The night before leaving Flam, we looked at the possibility of driving a little ways west, to catch a train to Bergen for the day. Unfortunately, track maintenance this particular week only meant that instead, such a route would involve a series of "replacement buses" rather than a train.
We chose to skip it and instead - this will sound odd on a road trip - decided to just go for a drive. Not to anywhere in particular, but basically just loop north and west before returning pretty much back to where we were.
We took E16 west until we hit a fork at Vinje, and headed north on Road 13, aka the Myrkdalsvegen. This would turn out to be a very good choice, as this road was particularly scenic. At one point, sheep and then cattle blocked our way on the road, right before we hit a steep uphill switchback section. Once at the top, a very remote and rugged section of road snaked across the mountain plateau.
Driving down the other side of the mountain, we stopped at the Hopperstad stave church, just on the outskirts of Vik. This wooden church was over 900 years old, and we were able to tour the inside as well. Carrying on up the peninsula, we caught a ferry at Vangsnes that covered a triangle crossing the Sognefjord to both Hella and Dragsvik - they just parked vehicles facing different directions on the boat depending which stop you wanted.
Once across, we followed scenic Road 55 as it meandered along the shoreline of Sognefjord, including some very narrow spots with blind curves. Jane even gasped audibly one time, when a truck "surprised" us at a particularly blind spot. We also made a short stop at a park outside Balestrand for a walk to stretch our legs, and check out the cool carved wooden benches and tables.
Once Road 55 hit Vadheim, we joined the E39 and took it south towards Bergen, which also required us to cross mighty Sognefjord again on a larger ferry from Lavik to Oppedal. We grabbed some ferry hot dogs for lunch, and I also bought a bizarre pastry made fresh each day on the ferry, which was basically a pancake folded over and filled with sweet buttercream.....like a giant Twinkie?
We tried to mainly skirt Bergen itself, but did encounter some epic bridges and some afternoon congestion....and more tunnels.Once clear of Bergen, the E16 took us back eastward, where we stopped in Voss for gas at Circle K and a few groceries at an Extra located in the downtown. Here, diesel was 25 NOK/L, or just over $3.00/L CDN.
Having come basically full circle from Flam, we now deviated southeast on Road 13 for a night at a public rest stop at the Skjervsfossen waterfall. Moreover, the rest stop had a very scenic and architectural public restroom with a huge window and glass floor displaying the river leading to the falls.
Jane made lazy taco salad and we enjoyed a nice night beside the waterfall, though it was a very busy spot, likely owing to the "famous" restrooms. We were also again parked on a bit of a slant, making for a less than optimal sleep.....but not so bad as to move on and look for something else.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment