My first proper holiday in Norway - in Voss municipality near Bergen, where we
spent 8 days exploring many waterfalls, villages, fjords and did a few
recommended hikes.
Flåm
The weather started typically for this region, so we spent our first day in
Flåm, where we took the famous
Flåmsbana, where we were protected from the rain - except at the optional stop at
Kjosfossen waterfall with a dancing Huldra.
On the way back, we left the train at Lunden
and did a short walk (which was harder than expected) to Brekkefossen
waterfall.
To my surprise, the girls really brought the sun with them, so the next day, we
could hike the famous
Queen Sonja’s panoramic hiking trail or at least, our newly formed A+ team could. I messed up the navigation a bit, so we
had to hike an extra 3 km and a couple of hundreds of vertical meters to reach the
original parking place. Luckily, my team didn't mind. And the A team was
enjoying chilling on a pier so much, they barely noticed our almost 2h
delay (this time caused by a Google maps glitch, totally not my fault).
The hike was really superb with amazing views on the Sørfjorden. Just a world of advice: next
time don't be a hero and bring long pants. Oh and there is also a fridge
with drinks on the way!
We took it easy the following day, making it to three distinct waterfalls. It
meant a lot of driving for the girls, but Vøringfossen was especially breathtaking and I am not sure if something can beat that experience.
Another important lesson learned: when tasting fjord water (it is not
salty despite the fact it is connected with sea), rocks can be very
slippery!
Skjervsfossen Valley
Skjervsfossen
Fjord in Kinsarvik
Path to Tveitafossen
Tveitafossen
Vøringfossen and Tysvikjofossen
Fossatromma
Måbødalen Valley
Vøringfossen
Voss
The girls' sun powers became depleted this morning, so we used the opportunity
to take a short walk in Voss around the lake to Bordalsgjelet gorge. The weather got better in the afternoon, so the A+ team made a short hike to
Hedleberget, where a slate quarry used to be. The place is now used for
parties, which begs the question of how nobody has fallen from the
rail track yet.
The next day we felt strong enough to hike one of the highest mountains in
the area - Oksen which has 1241m elevation. The
Norwegian web translated the hike as "těžká jízda" and we had to agree. I personally
didn't mind the steepness so much, but I did mind the walk through a swamp and being in wet shoes all day. Even the Norwegian kids were crying here
when their parents took them for a "perfect" night spent in a cottage (no
running water, no electricity) at 1000 meters. We only hoped they were not
doing this to them every weekend. We were a bit surprised by the
first snow field, but by the third one, we climbed it as if it was
completely natural for us. The view from the top was another unforgettable
experience and the highlight of the holiday.
We used another beautiful day for a 2 hours cruise by an electric
boat Power of the Fjords - from Gudvangen to Flåm and another 2 hours to get back. I thought
this could be done in any weather, and that it might be a waste of a nice
day, but when the boat started to sail, even in this beautiful weather,
not everybody managed to stay on the deck all the time as the wind made it
extremely chilly. Definitely don't do this in rain! I also suggest taking warm
clothes. Otherwise, the sail was just beautiful, and the boat was completely silent
and very smooth (well, someone from our group would disagree, but still
nobody puked).
Viking Valley (Gudvangen)
Nærøyfjord
Power of the Fjords electric boat
Aurland
Approaching Flåm
Ferry
Sagfossen
In Flåm
Back in Gudvangen
Bridge over Vøringfossen (day 3)
Huldra
Charging of the boat (25 minutes)
Voss Gondol
After an easy day spent standing on the boat, some of us didn't have
enough, so we took a cable car from Voss to Hangurstoppen (820m.),
where we had dinner and some fun on various attractions (to take a single
swing was for me definitely more challenging than the entire boat trip).
The
cable car
is fully automated and goes until 10pm, so it is nice to just enjoy a late
picnic on top of the hill.
Voss from above
Fun on the swing set
Voss Gondol
Four waterfalls hike
We returned to Kinsarvik in order to complete the
hike via 4 waterfalls. We had already seen Tveitafossen, but this time we continued up
until we reached Søtefossen. This was a popular hike with many tourists
despite the not so great weather. Luckily it started to rain only when we
reached the last waterfall, so on the way back we took a gravel road
shortcut. This way, we avoided the now very slippery rocks, but I still had to
butt slide one of them.
I shouldn't mention anything about my eating during this holiday, but I had
to recommend one fast food place owned by a lovely polish lady -
Kjappen Voss. She has a delicious vegan burger, which along with Peppes was basically my only
option to eat out in Voss. No complaints here, a perfect excuse to eat pizza
and burgers every day.
