May 22 - Norway in a Nutshell, part 2

Having seen what we wanted to see in Flam, we decided to take the early boat to Gudvangen with plans to spend the day at the Stalheim Hotel before catching the train at Voss.

The 2 hour boat trip to Gudvangen winds its way north down the Aurlsland Fjord, then into a narrower fjord, Naeroyfjorden, that extends to the southwest. Throughout the trip, the rocky fjord margins extended straight upwards to snow-capped crests. There were numerous waterfalls, many of which extended from the 1200 m high cliffs to sea level. One of these waterfalls, Kjelsfossen, is one of the 10 longest in the world. While most settlements were situated at sea level, occasionally there were houses perched high on the edges of the fjord with access only by precarious narrow trails, and temporary bridges. At the narrowest part of the Naeroyfjorden, it narrows to a little over a 250 m wide, yet the fjord margins are undiminished in height. It was through this narrow gap that winds became ferocious as they funnelled down the fjord, causing the deck chairs to strewn across the deck of the boat until rescued by the crew.

Upon our arrival at Gudvangen, in the rain, we climbed aboard the bus and discovered that the Stalheim Hotel was closed for the day. Nevertheless, we decided to head for Voss, including an adventurous drive up the old Stalheim highway. The old road which was built between 1842-1848 with a 1:20 grade = steep. This is apparently the steepest road in Norway. We lost track of the number of hair-pin curves. We were awed at the bus driver’s ability to negotiate the many turns, avoiding the sheer drop-offs and the occasional on-coming car that had to back uphill out of the way. We passed two spectacular waterfalls and the view down the valley was fantastic. It was amazing to think that this was the main highway down to Gudvangen until 1964 when a tunnel was constructed to by-pass the area.

As we neared the crest of the old road, Sherrill asked the bus driver about the tall stone monument. Without skipping a beat, the driver responded, “That’s to commemorate all of the bus drivers who lost their lives driving the old road!” He quickly quipped, “Just kidding,” indicating that it was really to acknowledge a famous local poet.

We paused only for a few minutes at the Stalheim Hotel to take some more passengers. After rejoining the main highway, we headed to Voss along twisting valleys, passing a couple large lakes and many farms, a paralleling a swollen and tumbling river. In Voss, we caught the express train to Bergen, and arrived there mid-afternoon.

Amazingly, Bergen was sunny upon our arrival! We walked from the station with our bags in tow over cobbled, lumpy streets and up the numerous switch-backs to Skansen Pensjonet and our apartment for the next 3 nights. After a quick rest, we headed back down the hill to dinner with Lill, Kjell and Mari. It was great to re-connect with friends from our time in St. John’s. True to form, it didn’t take long for the weather to change. It started raining during dinner. Bergen boasts, “Four seasons in a day!”