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Note - unfortunately no pictures today due to a technical fault with my digital camera. Normal service will resume tommorow.
I met a British guy and his Spanish girlfriend at the hostel in Voss. It was good to talk to someone from back home; he even went to the university in my home town of Southampton. I said goodbye to them this morning, and headed for Flåm.
The weather was looking very bright as I drove into the tiny village of Flåm at half past ten. The road approached from high up, affording a good view over the village and the fjord. Flåm really is a tiny place - it looks like it wouldn't exist if it weren't for the railway station and the cruise ships that stop in the small harbour. There are some wooden huts housing souvenir shops and a supermarket, and in the surrounding hills some scattered houses. I walked around for half an hour or so before going on my way.
My next destination was Aurland. The world's longest road tunnel links Aurland with Lærdal 25km away. I was not going to use the tunnel - I decided to take the old road instead. This narrow road climbs steeply up in a series of hairpin turns to the plateau above. I had to use all of the first three gears to get up, and a few times had to stop to let oncoming traffic by. It had started to rain again and was a bit hazy, but the views down the mountain were still good. After the climb the way levelled off slightly, in that it alternated between steep down and up hill. The landscape was open, rocky and barren, with patches of snow in the higher places. Sometimes the road ahead could be seen stretching into the distance like a ribbon. It was great fun.
After a descent not quite as steep as the way up but still requiring the use of 3rd gear at 45mph to stay off the brakes, I arrived in Lærdal. I stopped at an Esso station and grabbed a baguette for lunch. I could tell this was a place where the pace of life is slow - three people waited in the queue for service for five minutes while the cashier counted some stock in the freezer and spoke to someone on the phone. There were no complaints and no apologies. This is why I find that for me the country is a nice place to visit - but I will always want to live in the city.
After eating I planned my onward route. There is a huge sense of freedom in sitting in a car in the middle of nowhere with a map, and just deciding where to go next. I knew that ultimately I was aiming to be in Trondheim in the next day or two, and that I wanted to drive along the famous Trollstigen route, but none of the details were sorted out until that moment.
I made my way via a short ferry ride along route 5 towards Skei and eventually Loen. After the greys and browns of the high road to Lærdal, the landscape was becoming much lusher and greener. After passing through a series of tunnels near Fjærland I paid the most expensive toll so far: 150 Krone - about twelve of your English Pounds. I suppose someone has to pay for all these tunnels and bridges. With my receipt I was handed a leaflet for the glacier museum in Fjærland. I never did find the museum - presumably I missed the turning, but a consultation with my trusty LP revealed the location of the glacier at Bøyabreen.
The glacier looked like a big chunk of blue ice precariously lying on the side of the mountain. Every few minutes, blocks of ice would fall off and roll down, followed a moment later by a sound not unlike distant thunder.
I continued along Route 5 to Skei, turned onto the E39 briefly, and then onto the narrow Route 60 that follows the edge of Innvikfjorden. I stopped briefly in Olden before ending up in the small town of Loen.
I have been told by some friends in a pub that you can take a 6 hour hike from Loen up to the top of a mountain where there is a large cabin to sleep in. This sounded like a fantastic idea back in Oslo after a few beers, but arriving in Loen at 6pm after a long day's drive a stenuous 6 hour hike wasn't a serious option. Instead I decided that after 4 nights in hostels I would treat myself to a hotel room. So I checked into Hotel Loen where they also served me a rather nice steak in a tasty sauce.