The Naroyfjord (Narrow Fjord)

Today is all about the Fjords. Except for the short walk, this morning. We have breakfast around 0830. It is a simple but good breakfast. No fish or cooked items. We have hard boiled eggs, granola with yogurt ( which I am beginning to like), and always there are cold cuts, cheers, and bread. When we are ready to check out, the owner tells us that we can leave our bags and they will drive them down to the dock for us at 1130. It is a little after 1000 so we are now free to wander about a bit. We walk up the road away from the harbor and come to two Viking burial mounds.

Viking King

Rumor has it a Viking King is buried in one. There is a statue to commemorate that. We walk further up the road to a small rather tiny public beach. I take a panoramic picture of the area with my I phone and when I am done, Carol has started a conversation with a couple and their daughter. It turns out that they are from Morocco. We talk for a bit and then it is time for us to walk down to the harbor. It turns out that the couple stayed at the same motel as us, so we walk down the quiet country road together. I talk to Falidah, walking slightly ahead of Carol, who is talking to Tarik. We learn a little about each other’s countries and family. They go back in to the motel and we walk down to the dock where we meet up again as they are on the same boat to Flam as us. We enjoy our conversation with them and feel like they are two people with whom we could become friends. I am sorry that I did not get their daughters name but we hope to stay in touch and I will correct that omission on my part.

Balestrand Water Front

We board the express boat from Balestrand to Flam. The ride will take about an hour and a half. Today is partly sunny, so I am hopeful of some better water colors and pictures. We cruise through the Sognefjord until we reach the fork of the Aurlandsfjord and Naroyfjord. We are going up the Aurlandsfjord to Flam. From Flam we are taking a slow fjord cruise that will go back up the Aurlandsfjord and the down the Naroyfjord to Gundvagen. But that will have to wait. The day is turning out to be very nice and I get a few good shots of the fjords and surrounding country.

Sognefjord

Having said that, when we arrive in Flam and get off the boat, it starts to rain pretty hard.
We find shelter, get out our raincoats, put our pack covers on, get our bearings, and start to walk. We are going to our hotel .5 miles away to try and check in a little early. At the very least, we hope we can leave our large packs there, for our fjord tour. Five minutes into our walk, the rain subsides and then stops. Five minutes later, we are at our hotel. Our room is ready, which is great news. It is probably the most basic room we have had yet but it is overlooking the water and the fjord, so that is very nice. There is a Holland America ship in port looming over everything in the harbor.
Our timing is working out great as it is 1400 and our tour leaves at 1425. We head down to the harbor (lighter without our packs) and it starts to sprinkle again. We find a picnic table with an umbrella and have lunch. Then we go to the boat dock and get in line or rather, we are the line. Still 15 minutes until we leave and no boat. An Asian couple gets behind us and she makes appoint of telling me, I guess we are number 3 and 4. When the company representative gets there and some other groups arrive, the Asian lady makes sure he knows that we are numbers 1-4 in line. There are at least two Asian tour groups behind us and we have found them to be very pushy in the past. As soon as the boat starts pulling up, one lady bumps into me and tries to push ahead. I tell her to stay in line and get a dirty look and some probably not so nice words in Chinese. We get on the boat and secure some nice seats and two ladies ask nicely if they can sit next to us. It works out well as we are not crowded in as some other areas are.

Wow

The cruise itself is wonderful. Much slower than the express boat, we can enjoy sthe scenery more and it is much easier to take pictures as I do not get blown away from the speed of the boat. They pull in and slow down by sights and waterfalls so it is a very relaxing experience. Carol stays inside, but I choose to be outside about half the time. I enjoy the 360 degree surround view experience and beauty that we are sailing through. I find a spot on the main level in the front of the boat, that seems to have gone undetected by most of the boat. There are only about 8 of us out here Lund and it makes for great picture taking and relaxing. The Naroyfjord on the second part of our journey is a Unesco fjord and is the narrowest fjord in the world. It is truly a magnificent place with high cliffs, waterfalls, snow clad peaks, and kayakers in the water.

Waterfalls Galore

As we start to approach Gudvagen, some clouds roll in and it starts to rain again. I turn around and am able to see a rainbow spanning the fjord. I think that is a fitting end to our ride.
At Gudvangen, we catch a shuttle van for the 20 minute ride back to Flam. I don’t think that I have mentioned it before, but Norway has a lot of tunnels. They are the longest tunnels we have ever been in. The first one we enter towards Flam must be 15 miles long. So our ride back though the mountains is literally through the mountains. We see about 5 minutes of daylight on the trip. There was one tunnel by Oslo that actually had an exit in it that was another tunnel. I can’t imagine what the Chunnel is like.
We walk back to our hotel where dinner is included so we do not have to walk anywhere tonight. Our meal is excellent and consisted of bread, cauliflower soup, pork with creamed cabbage and potatoes, all followed by dessert. We had cappuccino and apple cake with caramel ice cream, which was excellent. We have thoroughly enjoyed our meals in Norway. I think it may be my turn for a massage tonight, so I have to go.
Expenses
Boat from Balestrand to Flam. 390 NOK
Naroyfjord Tour. 760 NOK
Hotel Heimly Pensionatt. 1350 NOK, included dinner and breakfast
Walked 4 Miles