Up and out to catch our ferry….but first, a quick slip into and out of the market to take our incredible loaf of bread, purchased yesterday at a late day stop back at our lunch Kafe, in to use their self-serve slicer. We have been incredibly creative to bring along the bread, more goat cheese that the sweet proprietress gave us, our own tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and avocados so that we can make our own sandwiches during our long day journey. But how to handle the avocados? Aha! The lightbulb goes off in my head! I take the little plastic covered container into which reception had give us for laundry detergent, wash well, and fill with an avocado/salt/mustard mixture to use as our condiment. The high bar for culinary delights has meshed perfectly with my continually-processing brain to provide the solution (don’t you love the level of banal detail I can provide for your reading pleasure?).
So, back to the real story. While I was on my mission, Lance got us seats inside the ferry:
by corner windows. We drop our bags and head up to the rooftop area, squeezing past other tourists – predominantly Japanese and Spanish – to secure a spot in the corner by the rails. We slowly pull out and I snap a picture of our little apartment from the water:
as we begin our 2 1/2 jour journey from Flam, past Aurland, Undredal, and around the point near Stigen, and down to the south again into the narrow straits past Dyrdal, Bakka and into Gudvangen, where we will transfer onto another ferry (that traces part of the journey we just took) that heads back out of the same passageway up past Simlenes, and bearing east past Fronningen until we arrive at Kaupanger. Phew! A lot of interesting place names…As for factoids: at its deepest and widest points, the fjord bottom is over 300 meters and passage is just over a kilometer, and at it’s shallowest and narrowest (which happen to be at the same spot by Bakka), 11 and 250 meters. The water is certainly dark, but a beautifully clear emerald green at the shore lines that we’ve seen. The temperature is about 20 degrees chillier on the water, with a crisp breeze. But I have my cozy down hooded jacket all zipped up and my smart wool gloves on and am snug as a bug in a rug!
A one hour stopover in Gudvangen, during which time I messed with lens choices so I could use the widest (and newest) lens in my repertoire to capture the whole inlet in which we docked:
A bit late, we boarded our next ferry that would take us around and back up to Kuppanger. The sheer cliff walls we passed by rose as high as 1300 – 1400 meters, while I attempted to beat Mr. Masoner in a wicked game of cribbage (and succeeded in my last two hands by 5 points!). Our ferry is mostly empty this time, the last route being part of the “Norway in a Nutshell” tour that attracts so many gawkers. In fact, that route was a bit busier than usual because the tunnel going from Flam to Gravanger was closed, so all tour buses had to ride the ferry to take their loads to see the White Caves, the stave churches and other not-to-be-missed sites. As we retraced our (sic) steps and then turned to the northeast, I tried to capture the ins and outs of the passages, but in any event, you can share my view off the stern:
About this time (or even earlier perhaps), you might ask, what is a fjord? (just to call on my sixth grade self) Merriam Webster defines it as: a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes. Merriam pretty much nailed it; traveling on the slow, majestic ferry past the tall cliffs that grew out of the deep green-blue glacial waters certainly made me think of ancient geological forces. Really hard to understand how long it took to carve those inlets. It was amazing to pass one little cluster of homes with no road access and to learn that in times past, 21 families lived there and now, only 1 full-time resident. I can’t even imagine what it’s like up there in the winter.
Anyway, we pull in to the village of Kaupanger, with homes and commerce dotted all over the shores and up a gently sloping bank upon the lake:
After a bit of a wait, we board a bus to get dropped off near a car rental office. When we arrive, it seems my travel partner confused his dates and our car, which arrived for us the day before, has been sent off to parts unknown, as we were “no shows”. After much effort on the part of the Avid representative, we were successful with the much more creative and motivated Hertz agent right across the street and off we rolled in a dark grey Prius (hopefully not to catch fire!). A brief stop in town for batteries, fruit and some locally made organic ice cream, and we were winding down beautiful, occasionally cliffside roads to our destination: Nes Gard, on the other side of Sogndal. Our quaint little inn is managed by a most gentlemanly gentleman, who showed us to our superior room, with its own sitting area and front balcony:
As you can see in the balcony shot, we are facing a beautiful piece of the fjord, and can actually hear the thundering waterfall falling from the cliffs across from us. Too bad we aren’t booked here for quite a few days!
I fall in bed and pass out – perhaps fighting something off after so many (mostly) sleepless nights, and am awakened by Lance so we can head to the dining room for supper. I feel as if I’m in a well-done New England B&B with the service and delightful decor, and the food is superb. The air is growing chilly and it’s an early evening for me. Hoping to feel better in the morning so I can join my fellow explorer on the day’s itinerary!