiranger, but I didn’t mind the quiet. I got a quick stop at the famous Ørnesvingen lookout point, and got to strech my legs again a couple of times on the way to the ferry. Talking to the bus driver on the ferry I learned that the other passenger was getting off soon, and as I had mentioned that I was going to the next tourist stop the next day he had another suggestion. And it was a great suggestion, I got 10 minutes at Gudbrandsjuvet, which is another example of how beautiful nature truly is.
I arrived at the campground in Åndalsnes in the late afternoon and the plan was to hike to Rampestreken. I honestly didn’t feel like it at this point, but I knew it would be my only chance to do so on this trip, so I changed and started walking. It took me about 30 minutes to get to the staring point of the trail, and there it starts going up fast.
The first part of the trail is a ramp, and then it’s steep, rocky and muddy. And of course it had to start raining, on the one day I was not prepared for it and on my toughest hike. By the time I got to Rampestreken (at 537 meters above sealevel) I was tired and getting wet, but there was a line to go out onto Rampestreken (which is a steal construction sticking out from the mountainside). I was not about to stand in line for that, and I felt I needed the view at the top, so I kept walking. The last part was not fun, it was slippery and I was getting really wet. But I made it, I hiked all the way to Nesaksla at 715 meters. Shortly after I arrived at the top the rain stopped and the sun came out again. It had been pretty warm before it started raining and luckily the water seemed to dry up pretty fast. I had a long photo session up there, after all I had spent hours getting up there. The view really was beautiful. On my way down the line for Rampestreken was almost gone so I got my photo, which is also a virtual geocache. Walking down went a little faster and other than a couple of muddy areas it was ok to walk, but my knees were killing me by the time I got down and I had worn myself out completely. I realised I wouldn’t make it back to the campground in time to get food from the cafe/restaurant there, so I looked up supermarkets on the way. My dinner was a banana, crispbread and a muffin. It was nearly 11pm by the time I got to the cabin and I don’t think I remember ever being this tired. I showered quickly and got to bed. I had to get up early again the next day.
On the last full day of my trip I was out the door before 8am and went to the nearest bus stop to wait for my bus. I was actually early and had to wait for a while, but at least it was a beautiful morning and the mountains around me were mirrored in the river. I was taking the bus up to the famous Trollstigen, where there is a lookout point, and then I would go for a hike in the area. I really have to give praise to the bus drivers of this route, they’re nice, communicative and they stop in different places. This morning the driver stopped at his favourite spot, at the bottom of Trollstigen looking up at Stigfossen, a fantastic waterfall. This bus route (220 between Geiranger and Åndalsnes in the summer) ended up really giving me value for my money with both scheduled stops and a couple of unscheduled ones, if you really want to take in the view of Trollstigen I would recommend doing what I did though as the 20-25 minute scheduled stop is a little short to get all the way out to the lookout points on the walkway and have time to enjoy the view.
At the top of Trollstigen I said «see you later» to the driver as he would pick me up on his way back 5-6 hours later, and then I made my way to the lookout points. Being there at around 9am meant it wasn’t crowded yet and I got some good photos of my self and of the view. When I felt I had gotten what I wanted from the lookout point I started looking for the geocache hidden near the walkway. It took me a while because the GPS on my phone wasn’t working properly, but I found that and another one before it was time for the hike. On this last hike my destination was a small body of water at 1000 meters. The trail I went up was really steep and I have to say I didn’t like that. I knew there was another way down, which I had planned on taking anyways, and I was just hoping that wouldn’t be as steep. I was surprised at how quickly I climed this though, as the estimated time online was 1 hour I expected to spend at least 1,5 hours. But I did it in 1 hour and 10 minutes.
I was also surprised to see all the snow, I was expecting to see a lake, instead I saw a little bit of water in the middle of a snow covered area. The wind was a lot colder up there than it was just a few meters down as well. I spent some time taking photos of the view towards the road and mountains on the other side of it, and of the snow covered lake before moving on over a seriously narrow bridge and down another trail. The trail down was better, although I did have to cross a couple of patches of snow on my way down. When I got down to the road I crossed it and a small bridge to get some photos of the beautiful nature. There is a river/waterfall that runs along the road and there are beautiful mountain flowers growing along the water. After getting the photos I had two choices, going back via a trail over the mountain side, or walking along the road. I was tired and hungry so I chose the road. I was pretty happy with that as well, the river along the road truly is beautiful. As I got back down to the lookout point area I got some souvenirs and then went into the cafe for some food. I had quite some time to kill before the bus arrived but I was just too tired, so after my meal I just sat in the sun.
As I was so tired, but still wanted to enjoy the warm weather in Åndalsnes when I got back I got an icecream and sat on my little terrace for a bit. Then I looked through some of my photos and had a nap, I really needed that. (Yes, I napped a lot on this trip.) Unfortunately the sun was gone by the time I woke up and my walk to the supermarket to get some sweets for the road back home was a windy one. I finished the holiday by having pizza and a glass of wine in the cafe/restaurant at the campground before bedtime.
So, conclusions. The obvious things, that I sort of could have told you beforehand; beautiful nature, temperamental weather, expensive food and drinks. I don’t think I’ve ever used the forecast this much on any of my holidays, but that’s the Norwegian summer for you, or the green winter as my mum likes to called it. Some of the hikes I did can be quite tough, especially if you’re not used to hiking. But I did them, so I’d say you can too. Although I do like walking and taking in beautiful views I’m in no way an experienced hiker. I would maybe recomment a little more rest for feet and knees and more sleep, but with that in order (and proper footwear, I know a lot of tourists don't think about that) and some planning I believe anyone can do these hikes, if they really wanted to. And by the way, after my trip I've learned that they are building a gondola to Nesaksla, so in a year the view from this top can actually be seen without having to walk 700 meters up.
I didn’t spend a whole lot of «pocket money» on this trip as I got crispbread and spread cheese (in a tube, very common in Norway), but I did eat out a few times and the price of meals honestly varied from pretty reasonable to ridiculously expensive for little. All in all I had a great trip, saw cool birds and farm animals on my hikes and charming animals at the aquarium, enjoyed some beautiful views and talked to some cool people. I don’t feel as scared about doing solo trips in Norway anymore, and have actually already booked another one (a shorter one) while writing about this one. I also discovered the value in having tripods, I had a lot of fun playing with my distance selfies and now I can always get good photos as proof I was actually there. I love that I can now get great photos of the views with and without me in them.
Comments