**These notes may not contain the correct spelling and grammar at all times. Hence read at your own risk and read for pleasure!
NEW ENTRIES!!! As of November 2008
Norway Motorcycle Trip
August 16-30
5 Friends, 3 Motorcycles, 3 Cameras, and Over 4,000 KM
Reed/Haidee: BMW 1100 RT
James/Katy: BMW 1100 S
Roger: BMW 1200 GT
I was pretty excited as the time got closer for my departure for Norway. I had psyched myself up and prepared for all of the gear that I would have to wear each day to protect myself on the back of the motorcycle. James had to work the previous week in London and did not get back to Amsterdam until late Friday evening. The plan was that he and Reed would leave Amsterdam the next day at 9:00am, meet Roger (who flew to Frankfurt and rented a bike) near Hamburg while Haidee and I stayed for our friends’ wedding and would fly the following day to Oslo. Below is the recount of our two week trip day by day. I numbered the days we did in our notes starting with Day -1.
Day -1: Reed and James left at 9:00am and met Roger at 2:00pm. They stopped overnight near Copenhagen and stayed at a hotel that was hosting a Harley Davidson convention. Haidee and I attended Ellie and Robert’s wedding- my first Dutch wedding.
Day 0: Reed, Roger, and James continued their drive from Copenhagen north along the western side of Sweden, finally reaching Oslo near 7:00pm. Haidee and I had the whole to finish preparing mentally for our first long motorcycle trip. We flew from Schipol around 9:30pm and arrived in Oslo at 11:00pm. The guys met us at the train station and we walked over to our hotel- MS Innvik B&B.
Day 1: Our trip officially begins! We met Monday morning for breakfast and introduced Haidee to Roger. We had a full day in Oslo to sightsee, so we started off walking towards the Radhuis and stopped by the Akershus Fortress and Castle. We walked around the ramparts then headed down to the boat dock to catch the ferry to Bygdoy where several museums are located. As soon as we landed, we followed the crowds up the neighborhood streets to the Viking Ship Museum. The museum holds three excavated Viking ships that were used as burials for high women and officials. The two best preserved ships are from the 9th century. Each of us really enjoyed this museum and to see what amazing ship-making skills the Vikings possessed such a long time ago.
After the museum, we caught the bus back to the mainland and stopped for lunch. Norway is incredibly expensive. If I remember correctly, for lunch James and I had two small bagel-like pizzas, a coke, a cookie, a water, and a small pasta salad – set us back about $40! A coke was typically $8. We talked to a boy working the 7-eleven and he told us not to buy water, but just fill it up at the hotels “that’s what we do”. He also told us that in US dollars, he makes about $25/hour! I could work at 7-eleven too! Anyway, back to our day. After lunch we headed to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. This is a large green park that holds more than 200 bronze, granite, and iron statues created and donated by Gustav Vigeland. All of the sculptures portray human life- the body and the emotions worn on one’s body.
Day 2: This was our first day all 5 of us were together on the motorcycles. It was one of the longest days and the only day we had a strict schedule. We were very lucky to get a reservation for the bob sleigh ride in Lillehammer, but we had to be there by noon- before the group of 25 teens arrived. We packed up, headed out of Oslo about 8:30am, and arrived in Lillehammer with plenty of time to change into regular clothes. We were all so excited about the ride, though Haidee had some reservations. We split into two groups- first went Roger and Reed with a driver and second was me, James, and Haidee. Since there was no ice, the bob sleigh became a wheel bob- bobsleigh with wheels instead of runners. It was an awesome experience! Our top speed was 65 mph and 2 Gs of pressure. It was also quite an expensive 60 second ride. We were all so happy that we did it though.
Back on the road, we headed to our final stop near Oppdal. We made it to our cabin in the early evening. It is owned by a wonderful woman named Ingrid who also farmed 25 dairy cows. The boys were really excited about this and asked if they could help her in the morning. We stayed in the ‘laundry house’ which had a cozy sitting area/kitchen on the first floor and an open room with 4 beds and one single bedroom (where we put Roger) on the second floor. The bathroom was in the milk barn next door. It was such a great place to stay and Ingrid was an amazing hostess.
Day 3: At 5:30am the alarms went off. Surprisingly to all of us, including Ingrid, Reed and James got up and joined her in milking the cows. Ingrid owns 25 cows, but in the summer she co-ops with 4 other farmers and they take turns every 5 weeks in milking all 60 cows that are out in pasture. I think they milked the majority of the cows, but left early to come back and get ready to head out. At breakfast we were introduced to a new product- brown cheese. At first, we had no idea what this block of peanut butter colored stuff was. In fact, after tasting a small piece, we thought it was peanut butter. Ingrid laughed and said it was brown cheese, something like over-processed cheese.
This day’s destination was Trondheim, the 3rd largest city in Norway and the farthest north we made it. It was to be a short day, only 2.5 hours of driving, but James, Roger, and I decided to go to the town of Roros. It is a Unesco World Heritage site where some of the oldest wooden buildings are located and a sort of ghost mining town. Haidee and Reed went on to Trondheim to see the city and have dinner with some friends. We enjoyed touring this small town, but as we left it started to pour. We rode the entire way to Trondheim in the rain and it stopped as we arrived into town. Before going to our apartment rental, we stopped to see the Nidaros Cathedral. The cathedral was built over the grave of St. Olav, Norway’s patron saint and a place where hundreds of pilgrims visit each year. The day ended with the three of us walking all over the city looking for a place to eat and settled on Chinese, which was very good.
Day 4: From Trondheim we started to make our way west to the fjords. For lunch we stopped at the Cadillac Diner which was located in a small random town. Unfortunately, it was closed. So we bought some food at the grocery across the street and brought it back to the diner’s picnic tables and made sandwiches. About this time, the owner of the diner came up and was so excited that we were Americans. He invited us into the store to show off all of his classic Americana decorations. He was so proud of his restaurant.
We spent the night in a cabin in Andalsnes with a beautiful view of the mountains. We went into town for dinner and groceries for breakfast before going to bed.
Day 5: Right away we started off the morning with an exciting ride up and down the Trollstigen (Troll’s Ladder)- 11 consecutive hairpin twists. At the top you can walk around and look down over the curvy road.
We had a beautiful day of riding through the mountains and seeing the Norwegian Countryside. We stayed the evening in a hotel in Stranda. There wasn’t much around in the town, so we pretty much relaxed in our rooms.
Day 6: Finally we started to get to the famous fjords of Norway. From Stranda, we drove an hour or so to the ferry that would take us to Geiranger, a small town nestled at the base of the Geiranger fjord. The journey was an hour long in which we passed the seven sisters’ waterfalls, one of the oldest farms in the country, and the most breathtaking views of the fjords. Once off the ferry, we drove up and down another twisty road called the Ornesvingen or Eagle’s Bend. At the top we had a wonderful view down onto the city and the fjord.
After lunch, we started to drive up the mountains (all road were curvy and it wasn’t until we hit the highways that there were straight roads). We rode through the snow packed mountain sides with the sun shining on us the whole time. We arrived late evening to Sogndal where we planned to stay for three nights.
Days 7-8:
Our cabin in Sogndal was more like a
modern apartment with three bedrooms, a
full kitchen, living room with
fireplace, large balcony, and bathroom.
It was a great find! The only
unfortunate part was that it was located
about 20 minutes from the main town in
which we had to dodge cows and sheep
grazing in the middle of the roads. We had two full days free
to whatever we liked. The first day Reed
and Haidee set out early to see the
famous Urnes stave church. We left a bit
later, choosing to sleep in a bit. After
the church, the three of us rode further
north and looped back to the west and
south to the Jostedalbreen glacier. James
and I decided to hike to the glacier. It
was a long hike, but well worth it to
see the blue ice wedged between two
sides of the mountain. That evening
Haidee made spaghetti for dinner and we
relaxed in the cabin.
The second day,
Haidee and Reed decided to hike to a
different glacier while we rode south to
see some other stave churches. James and
I cut out early and went back to the
cabin to rest, while Roger rode around
some more.
Day 9-10: The morning of our 9th day, we left Sogndal and the beautiful glaciers for Bergen, another town on the Unesco World Heritage list for its wonderfully preserved wharf houses. There were more ferry crossings involved and I cannot keep track of how many ferries we took- sometime multiple ferries a day. We made it to Bergen in the early evening. We stayed at some more cabins, though this time not as nice as those in Sogndal. They were more like little huts with bunk beds. We had time to go into the city for dinner. By this time we had eaten so much deli sandwiches that we chose a noodle shop for something very different.
We had one full day in Bergen, so James, Roger, and I rode into the city to walk around. First, we walked through the famous fish market. I tried a whale sandwich- gross. We saw a blue lobster too. We also took a short tour of the city which took us up the side of the mountain to see the town. It was rainy and chilly, so we found a shopping mall and had some coffee. On the first floor there was a grocery store, so we decided to cook tacos for dinner and loaded up on the items we needed. Back at the cabin, we had dinner and invited Reed and Haidee over for drinks afterwards. Haidee had decided to fly back the next day, so we spent time with her and let Roger say goodbye.
Day 11-12: Reed drove Haidee to the city where she took a bus to the airport. We met up with him afterwards and set out for a small town called Sand where we would spend the evening. It was a fairly short riding day so we took our time enjoying the sights. We finally saw some of musk oxen- woolly cows with long horns. We spent the night in a nice hotel and grabbed a quick breakfast before our journey to the town of Lysebotn.
Day 12 was another
day where we had to be at a place at a
certain time. We had to catch the ferry
at 2:30pm – the last ferry that would
take us to Lysebotn. Otherwise we would
have to drive. However, between Sand and
the ferry was the famous Preikstolen or
Pulpit Rock. This was one of the items
on the list that was a Must. The hike up
to Pulpit Rock is supposed to take 2
hours, but we only had 3 hours. Reed
and James decided they could do it and
knowing that I would slow them down; I
handed over the camera and hopped on the
bike with Roger. The boys set off
towards the rock and we set off to find
the ferry and have lunch. Roger and I
calculated the time it would take to get
to the ferry from the parking lot of the
Preikstolen was 18 minutes. Amazingly
the boys made it up and down in their 3
hours leaving us 28 minutes for them to
change back into their gear and get to
the ferry. I think we made it with 5
minutes to spare!
The ferry ride was a little over an hour with more breathtaking views of the fjords. We arrived in Lysebotn around 5:00pm. This was one of the smallest towns we stayed in, but it was also our favorite. We stayed at a B&B situated on a farm and run by a wonderfully nice man and his elderly mother. It wasn’t a working farm anymore, though the farm next to his had sheep. He did have a horse and several plum trees which I took my fill of. The farmhouse had several bedrooms- some regular and some that were shelved into the sides of the room and attached to other bedrooms. There was also an old smoke house where the owner had set up chairs lined with furs and started a fire.
Before dinner, the three guys decided to take a ride on the extremely narrow and curvy road that connects Lysebotn and Sirdal. It has 27 switchbacks and a 1.1 km tunnel with switchbacks inside! It took them 2 hours to ride 60 km in total. I hung out on the porch and ate plums. We were not the only people staying. We sat in the smokehouse and chatted with another couple from Norway who were hiking to their cabin in the mountains and a group of three who were visiting the area after an oil conference in Stavanger.
Day 13-14: The morning of our last day in Norway was wonderful. The breakfast prepared by our hosts was delicious. We set out about 9:30am and got right back onto that curvy road. I am really glad that the guys rode the previous evening without me. I think my eyes were shut for most of 30 kms. Halfway up the road there is a lookout area where you could watch other drivers navigating the tight roads. Further up the road the scenery changed from thick green trees to an almost barren rocky landscape. It was a four hour ride to Kristiansand where we took a ferry over to Denmark. It was a large ferry and went by quickly. It was another one and a half hours to Aalborg where we spent the night (in a creepy hotel).
Our final day was Sunday. We got up bright and early for our 11 hour ride back to Amsterdam. We rode south through Denmark into Germany and finally The Netherlands. It was the longest trip on a motorcycle and I have no desire to do that again (the long day, not the trip as a whole). We arrived back at the apartment around 7:30pm, unloaded the bikes, showered, and grabbed a pizza.
Our trip to Norway has been one of the best vacations so far. If you enjoy hiking, camping, mountains, and lakes, I would not pass up any opportunity to visit Norway. It may be the most expensive place, but it was well worth it for the beauty of Mother Nature at her best!