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Published: July 18th 2023
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The day of the volcano. No not the one erupting ATM. This one has been dormant for over 4500 years.
Got coffees and some rolls/pastries for breakfast. Picked up at the allocated time and off we go. Delivered to the central bus hub where we got onto our volcano bus.
Got to eat our goodies before we boarded the bus. Excitement was brewing.
Got to the main area which was at the foot of a ski village. Went through the safety and information briefings then were given bandanas/buffs to wear from the company. Looked a little like those in survivor for a while.
Off we go into the wild blue yonder. And yes we did have blue skies and not much wind. Our guide, Arnie - his real name was much longer and harder to even try pronouncing led us away on the track which was 3km long.
Relatively easy walk here so all good. Can see our target mountains which is either good or bad when you are trying to not feel so far away.
Made it to base camp where we are greeted enthusiastically by the staff. Safety briefing and hot/cold drinks to
get ready. They also pointed out an Arctic fox and her cub out the back of the building. Great pics.
First group heads up the steep hill to go down into the volcano. We are in the second group so get our safety gear on and up we go. Steep but who cares when you are this close.
Into the cage which is like a window washers cage and down we go. Safety is paramount so we feel very secure. The views on the way down are amazing. Stalactites that aren’t stalactites but look the same. Lots of different colors in the rocks and this is only part way down.
Get to the bottom. Arnie our guide gives us a briefing on what we can see and where we can walk around the crater.
The rocks formations and colors are simply out of this world. We walk the circuit - helped by a rope border to keep a grip as there is no horizon so you can get a bit disorientated.
Get back to the meeting point, some more group pics then finally have to leave. Back up in the cage. This time talking more
about what we had seen, etc.
Back to base camp where we were fed lamb soup. Very nice. Off we go back to the main site. Chatting to Arnie found out in the winter months he is an actor. Besides that he gave us a few places to visit.
Back to the hotel and decided to wash more clothes. Found the gin bar Arnie had suggested and guess what. Just around the corner from the laundromat. Bugger, G&T’s, washing happening and when the buzzer went off, 3 minutes to go and change over to drying. Can’t beat that.
All done, decided to go back to the same place we had tea last night. Not quite as good, a few things not available tonight, but what we had was still yummy.
Have to pack the cases for our flight to Oslo/Bergen tomorrow. Weight is our enemy.
All shuffled and hopefully we get them through without any issues.
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Jo Biggs
non-member comment
Volcano
Am really enjoying your blog and pictures. Enjoy Norway.