Norway - Above the arctic circle

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We arrived in Norway by riding the Swedish train all the way to the end of the line in Narvik, Norway. We spent the next 10 days working our way south before saying goodbye to Jen's brother Chris in Oslo.

Highlights:

- Our first snowfall of the trip as we hiked up the ski hill above Narvik with views of the fjord surrounded by snow-capped mountains

- The Lofoten islands....we headed for the end of the lines...as far as the train, ferry and bus would take us, to the tiny fishing village of Å. The plan was to camp out for a couple nights and hike around the rocky cliffs. The only problem? We landed in town at 10:00pm, in a freak snowstorm (they normally have quite mild weather in October) with summer camping gear. We had one backup...there was supposedly a hostel there, open all year. We arrived to find a complete dead zone...and a closed hostel reception. After waking up the owner, we scored the most awesome log 'rorbu', an 1800's fishing shack, complete with wood stove, comfy couches and separate bedrooms! We couldn't believe our luck as we chilled out in our cozy cabin while the hail storm raged outside....it even made up for the most expensive beer we've ever had: Six dollars a can at the convenience store!

- Everything here is really, really expensive....A five minute, five kilometer taxi to the ferry terminal from Å: $27! The killer was paying $50 each for bunk beds in a six-bunk mixed dorm in Oslo....made us want to go back to Asia.

- Two days of continuous travel to get from Å to Bergen: taxi, ferry to Bodø, overnight train to Trondheim, cruise to Bergen through the fjords. The cruise ship wasn't what we expected: it was full of seniors playing cards and needle pointing as they enjoyed the European version of an Alaskan cruise. We did the trip on the cheap: chairs for the overnight train and cramming the three of us into a two-bed cabin on the boat...we stuffed our faces on the included breakfast buffet on the boat...we'd had too much cheese and meat stick already on the trip.

- The boys buying 'obnoxiously winter' Norwegian wool sweaters in the tourist shops of Bergen

- Wishing we had more time in Norway to go hiking in the mountains...we almost had to restrain Chris from jumping off the train in rugged ski town of Finse

- Being in Norway during the only time you can't go skiing (^#%$@!!!)...the snow doesn't fall until November, and the glaciers are only open to the end of summer

- Watching the Norwegian ski jump team practise at the Lillehammer Olympic site

- Enjoying our only sit down restaurant meal in Norway...sitting in the sunshine, enjoying delicious beer and the best shrimp any of us had ever tasted at the harbour in Olso.

- Jen almost having a breakdown....we said goodbye to Chris in the morning (having given him all kinds of stuff to take home) having no idea how we were going to get out of Oslo ourselves. We needed to get to Greece, but our flight was out of Helsinki....We hadn't found any cheap airfares, and individual train tickets were ridiculously expensive. We ended up buying Eurail passes, the best decision that we've made in Europe. We hoped to make our way to Budapest, where we could catch a different flight to Athens (hopefully). We left for Copenhagen (first stop on the way to Budapest). We'd had a great time in Scandinavia, but we needed a break from the hectic travel schedule of the past two months...

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Photos

Snow!
Back to the land of snow....it made us want to go skiing!

Norway Hiking
Hiking up a ski hill in Narvik, looking over fjords and distant snow-capped mountains - made us miss Canada

Å beautiful Place
The little fishing village of Å (pronounced ahh) at the southern tip of the Lofoten islands

Å
At the end of the road (literally), the town of Å sits on the only flat land at the base of the mountains.

Fishing Cabin
Our 'rorbu', the traditional fishing cabins built of log - it was a super chill place, especially with the hail storm raging outside

Cod Drying
The first cod of the season is hung to dry. Most of it will be shipped to Italy in June after hanging for the winter.

Unhappy Chris
Chris getting grumpy as I take my time lining up the shot....he's getting hail in the face as he waits

Give me an Å
Chris pauses for some YMCA inspiration as we hike up behind the village

Loving the Weather
Hail? High Wind? No problems!

Hiking above Å
Jen looks over the little lake that cuts most of the way across the narrow island chain.

Bodø Boats
We were in Bodø for only a few hours between ferry and train trips. Just long enough to check out the scenery...

Too Many Trains
Chris and Jen, looking fresh in the morning of our second overnight train in a week

A Tight Squeeze
Our cruiseship just makes the pass between islands of the fjords

Bergen Sailing
The crappy weather didn't faze the local sailors as they head for a mark in the Bergen Fjord

Bergen Shops
The very quaint old shops in Bergen...all tourist shops now, of course.

Table with a View
This private residential balcony gives you an idea of the view that the rich people in Bergen get to wake up to....not too shabby

Bergen to Oslo
The fjord mountains in western Norway, as seen from the Bergen to Oslo train. We were bummed to not be hiking in this incredible landscape...next time

Lillehammer
At the site of the opening ceremonies of the 1994 Olympic winter games

Norwegian Ski Jump Training
As Chris said "wouldn't it be cool to see the Norwegian team training?", we look up to see exactly that...

These guys are crazy
Jen and Chris check out the landing pad of the smaller jump at Lillehammer

Next up for Canada: Andrew Mackinnon
Andrew builds up speed down the ramp

Buddy
The cars here are so small - you can park the tiniest ones sideways with the motorbikes

Train on the Ferry
We didn't even notice that our train had driven right onto the ferry as we headed for Copenhagen - until we looked out the window and saw the roof of the car deck

Comments

[Ksenia]

:)
I just loved your blog, and the photos are awesom!