As we made coffee in the van to start the morning, it was decision day again. We had been making for southwestern Norway and the Stavanger area, to try the Pulpit Rock hike at Preikestolen. This was a very popular 4-5 hour hike, likely longer for us, to an epic outcropping high above a fjord.
However, once again the weather forecast was not favourable, calling for heavy rain in that area for the next several days. Beyond adding time to an already long hike, the added risk of slippery rock surfaces and heights did not jive well with artificial knees. We made the call to head back north and towards better weather.
Retracing our way back northeast on the E134, we this time stayed on this road as it turned eastward - this was a very nice road travelling over high mountain and through a national park, then descending through alpine forests and finally following a river valley through the lowlands. And many tunnels.
We grabbed more coffee and some hot dogs at a Circle K in Amot, and made a grocery stop at a Joker in Haukeligrend, being also conscious of tomorrow being a Sunday and many stores (and beer sales) being closed. At Seljord, we were again stopped by the police, this time simply to ask us where we were going. After explaining we were looking for a certain stave church, they waved us through. We were confused.
Soon we could see the reason behind the stop - the town of Seljord was literally overrun with people, with many carnival rides and tents, entire fields full of parked cars, and police directing traffic in several areas. Apparently, Seljord hosts a large three-day "Dyrskun" every fall, which appeared to be a rather popular fair, somewhat akin to the CNE plus a plowing match. The small town of about 3000 people sees 90,000 visitors for the weekend.
We arrived at the Heddal stave church, which was grand and beautiful. Unfortunately, being a Saturday, the church was booked with two weddings - which meant we could enjoy from the outside but could not enter. There were once over a thousand stave churches across northern Europe in the Middle Ages, and now only 28 remain, all in Norway.....and Heddal is the largest.
As we neared Kongberg further down the road, we started seeing a few toll roads and expressways, and we ramped up to 90 km/h and then 110 km/h before exiting through a series of roundabouts to take Road 40 north of the town. We even ignored the urge to patronize the first McDonald's or Burger King we had seen so far in Norway as we passed through Kongsberg.....the name of which ironically would translate in English as "Kingsville".
A little ways further, we found a nice quiet rest stop just south of Svene along the Numedalslagen river. We set up for the night, bought some local honey from a farmer's stand, and had a simple dinner of boil-in-bag meals. We enjoyed a nice relaxing night, with only one other solo traveller using the rest stop.
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