August 14, 1998 Darbu, Norway - {Fiskum Camping} R80G/S 47344 R100GS 35941 We ate breakfast, and were on the road by 12:30pm. About 10 miles down, we crossed the border with Norway. Since Norway isn't part of the E.U., this was our first opportunity after Morocco to get our tax refund on the camera we bought in Madrid. The refund was worth over $50. After one hour, four crossings of the border, and three visits to the Tax Free Shopping office, we ended up with nothing but a piece of paper that we can mail in when we get home and get a credit card credited. The clerk that was working the office was new, and caused us a lot of unnecessary hassle from his conservative way of handling our refund. We arrived in Oslo, and the first thing to do was find some money. Some bad directions from a hotel clerk I asked sent me in the wrong direction. After considerable walking, I asked another person and found an ATM three blocks away. I brought back a giant delicious B.L.T. sandwich to Sharon who was sitting next to the bikes, patiently keeping an eye on them and getting cold, as I was sweltering walking around in my riding gear. The next step was to find a telephone, and call Christian and Tone, the couple we met riding motorcycles in Villarica, Chile. I hadn't seen a phone in the last 30 minutes of walking. I stopped in at the hotel and asked the same hotel clerk where I might find a phone. She pointed me in a direction... which later clued me in that I was talking to a sadist, as that direction turned up nothing but a long walk. I stopped in a museum, and asked a student clerk, who said "We use to have one here but they took it away. I guess they don't want us to communicate." He said the most likely place would be a particular area with lots of blocked streets for pedestrian shopping. I headed in the direction he pointed me, and was surprised to not find a single phone along the way. I asked a pamphlet solicitor in this area who pointed me in a direction a block away. It took nearly 35 minutes to find this phone of which naturally there was a line to use. I believe Oslo has fewer public phones than any city we have been in in the past 15 months. I called Christian's cellular phone number. He and Tone were at the airport heading to London for the weekend to visit a friend. I don't think he had received our FAX. He said he would be back on Monday afternoon, and if we were around the following weekend we can go for a ride. He was about to give me his phone number when my 6Kr of change was all eaten up and the phone disconnected. Out of coins, I went over to one of the card phones and stuck in my visa card. Christian said he would have called me back, but his cellular phone was new and he didn't know how to get my number. Obviously he had a digital phone with caller-id. I got his home phone number and said goodbye not knowing what our plans would be. I found my way back to Sharon 45 minutes after I had left her to make the quick phone call. Despite being bundled up, she was freezing sitting on the curb where the weather was overcast and cold. I on the other hand had drenched through both of my shirts with perspiration walking all over town. I told her the bad news. Sharon had not been to Oslo before, and so was interested in seeing some of the sights. We looked in our guide book for a place to stay, and found several relatively expensive options, but decided to seek them out anyway. Navigating the maze of one way streets was not a problem with the tourist map I had found on my search for an ATM. We drove to and inquired at three pensions which looked nice from the lobby, but were fully booked. By the third one, we were getting discouraged. We met 5 Italian guys, four of which were on beautiful Harleys. We spoke to them mostly in Spanish. They had made a three week trip up here, and were heading to a town just outside of Stockholm tomorrow for a Harley rally. They asked with interest about our trip. They were exhausted, equally discouraged but still in high spirits, and had decided to head out of town. Our guide book suggested the tourist office at the train station where for 20Kr they will call around and find a hotel or rented residential room. We drove across town and found our way to the train station. While Sharon stood out by the bikes I went in looking for the information booth which turned out to be on the far side of the train station. When I found it, I read, taped up on each of the two windows, a big magic marker sign that said, "There are NO rooms in Oslo". Despite being the capital and largest city in Norway, I didn't feel surprised. I went outside and told Sharon. She told me there are a lot of unsavory characters floating around here. As she was telling me of all the drug deals, pushers, and stoners she had seen, I could see them, and was surprised at the density. Just then, a hunched back guy who looked like a professional stoner walked by with a backpack, with sounds of scanner emanating, probably listening to police bands for raid warnings. He stopped between our bikes to talk with two others who also looked like pushers. With no place to stay in all of Oslo (population ~500k), we planned our next move. Near dusk, and looking like it might rain, Sharon decided to go visit the fast food places near by to pick up something for us to eat rather than potentially cooking tonight in the dark while camping. In the mean time, I planned out our route. Sharon came back 15 minutes later empty handed and disgusted at the incompetent slow McDonald's clerks who were servicing two long lines at unbelievably slow speeds. She said that the place was full of weirdos. The guy in front of her had a Sammy Davis Jr. flashback and started tap dancing to a tune in his head while standing in the McDonald's line. This happened shortly after some irate potential customers had just stormed out roughly bumping into others in line as they left. She described other motley customers that used their heads as pin cushions and had among many others two inch needles sticking out of their ears and other fluorescent haired stoners. The bar scene in Star Wars came to mind. With Oslo out of hotel rooms, we headed way out of town. As our destination, we chose a little town called Hokksund. We got out of town easily enough via the Oslo tunnel which cuts across much of the traffic mess by driving under the city. Hokksund was a little further than I figured, however upon arrival we still had 10 minutes before sunset. Once in town, we followed signs picturing a bed, that led us through a residential neighborhood to a place that rented out rooms. It turned out to be a geriatric ward which rented stark sterile white rooms, and had a cafeteria for dining. I asked the price and was told 495Kr ($66) for two people. Sharon and I decided that if this town can get $66 for a geriatric ward, it must be the only place in town. We decided to leave and head on to Kongsberg. On our way out, we saw a gas station with motel and cafeteria. I inquired. They wanted 600Kr ($80). Again, we hopped back on the highway. It was already past sunset, and now misting rain. We saw signs to a campground and followed them. They had little cabins for rent like the one we had stayed at last night. The older man who greeted us at reception asked if we spoke German since he didn't speak English as everyone else seems to in Scandinavia. I didn't, and Sharon's German part of her brain had fallen asleep. We managed though by context. Tents cost 50Kr and cabins were 120Kr. The cabin had two twin beds, refrigerator, hot pad, and table, all in a 7'x11' space. Chance of downpour through the night was high, and we still had to make dinner, there was no question over choosing the cabin. We paid, and moved in. I just sat on the bed exhausted. While I had managed to stay in high spirits all day, I just had a strange feeling of total fatigue and an all of a sudden shot of depression which felt out of place. We got out our bottle of Noval 20 year port brought just for this circumstance from Oporto, and sipped on a little while I munched on some English walnuts. Meanwhile Sharon whipped up a creamy pasta dinner. --- Sharon's sour grapes... Well, the good thing about not staying with Christian is that we get to keep the two bottles of wine we brought. August 15, 1998 Darbu, Norway - {Fiskum Camping (cabin)} Drizzling, cold and overcast we opted to stay in our little cabin and work on journals and read. August 16, 1998 Saepo (Eidfjord), Norway - {camped in cabin} R100GS 36078 R80G/S 47499 Unlike yesterday, in the morning, the sky was sunny and blue with an occasional cumulus. After a breakfast of raspberry musli with strawberry yogurt, and coffee we brewed using the cabin supplied hot plate, we took a quick shower in the campground's 5Kr for 5 minute hot shower. We packed and headed away from the little residential village of Darbu towards Kongsberg. >From Kongsberg we drove on 40, a beautiful winding forested road that followed a scenic river of many names. Through the countryside, we saw many of the traditional Norwegian two story farm log cabins usually painted a dark color. Many of these are built on short stilt supports presumably so that when the snow is deep, the top cabin is still accessible. At Geilo, route 40 ended and so did our fun. We climbed up in altitude, and drove by several ski resorts. The evergreen tree cover turned into a short gnarled birch, and then past Geilo disappeared all together leaving glacier scattered rocks over a hilly moss covered landscape. Our altitude climbed to around 1300 meters (4000 feet), which at 60 degree North latitude is pretty cold. It was disturbing to see snow on the ground not very much higher than the road. Behind my helmet visor, I felt the cold windburn on my face reminiscent of skiing. Both Sharon and I had our electric vests and heated handgrips turned on high and were wearing all of our cold weather garments to fight the cold rainy overcast head wind. The lousy weather and dreary (at that time) landscape lasted from Geilo up until just before Voringsfoss waterfall near Eidfjord (~90km). We stopped at this incredible waterfall to look around. At Voringsfoss waterfall, we stopped to check out the scenery putting on our winter hats we picked up in chilly Southern Chile, since both of us were pretty cold. Down the road about 5 miles, we stopped for the night on the lower edge of Eidfjord. As with all the fjords, it was of course a gorgeous nature scene. For the third time in Scandinavia, we rented a little cabin in a camping area. We've decided that this is the best way to go. With regard to character and charm, it's much nicer than a hotel. More common, almost always has a refrigerator and stove of some sort. and they sure beat tents when the possibility of rain is high or the ground is damp. The only disadvantage is the bathroom, and (often) pay showers are located in a separate building. Having the ability to cook is wonderful. While Norwegians are not known for their cooking, their restaurants are still very expensive. Today for lunch we stopped in a restaurant outside of Geilo and ordered two ham sandwiches which cost 36Kr (US$5) each. What we each got was one piece of buttered bread with 4 thin slices of ham laid on top (Sharon's had 3), 1/16 wedge of a small tomato, and one thin slice of cucumber. It was a nice looking restaurant too... We won't be doing that again... August 17, 1998 Tvinde, Norway - {camped} Stopped in Eidfjord (the town) to use the ATM. A withdrawal of 4000Kr failed. Another attempt at 2000Kr, resulted in machine failure. Make sure this didn't get charged.... We took the Brimnes-Bruravik ferry which appears to cross every 20 minutes or more. Passed through the straight 5 mile long Vallavik tunnel. Felt like driving at night. It looked like there were clearer skies on the other side of the mountain, however when we emerged, it was raining harder. We passed a beautiful waterfall in a scenic valley, at least it seemed like it would be through the fog and my rain covered visor. As the hard rain continued, we got more wet. My cheap Chilean winter gloves are not waterproof, and so they became soaked. Same with Sharon's. In Voss, we found a post minibank (Post Office ATM). Soaked, we decided to call it a day. stopping at Tvindefoss, a river falling off a cliff forming a relatively wide waterfall. We checked into a cabin that had a view of the falls from it's large glass front window. Note: >From the sticker on their car, I can tell our neighbors are Latvian and Lithuanian. I've seen Estonian, and even one Russian car of vacationers here.... August 18, 1998 Innvik, Norway - {Viking campground (rented cabin)} R100GS 36289 R80G/S 47719 >From Tvinde, we drove up E16 towards Gudvangen passing through a beautiful wooded valley. We arrived at Gudvangen at 10:30am, and found out the last ferry left at 9:30am, and another would be leaving at 12:00. This 2 hour ferry costs 91Kr per bike, and takes 2 hours sailing through the scenic Naerofjord, Aurlandsfjorden, and then on through the longest and deepest fjord called Sogne fjord, landing at Kaupanger. >From Kaupanger, we drove of route 5 through Sogndal. About 40km past Sogndal, we started to climb up a very cool and beautiful valley that looked like it would dead end into a glacier. The glacier was deep blue in color, and just below had a normal white ice/snow. A few 100 meters from this, some crazy villagers put their homes. (Brevasshytta?) It was beautiful, but unless one is in the ice making business, I can't imagine why people would live here.... social well fare system.... What appeared to be a dead end valley continued under the mountain through another several mile long tunnel. Heavy taxation supports people living in remote areas, and the building of tunnels..... Given the number of long tunnels through the mountains in Norway, I wouldn't be surprised if tunnel digger was in the top ten Norwegian occupations. Sales tax on all items including groceries is 23%. Norway is the second largest producer of oil in the world (2nd to Saudi Arabia), and still 95 lead free octane gasoline sells for 8.4Kr per liter ($4.16 per gallon). average income tax is ?45%? or higher Shortly after this tunnel on route 5, we passed a road toll which collected 50Kr per bike ($6.66) In Skei, we dawdled around in the grocery store warming up, and waiting for the rain to pass over. A Japanese tourist was attempting to ask a clerk where the umbrellas were using charades. She hadn't a clue what he wanted. During the past 14 months, I've become accustomed to this language, and due to the rain I was now well familiar with this grocery store, and so showed him where they were located. He later returned and asked me for directions to a glacier he was looking for. I pulled out my Norway atlas which I just happened to have with me and showed him. He asked me how road conditions were there. I told him I didn't know. He had thought I was Norwegian... During a short break over Skei, we were tricked by the rain into getting back on our motorcycles. We drove North through the rain on E39 through a beautiful valley and then continued on 60 after Byrkjelo. Sharon was cold, wet and tired so we stopped at Innvik and found a cute cozy cabin to rent for 200Kr ($27) Unfortunately, we only had two outlets and had to swap between battery charger, refrigerator, stove and heater. August 19, 1998 Our cabin was really cozy with a nice view and so it wasn't difficult on deciding to spending another day. Sharon's moral was waning given the lousy cold wet weather, and was questioning our intended plan to drive up to Nord Kap. We bought some long underwear. I remember balking at paying $26 for a pair in Southern Chile. Here, in a gas station-bakery-grocery-hardware store, I paid $42 for a pair of wool long underwear pants, while Sharon's cost $35. We water proofed our boots, and the leather tank panniers. I finally applied the SNO-SEAL bees wax sealer I bought in Quito, Ecuador, however made in South Carolina. A change in rain conditions after Ecuador had made it unnecessary until now. August 20, 1998 Geiranger, Norway - {SolBakken Campinghytter} R80G/S 47xxx R100GS 36388 Yesterday, the morning started out gray, and Sharon was not keen on getting on the motorcycle for another possible ride in the rain. Loki, the god of mischief intervened, and after we paid for another night, the weather, being partly cloudy, was the best riding weather we've seen in Norway, with not a drop of rain for 30 hours. This morning, it started to rain about 7:00am and spittled until around 10:00am.... Our Route: We followed route 60 around Innvikfjorde through Olden and then at Stryn turned onto 15 heading East. We passed the beautiful Strynsvatn lake. and then followed it's source up a scenic valley mountain pass, above snow level to where 15 split to 258. At this point we entered a series of three tunnels each of which was several miles in length as they passed under the glacier capped mountains. These high tunnels were like driving through a refrigerator with the door closed. We both came out chilled. I cranked up the heated vest and handgrips, and was toasty in no time. We turned onto 63 heading towards Geiranger passing by several glaciers, and then descending through the valley into the tip of Geiranger fjord. The views were spectacular! At the town of Geiranger, the tip of the water winds it's way around a narrow straight of steep snow capped mountains. There are plenty of places to stay, as this is said to be among one of the most stunning points in Norway. There are many cabins for rent,and at least three hotels, although of these hotels only BelleVue has a descent view. We found a cabin with a spectacular view of the valley below, 50 feet from the main waterfall that falls through this valley, at an altitude of 440 meters. No one was here to check us in and all of the cabins were empty, so we just helped ourselves to a cabin with the key in the door. Our cabin (#1) had a perfectly located porch overlooking the valley and fjord below. The porch was meant to be cooked on and had a fold-out wood table for dining. As all the Norwegian cabins do, this had an electric hot plate stove and a refrigerator. We heated up some leftovers, and made some sandwiches while sitting on our porch taking in the scenery. We later found out the cabin cost 300Kr. Slightly higher than all the others, but well worth it for the scenery. August 21, 1998 Magnillen (20km E of Kritiansund), Norway - {cabin camped} Although the alarm went off at 6:00am, It's tough to get motivated on these cold dreary wet mornings. We made breakfast, and then both took a morning nap. A thick fog had rolled in during our breakfast and obscured our scenery. Route: We boarded the 10:20am Geiranger ferry that took us through this amazing fjord. At every moment at least 4 waterfalls could be seen. People have been living on cliffs in small sustenance farms for centuries. In old times if they got wind that the tax collector was in the area, they would pull up their ladders preventing visitation. The stories go that they use to tie their children and farm animals up so they wouldn't fall off the cliff. We met a computer programmer from Oslo who was travelling with his family up to Trondheim. He took an interest in our trip, and told us about the area and gave us recommendations on what to see in Norway. He said that he couldn't remember a summer as rainy as this in Norway in his whole life. All the Northern European seem to be saying this. Rumor is that it's the effects of La Nina... after effects of the bade El Nino of '97 we encountered in Central and South America. The ferry dropped us off at Hellesylt where we then drove North on 60.. We stopped a couple times to take pictures where the Sunnylvs fjord connects with Geiranger. We crossed at Stranda and followed 63 North which through Troll-stigen to Adalsnes. Troll-stigen is a beautiful distinctly carved out glacial valley, strikingly different from the other fjords. The rock is hard solid, and is cut vertically until it U-shapes at the bottom. Troll-stigen is one of the areas that tourist shops sell postcards depicting the several mile road of switchback hairpin turns amongst waterfalls as it descends to the bottom of the valley. We followed 64 around the tip of Is fjord of Romsdales fjord. Took the ferry crossing from Afarnes to Solsnes heading towards Molde. We crossed a bridge, paid a toll 30Kr each, and then drove through a tunnel which crossed under the Fanne fjord. We followed E39 East NE, but before we crossed the next ferry, we turned North for 10km to find a place to stay for the night. Sharon was cold and exhausted. We stopped at the only campground in the area. While they had cabins, they were all rented out or reserved. The older guy who lived there and ran the place only spoke Danish and German, asked if we had a tent. Not wanting to sleep out on the wet grass, and later in the rain, I didn't admit to it. He offered us a spacious room which was set up like a studio apartment in his house which he rented out for 320Kr ($43). In this particular stretch of roads, other options are scarce. We took the warm comfortable cozy room. Getting creative, Sharon invented a dish she called pizza pasta made from pepperoni, mushrooms, tomato sauce, lots of Italian spices, topped with Jarlsberg swiss cheese. August 22, 1998 The rain didn't clear up by noon, so we opted to spend another night here. We sipped on some of our 20 year Noval port.... I think an aged tawny and some English walnuts top a hot bowl of chili on a cold dreary day for comfort. ---- Dave Thompson thompson@pdnt.com www - http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Thompson Net-Tamer V 1.09 Palm Top - Registered