Halfway through the trip, our guide Andreas posited this idea: “What happens in the fjords…stays in the fjords…?”
Nah…then I couldn’t tell you all about my crazy adventure travel in Norway! I’m sorry Andreas…but this stuff is definitely worth talking about!
Bryggen waterfront
It all began in Bergen.
Wow what an amazing city! After my early morning arrival in the airport (and easiest entry into a country EVER – as there wasn’t a customs agent in sight – just baggage claim and the door out) …I met up with a few members of my group and made our way to the hotel. Stian, our rep from Norway, Melanie (who I had literally been sitting next to on the plane from DC to Copenhagen without knowing she would be part of my group), and Barbara from Berkeley. As we made our way through the drizzling rain to the hotel…I made the wise decision to head up to my room and take a restorative nap to help ward off jet lag. This act proved to be beneficial in every way…as I awoke to bright sunshine, rested and ready to explore this ancient Viking city.
The sunshine certainly made this picturesque city come alive with color and stunning clarity. From the restored historic-colored old wooden wharf buildings now existing as vivid storefronts… the bright orange salmon lining the cases at the fishmarket…the azure sky dotted with seemingly perfectly placed snow white cumulus clouds…to the multicolored homes popping out of the lush green hills that surround the waterfront…. the city was abask in vibrant hues. Yes, the Norse gods had been smiling down on me that afternoon…offering up a perfect day to explore the sights and sounds of Bergen!
Bergen fish market
After spending the afternoon touring the city on my own, I was due to meet the rest of the group for a ‘proper’ tour with a local city guide. As we gathered in the hotel lobby at 4pm, introductions to the remaining group members who had just arrived from the airport were made…and I finally met our guide for the week, the aforementioned (and infamous) Andreas. We headed out with Peder, our local Bergen guide who provided a very informative, educational and entertaining commentary on this historical city.
Founded in the eleventh century – and once home to Norway’s Royal family – Bergen is now the second-largest city in the country. This scenic port town is divided into two main parts: Bryggen, the old city which is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and the modern city, which contains many of Bergen’s commercial and cultural attractions. As we meandered through the city, our guide entertained us with many fascinating tales and facts. Interestingly enough, Bryggen is a place of perpetual discovery and archaeological digs are constantly underway…in fact to build anything new in the area, you need to consult both an architect and archaeologist! Stories of German invasions…multiple devastating city fires (not too difficult to imagine as the city is made of wood)…and Viking tales were relayed (and that’s just skimming the surface -the wealth of history that exists in this Norwegian town is incredible).
Famous local Bergen pub & restaurant
Halfway through the city tour, we boarded the Floibanen funicular and took a ride to the top of the surrounding hills to get a bird’s eye view of Bergen below. This perfect perch revealed a dramatic panorama of the stunning fjords that envelope this peninsula of a city… and the miles and miles of intricate waterways intertwined with landmasses along the coast. What a view! Of course the moment we stepped out to enjoy the view… our beautiful sunshine was interrupted by rain…(which I guess is par for the course in Bergen…as it is apparently the wettest city in Norway) but the view was spectacular, rain or shine..or raining while the sun was shining as it was today. Liquid sunshine they call it… in the same vein, they also say that this is the city of Gortex – as everyone is either wearing it, carrying it or toting an umbrella at all times…they even have umbrella repair shops! [now that should tell you something!]
Looking down on Bergen from above
We finished our Bergan city tour, headed back to our hotel for a quick change and regrouped for a delicious dinner in the restored wharf district at the oldest restaurant in Bryggen. The last of our group, Tim, had finally arrived…and 12 became the magic number for Fjord-Fest 2010…the perfect end to a relatively calm and relaxing first day in Norway.
And that was the last of those for a while. It’s all about semantics…well, that and your definition of “active adventure”. Perhaps something gets lost in translation? (kind of like listening to a concert of Bob Dylan songs translated into Norwegian?? don’t worry, we’ll get to that later…) Let’s just say Norwegians don’t take adventure travel lightly…
Yes, my first foray into the world of active travel in Norway was certainly full of adventure…and perhaps a bit more ‘extreme’ than what I was expecting. That’s not to say I’m averse to hardcore activities…(I’ve done my fair share of things that most people would definitely shy away from..) but this was not exactly amateur hour. Granted everyone could participate in these activities…but would they choose to do so…and enjoy it? Therein lies the question… it is up to you to determine the answer.
So…how do you feel about scaling a 1300 ft. rock face while it’s pouring rain? Oh sure…you’ll be harnessed and secured to steel cables with carabiners…there will be a ladder to climb… and then rebar steps/handles protruding from the rock to traverse across and up the steep face. Welcome to the Via Ferrata in Tyssedal. Sound good? Well, maybe on a sunny day…
The ladder...
But I was ready to give it a whirl…as were 9 of my other fellow Fjord fest friends (3 opted out…due to either fear of heights or lack of rain gear). Not only was I ready to give it a try…I was first in line! [how did that happen?] I guess I figured I’d be closest to the guide for instructional purposes…and perhaps soothing words. As I began the 1st ascent (the easy part)…I clipped my carabiner onto the steel cable and just walked up the wall face…when I reached the 1st landing point where I was supposed to clip out and switch cables, I realized it might have been a good idea to learn how my carabiner worked!! Yeah, the only time I had really used one before was as a keychain…certainly not a life-sustaining usage! (oh, and I also realized that I should probably take off my gloves…I’d rather my hands be cold than non- functional while trying to manipulate the one vital thing that connected me to my ‘safety net’.) Ok…now that we solved that problem…all was well, right? Sort of…
Next came the ladder – straight up. It was originally built to carry and install the pipes that were laid during the creation of the hydroelectric plant below. (I definitely wouldn’t have wanted that job! Wow. I was secured by this steel cable…I can only imagine how those laborers worked! I’m assuming probably without much of a safety net.) So up we went…clipping the carabiner at each new cable as we climbed the stairs. Not bad at all, actually…you need only to focus on the rungs in front of you – even better, you were kept busy looking for the next cable where you had to switch. I guess if you were afraid of heights and looked down this might bother you…but that wasn’t a problem for me. The ladder climbing section was actually rather meditative…the repetitive motion and upward movement allowed me to fall into a groove [and what I now think was a false sense of security!] I enjoyed the ladder climb…and thought it would go on forever. Alas…all good things must come to an end.
There were several stops along the ladder climb where you could take a break and take in the incredible vistas that spanned out below you – including the Hardanger Fjord – all of which might have been a bit more impressive when bathed in sunshine, not obscured by pelting rain. And it seemed the higher we climbed, the harder the rain began to fall.
the steps....
It was at this point…the ‘end of the ladder’, so to speak, that you could decide to opt out of the rest of the climb and take the “walk of shame” back down to reality. I confess, at this point, I considered it. When our guide asked the group…I said I could be tempted, as did Stian, but the rest of the group was ready to continue – “we’re here… might as well just do it” – was the consensus. Perhaps swayed by mob mentality…or by my own personal fear of failure…I decided to continue (as did Stian). United we stand…and united we [hopefully don’t] fall!
Step it up! Aaah…the steps. My nemesis and the source of much consternation – made even more daunting by the fact that once you hit the steps, there is no turning back – very comforting, no?
Imagine staring out to your left side and seeing these tiny rebar steps and handles sticking out the wall with the steel cable running between the two… knowing for the next hour or 2, it’s just you on the wall, navigating your way from step to step. Lovely.
Ok, here we go! Leaving the comfort of the landing beside my favorite ladder, I made the first step - legs shaking…into my ambiguous future. (Again, if it weren’t pouring rain…and the rock and the steps weren’t slick and slippery…this might be a different story …) (Oh..and if the steps were actually placed closer together and at regular intervals…this might be another story…) Let’s just say…they have a height requirements at amusement parks for children to be able to ride for a reason…I think maybe for novice Via Ferrata climbers, they should have one as well! And at 5’2”, it wasn’t a fear of heights that was playing mind games with me, it was the fact that many of the steps were too far apart for my leg-span, and the majority of the time I couldn’t reach the handles above so I had to hold onto the steel cable. It was at this point that a new-found fear set in…not only was I afraid I wouldn’t make it from step to step…but trying to hold onto the cable with my death grip and simultaneously work the carabiner from cable to cable with my wet and increasingly numb hands made for some serious anxiety.
Climbing in the rain...
Navigating the slick rock and the occasional ‘waterfall’ flowing down the side as you walked through it, hopping and hoping my foot would land on the next horizontal step from a near-split stance, performing random pull ups to make it from one vertical step up to the next and trying to make sure my rather numb hands could manipulate the carabiner were my only thoughts…and they consumed me. Sheer adrenaline (and the lack of an alternative) carried me to the top. No stopping please…let’s just keep moving along…so we can be done with this! I don’t think my legs ever fully stopped shaking…nor did I ever stop wishing my next step was my last. And when it was finally over…well, let’s just say…you must have heard a VERY audible sigh of relief!
The end...
Ambiance truly affects how we perceive our experiences…and I do think the rain made for a wholly unique Via Ferrata experience – it made it seem much more hardcore (which in a weird way… made for a very cool feeling). In that respect, I enjoyed it and am glad I did it [after the fact, of course!].Would I do it again? I’m not sure. And had I fully known what I was getting into…again, I’m not sure – but then again, in this instance, ignorance was bliss. And who knows how I would feel if it were a perfect blue-bird day. I’m psyched that I did it and was excited about my accomplishment…mob mentality induced or not. In that regard, I think I speak for all of us that day…as we stood back in the parking lot, looking up and reflecting on what we had scaled was an incredible feeling – it was like, wow…we did that? Yup. High fives all around! And hey…it makes for a good story. As do my “battle wounds” – my knuckles were a bloody mess from scraping along the rock – they might even become a scar or two.
A view down from the top...DONE!
So went our first adventure…and as you can imagine, dinner conversation was full of personal stories about everyone’s individual experience of their Via Ferrata climb.
You’d think that one crazy adventure like that would be enough for one trip, right? Need you forget we are in Norway? I’m beginning to think the word ‘novice’ doesn’t exist in Norwegian…nor the concept.
Speaking of Norwegian translations…I told you I’d get back to that…
A few of us had the unique opportunity to experience another type of ‘adventure’…this time, however, the activity level was tame, but the experience itself was a bit over the top!
Over dinner at the Brakanes Hotel in Ulvik, our gracious host (and owner) Gorge invited us to attend a Bob Dylan concert (actually it was a band performing Bob Dylan songs translated into Norwegian – apparently it was one of the big events at the annual Poetry Festival happening that week in Ulvik). Gorge figured that we Americans might at least enjoy some ‘familiar’ music. Barbara, Rick, Koni, Tim, Fiona, Stian, Andreas and I decided to take him up on his offer. Little did we know, we became the lucky 7!
Gorge, who on first impression appears to be the consummate hotelier - a quiet, very proper, gracious, and extremely welcoming older Norwegian gentleman who speaks English with a British accent (apparently from time spent in UK schools) – is actually a real character! As he led us through a whirlwind adventure that evening, we began to realize that a fascinatingly crafty and truly entertaining character lies beneath that unassuming façade! Talk about fodder for great stories! Gorge is the man! He first explained that he was able to obtain tickets to the show which was happening across the street from the hotel in a venue that he also owned. He then informed us that since the concert was an extremely popular event, the event hosts refused to give him the tickets. Refuse the owner?? Well, needless to say, in his own unassuming way…Gorge was irate! Oh, he’d have nothing of that! We were going to the concert – tickets or not. So, on the premise of giving us a tour of the facility, Gorge snuck us in the back door with his keys, walked us through the kitchen and into the auditorium and proceeded to mutter details about the venue while simultaneously sidling up to the bar and getting us all free drinks. He then led us on another covert route up the stairs and into a private screening box…where we could watch the concert. Another trip downstairs to join the crowd and watch the concert from below and Gorge excused himself only to return with more drinks! (Funnily enough, he told us that the line at the bar was too long, so he had returned to his own hotel bar and brought us drinks from there instead!)
Gorge....
Honestly I think Gorge took great pleasure in sneaking around his own building and participating in his own chicanery! Throughout the night he told some of the most colorful stories I have ever heard (made even more entertaining and unexpected coming from this seemingly uber proper gentleman!) and regaled us with some of the greatest VIP treatment in our covert operations. We left the concert (yeah, Dylan in Norwegian wasn’t really cutting it for any of us…Americans nor Norwegians) and Gorge led us again back to his hotel and down into its nightclub – where he joined us at a table and treated us with everything gratis, yet again, and entertained us further with his unique commentary on the band and the crowd. And what a bizarre scene it was! Andreas joked it was like being on a Danish cruise! (A hysterically funny observation…but a joke that might be lost on you…) Needless to say…it was certainly a night to remember! Skål, Gorge!
Alas, we had only one night in Ulvik with Gorge…but I think for the lucky 7 of us, that will stand out as our most memorable hotel experience by far. Yet another Norwegian adventure that was on the extreme end of the spectrum.
Oh, but it didn’t stop there…just wait until you hear about our rafting trip!
On the road to the Folgenfonna glacier
I’ll spare you details about our ride to see the Folgefonna glacier – only because we weren’t able to get to the glacier due to the snow and our bus being too large to make the trek up the treacherous road. I guess that is a trip for another time…(perhaps when we go back to ski Norway!) So instead of ice-hiking the Folgefonna glacier, we went sea kayaking in Jondal. Even this seemingly ‘tame’ activity was made a bit more hardcore than your average kayaking trip – as the moment we entered the water the rain began to pour down. Not only that, but for some reason the normally placid fjord waters had turned choppy…and that was only exacerbated by the wakes from the ferries that kept arriving and departing while we were out on the water. A bit tricky for a first time kayaker to maintain balance and navigate the waters! Happily, no one took a plunge – as that would have made for some frigid minutes in the fjord! Again, this was definitely yet another day I was ever so thankful for ‘body armor’ of Gortex! How would I have survived this trip without it?
Kayaking in Jondal
It wasn’t until our last day that the majority of us traded our trusty Gortex for neoprene…and actually spent some time in the frigid waters (some of us more than others)! Yes…the infamous rafting trip.
We had arrived in Voss to run the river (and for once the sun was shining). After getting suited up with wetsuits, booties, helmets and lifejackets we were ready to go. As we drove to the drop in point, our guide asked us what type of rapids we would prefer to run – everyone was rather silent until he mentioned one of the more extreme options and Andreas yelled out…YES! And again, in a sort of mob mentality consensus, we all agreed. “Why not, right? We’re here…we might as well.” Well, I guess we can thank “what happens in the fjords stays in the fjords” Andreas for what was to come…!
When we arrived at the drop in point on the Strandaelva, our lead guide briefed us with an extensive safety talk and explained that we would also need to take a swimming test. A swimming test?? Hmmm…interesting. That’s when I first began to wonder. I had only been rafting twice before – once in Idaho and once in Costa Rica – but we never needed to take a swim test. So I found it rather curious that this was a requirement…and wondered whether that meant they expected people to spend time in the water swimming instead of in the boat paddling?) Let me just say – trust your gut.
Starting out...
As we meandered down the crazy trail to the water…I really started to wonder what we were getting into – and that frigid plunge into the rolling water was a rude awakening! Whoa that was cold! I’m definitely awake now! I started swimming as fast as I could to shake off that sudden shock to the system – thinking this was it for the day in terms of an adrenaline rush. Silly me…
We paired off in our boats…Rick, Andreas, Barbara, Pam and I went first followed by Tim, Koni, Stella and Stian. As we headed through our first set of rapids…all was well and we were paddling well as a group. Then came Martha. Depending on the day and water levels, Martha is constantly changing…hence a bit unpredictable. Oh was she ever! Martha was our first major drop…and a fairly decent size waterfall.
Martha
As we went over…I knew something went wrong…and it felt as though we were about to flip. Out went Andreas, then Rick… then Barbara went under (and spent a little too much time underwater for my comfort level)…and then the endless spiral began.
There goes Rick!
We were sucked into the vortex under the waterfall and kept swirling in endless circles around and around – getting pummeled with water and unable to breathe when under the waterfall…and then flailing out of control outside trying to catch our breath before circling back again for another round. At first it was exciting…but then it started to get a little much. We were swirling out of control for at least 20 turns…and at one point we almost lost our guide as he fell halfway out of the boat…but luckily returned…as Pam and I held on for dear life! It was when I heard our guide’s voice screaming for help and the panic in his tone that I finally began to think we were actually in some real trouble. The other guide kept throwing the rescue rope and missing…until finally it reached our guide we made it out of the vortex. We weren’t exactly safe yet..but at least out of the waterfall and could breathe again.
mid spin...
At this point the other guide had to dive in the water, swim across the crazy current, scale the rocky cliff and throw another rope to fully extricate us from the wrath of Martha. Now for a major sigh of relief…
The dive...
That is until we watched the second boat attempt the same thing!
Well…they tried…and for a few minutes it seemed as though everything might be ok…but then they, too, got sucked in. And all we could do was watch (and relive it vicariously through them…)
First to go was Tim…(and he certainly didn’t go gently…as his leg was stuck in the raft and for several minutes he was bucked like a rag doll or bronco rider until he was finally thrown from the boat)…then it was Stian’s turn. That didn’t end well. Stian managed to get thrown from the boat and when he finally reappeared on shore he was bleed profusely from his mouth. At first we thought he had knocked out some teeth…but thankfully, not. Apparently his paddle had hit his face and split his lip open. Battle wound #2 for our Norway adventure! A much quicker rescue ensued for that raft…and all was well. For obvious reasons…Tim and Stian decided not to continue riding down the rest of the river. For those of us who chose to carry on…we enjoyed a much milder ride through tamer rapids. And were able to finally relax a bit and enjoy it. Wow…what a wild ride! We can thank Andreas for signing us up for that! It definitely lived up to its extreme billing!
Holding. on...all still in the boat...
After a quick trip to the hospital to make sure all was ok…Stian rejoined the group for a barbecue at the Voss Rafting Senter. We all enjoyed a well deserved beer…and sat down for burgers. As you can imagine…the lunch conversation was dominated by tales from the river! Interestingly enough, Fiona (who had opted out of the rafting excursion and was watching from the ‘sidelines’ managed to capture the 2nd raft’s trip over Martha on video – check it out!)
What can I say…what a day! There was nothing novice about that adventure! But hey…it’s Norway!
And that’s just a sample of what happens in the fjords…
I had an amazing time and experienced some great adrenaline rushes too [not to mention returned with memories that will last a lifetime]! But, like I said, that’s a mere sample of the myriad of active adventures you can participate in Norway.
Sadly we were unable to squeeze in any cycling on this action-packed trip…but stay tuned. There just might be some great climbs and road rides to be had… and perhaps some great ski runs in the near future.
A beautiful day in the Hardanger Fjord...
Extreme or not…Norway has a lot to offer! You should check it out.
