Oslo to Voss: Now it's getting good.


Statistics for today
Distance 438 kms 272 miles
Statistics for trip to date
Distance 7,586 kms 4,714 miles
On this page

Friday, July 22nd, 2005

There is a line in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where someone says God won the Nobel Prize for art for creating Norway. I get it now. Truly amazing landscapes.

I leave Oslo about 9:30AM. E18->E16 towards Bergen. I'm in the mountains and seeing snow after about 2 hours. Flam, Voss. Longest tunnel in the world (24,5 kilometers) through Laerdal. It gets spooky driving for that long in a tunnel. There are a bunch of other tunnels on this same road anywhere from 1 to 11 kilometers long. When you come out the other side the view explodes on top of you: great big mountains and valleys and fjords. It makes me wish I was a better photographer with a better camera to do it all justice.

Click for a larger version of the picture
Outside Oslo
Click for a larger version of the picture
Getting to the mountains
Click for a larger version of the picture
Cliff
Click for a larger version of the picture
Starting to see snow
Click for a larger version of the picture
More snow
Click for a larger version of the picture
Skyline
Click for a larger version of the picture
Mountain lake
Click for a larger version of the picture
Halfway point of the Laerdal tunnel, 24.5 kilometers, longest road tunnel in the world.
Click for a larger version of the picture
In the fjords

I arrive in Voss around 6, somewhat dazed from everything I've seen today. The tourism office finds me a room in Haugo Utleige on a hill overlooking the lake. Dinner at Cafe Stationnat. Not bad, and cheap for Norway. Glad I bought the Guide du Routard guide book for Scandinavia. Have a coffee accross the road afterwards and meet an American family from San Diego who see my Mass plate. Talk for a while about bikes, the grandfather says he had never seen so many upside down people until he bought a motorcycle, meaning he used to wipe out a lot and people were always looking down at him asking if he was ok. Back at the inn I meet a bunch of Norwegian people. Young couple from Oslo, older couple with a very strange guy who keeps farting the whole time we are talking. Everyone else pretends nothing is happening but I can't help laughing. He insists that I go to Bergen. Two Germans are there, one on a BMW. Not very friendly. 272 miles today.

Click for a larger version of the picture
Light on the lake from the guesthouse
Click for a larger version of the picture
Voss lake
Click for a larger version of the picture
Voss lake 2
Click for a larger version of the picture
Voss lake 3
Click for a larger version of the picture
Voss lake 4