Lofoten Islands, Norway
It's been a while since I've had a chance to update my blog so I better do it now before I get so far behind that I can't catch up. I have free internet since I'm at a library.
After my last day in Tronheim, Norway (Friday, 7 July) I took the night train to Bodo, Norway where I would catch a ferry to the Lofoten Islands. Whenever I take night trains I like to pay the upgrade and get a sleeping berth in a 6 bed compartment. This usually works out to about the same price as a hostel bed, but in Norway the trains only have 2 bed compartments and they are way too expensive. So I had to make due with sleeping in my seat for this night train. For the first hour or so I made myself stay awake to look at the scenery which consisted of more beautiful mountains (that seems to be the theme of Norway). Since I was so far north already - although still south of the artic circle - it was light enough to see everything even in the middle of the night. Eventually I fell asleep though. I'd wake up occasionally to a stunning scene and be pissed off that I had just fallen alseep. Then it was back to sleep and repeat. This made me wish I would have taken a day train, but I was not aware the ride would be so scenic.
When I arrived in Bodo, Norway the next morning (Saturday, 8 July) I was north of the artic circle. At this time of year that meant I would be witnessing no sunsets for a while. It was raining and foggy in Bodo so I didn't get to see much. Occasionally the fog would lift slighty and I could see the beautiful mountains that surrounded the city. The city itself was nothing to write home about though.
I had about 7 hours to waste in Bodo before I had to catch the ferry. I wondered around in the rain for a while before I discovered the ferry waiting room. I was in the ferry waiting room reading and I looked up after a while to see this massive boat sitting along the dock. I had to ask if this was the ferry I was taking and it was. The ferry is actually called the Hurtigruten, or Norwegain Coastal Steamer, and it was more of a cruise ship than ferry (although some people did take cars on it). I was told I could board anytime during the next 3 hours when it departed, so I immediately boarded. It was quite a kick to be walking around this mini cruise ship complete with hot tubs on the aft of the boat. There was this great lounge on the upper deck at the front of the boat. I stood outside for most of the journey even though it was cold, windy, and wet. I read some more about the Hurtigruten while onboard. In a nutshell there is a fleet of these boats that ply the waters daily between Bergen, Norway in the south and the northeastern most town in Norway near the Russian border. The journey takes 6 days up and 6 days return and is quite the popular (although pricey) tourist attraction for obvious reasons. It makes several stops daily at different places and therefore acts like a ferry as well as a cruise ship. There must be at least 12 of these boats since they come to these stops daily and the round trip is 12 days. I'd love to take the whole journey and was disappointed when I had to disembark after only 4 hours. Someday I'd like to go the whole way but it would be pretty boring alone.
I got off the Hurtigruten in Stamsund, Norway, a small town on one of the 4 main Lofoten islands. My guidebook said there was suppose to be a great hostel here and it didn't disappoint. At first it seemed a bit suspect, but after warming up to the place I could see the charm. At dinner every one was hanging out in the kitchen and seemed to all know each other so I was slow break into the group and meet everyone. Eventually I met everyone and they turned out to be some of the friendliest hostel goers of my trip. 2 guys from Ireland, a guy from Scottland, a mother and her 4-year-old son (who later kept making me play cards with him) from England, a girl from San Fran, a younger couple from New Zealand, and an older couple from the US/Belgium. Ironically it was the 4 year old asking "would you like to play some cards?" who gave me the 'introduction' to the group.
Some of them were planning a hike for the following day and invited me along. I eagerly accepted. Later that night we went out to try to catch a glimpse of the midnight sun. Although the clouds and mountains kept us from seeing the actual sun, it was still a beautiful sight. I went to sleep late that night.
The next morning (Sunday, 9 July) I slept in and hung around the hostel for a while. The hostel is right on this dock in the corner of this little bay. There are a couple of row boats you can use to row out and catch some fish which you can then cook for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do this. But I enjoyed walking around the docks, rocks, and bay that morning. Finally, well after lunch, we headed off on our hike; the 2 irish guys, the scottish guy, the girl from San Fran, the woman and her son, and the guy I met in Trondheim who lives in the Lofotens who kept showing up at the hostel looking for me. (I had escaped him on previous attempts until he showed up when we were leaving for the hike).
After a break about half way up this trail to the top of a ski hill, the others turned around and me, the 2 Irishmen, and the Scot, decided to continue to the top and traverse along the ridgeline to the top of this mountain. It was a great little hike and eventually we were standing on the summit in clear skies enjoying spectaclular scenry. It was picture perfect for my first 'artic summit'. Although it was 7 pm, we had little to worry about as the sun wouldn't set for several more days and the weather was perfect. We got back down to the hostel around 9:30 pm. I had a late dinner and around midnight I was thinking about going to sleep soon. Then the older couple from the US/Belgium came into the kitchen and asked if anybody wanted to go with them to the opposite side of the island to see the midnight sun (since you couldn't actually see it from our side of the island). It was a rare clear night here so I couldn't miss the oppurtunity. They had 3 open seats in their car and I got the last one. Wow, was I glad that I did! It was about a 30 minute drive and after coming out of a tunnel we arrived at this white sandy beach with green pastures behind the beach (with sheep eating the grass) and mountains behind the pastures. It was like a combination of Thailand, Ireland, and New Zealand in one place and it was north of the artic circle -- the Gulf Stream is an amazing thing when you consider the whole of Norway is as the same latitude as Greenland which is covered in a huge icecap! It was just after 1 am and the sun was shining brightly above the sea. I took several pictures because it was so amazing. It was windy and cold though; I could have used a jacket and sunglasses. This beach was called Utakleiv and appartently is a popular place to see the midnight sun because it was crowded! After a while the crowds started to disappear (except for the people camping there for the night - man, I was jealous) and we all piled back into the car soon after. It had been a fantastic day first with the hike and then getting to see this! I was starting to get use to this much daylight. You can get so much accomplished!
The next day (Monday, 10 July) I had decided to take the bus over to the western most town in the Lofotens called Å. There was another hostel there and it was supposed to be a really pretty village. It was cloudy that day and started to rain shortly after I arrived in Å that afternoon. There isn't a lot to do and Å and not a whole hell of a lot to see. It is a small but very pretty and neat village. I wondered around in the rain for several hours trying to fill the day and wondering what in the hell people did here. I'm sure the rain had a lot to do with my unexpected bad mood over the village. Had it been nice I could have gone for a hike in the surrounding mountains. The hostel was not that great and there were no interesting people there. I made plans to get out of there the next morning.
Early the next morning (Tuesday, 11 July) I took the bus from Å to Narvik, Norway which was about a 9 hour bus ride. It was incredibly scenic and included a 30 minute ferry ride which was really cool.
After my last day in Tronheim, Norway (Friday, 7 July) I took the night train to Bodo, Norway where I would catch a ferry to the Lofoten Islands. Whenever I take night trains I like to pay the upgrade and get a sleeping berth in a 6 bed compartment. This usually works out to about the same price as a hostel bed, but in Norway the trains only have 2 bed compartments and they are way too expensive. So I had to make due with sleeping in my seat for this night train. For the first hour or so I made myself stay awake to look at the scenery which consisted of more beautiful mountains (that seems to be the theme of Norway). Since I was so far north already - although still south of the artic circle - it was light enough to see everything even in the middle of the night. Eventually I fell asleep though. I'd wake up occasionally to a stunning scene and be pissed off that I had just fallen alseep. Then it was back to sleep and repeat. This made me wish I would have taken a day train, but I was not aware the ride would be so scenic.
When I arrived in Bodo, Norway the next morning (Saturday, 8 July) I was north of the artic circle. At this time of year that meant I would be witnessing no sunsets for a while. It was raining and foggy in Bodo so I didn't get to see much. Occasionally the fog would lift slighty and I could see the beautiful mountains that surrounded the city. The city itself was nothing to write home about though.
I had about 7 hours to waste in Bodo before I had to catch the ferry. I wondered around in the rain for a while before I discovered the ferry waiting room. I was in the ferry waiting room reading and I looked up after a while to see this massive boat sitting along the dock. I had to ask if this was the ferry I was taking and it was. The ferry is actually called the Hurtigruten, or Norwegain Coastal Steamer, and it was more of a cruise ship than ferry (although some people did take cars on it). I was told I could board anytime during the next 3 hours when it departed, so I immediately boarded. It was quite a kick to be walking around this mini cruise ship complete with hot tubs on the aft of the boat. There was this great lounge on the upper deck at the front of the boat. I stood outside for most of the journey even though it was cold, windy, and wet. I read some more about the Hurtigruten while onboard. In a nutshell there is a fleet of these boats that ply the waters daily between Bergen, Norway in the south and the northeastern most town in Norway near the Russian border. The journey takes 6 days up and 6 days return and is quite the popular (although pricey) tourist attraction for obvious reasons. It makes several stops daily at different places and therefore acts like a ferry as well as a cruise ship. There must be at least 12 of these boats since they come to these stops daily and the round trip is 12 days. I'd love to take the whole journey and was disappointed when I had to disembark after only 4 hours. Someday I'd like to go the whole way but it would be pretty boring alone.
I got off the Hurtigruten in Stamsund, Norway, a small town on one of the 4 main Lofoten islands. My guidebook said there was suppose to be a great hostel here and it didn't disappoint. At first it seemed a bit suspect, but after warming up to the place I could see the charm. At dinner every one was hanging out in the kitchen and seemed to all know each other so I was slow break into the group and meet everyone. Eventually I met everyone and they turned out to be some of the friendliest hostel goers of my trip. 2 guys from Ireland, a guy from Scottland, a mother and her 4-year-old son (who later kept making me play cards with him) from England, a girl from San Fran, a younger couple from New Zealand, and an older couple from the US/Belgium. Ironically it was the 4 year old asking "would you like to play some cards?" who gave me the 'introduction' to the group.
Some of them were planning a hike for the following day and invited me along. I eagerly accepted. Later that night we went out to try to catch a glimpse of the midnight sun. Although the clouds and mountains kept us from seeing the actual sun, it was still a beautiful sight. I went to sleep late that night.
The next morning (Sunday, 9 July) I slept in and hung around the hostel for a while. The hostel is right on this dock in the corner of this little bay. There are a couple of row boats you can use to row out and catch some fish which you can then cook for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do this. But I enjoyed walking around the docks, rocks, and bay that morning. Finally, well after lunch, we headed off on our hike; the 2 irish guys, the scottish guy, the girl from San Fran, the woman and her son, and the guy I met in Trondheim who lives in the Lofotens who kept showing up at the hostel looking for me. (I had escaped him on previous attempts until he showed up when we were leaving for the hike).
After a break about half way up this trail to the top of a ski hill, the others turned around and me, the 2 Irishmen, and the Scot, decided to continue to the top and traverse along the ridgeline to the top of this mountain. It was a great little hike and eventually we were standing on the summit in clear skies enjoying spectaclular scenry. It was picture perfect for my first 'artic summit'. Although it was 7 pm, we had little to worry about as the sun wouldn't set for several more days and the weather was perfect. We got back down to the hostel around 9:30 pm. I had a late dinner and around midnight I was thinking about going to sleep soon. Then the older couple from the US/Belgium came into the kitchen and asked if anybody wanted to go with them to the opposite side of the island to see the midnight sun (since you couldn't actually see it from our side of the island). It was a rare clear night here so I couldn't miss the oppurtunity. They had 3 open seats in their car and I got the last one. Wow, was I glad that I did! It was about a 30 minute drive and after coming out of a tunnel we arrived at this white sandy beach with green pastures behind the beach (with sheep eating the grass) and mountains behind the pastures. It was like a combination of Thailand, Ireland, and New Zealand in one place and it was north of the artic circle -- the Gulf Stream is an amazing thing when you consider the whole of Norway is as the same latitude as Greenland which is covered in a huge icecap! It was just after 1 am and the sun was shining brightly above the sea. I took several pictures because it was so amazing. It was windy and cold though; I could have used a jacket and sunglasses. This beach was called Utakleiv and appartently is a popular place to see the midnight sun because it was crowded! After a while the crowds started to disappear (except for the people camping there for the night - man, I was jealous) and we all piled back into the car soon after. It had been a fantastic day first with the hike and then getting to see this! I was starting to get use to this much daylight. You can get so much accomplished!
The next day (Monday, 10 July) I had decided to take the bus over to the western most town in the Lofotens called Å. There was another hostel there and it was supposed to be a really pretty village. It was cloudy that day and started to rain shortly after I arrived in Å that afternoon. There isn't a lot to do and Å and not a whole hell of a lot to see. It is a small but very pretty and neat village. I wondered around in the rain for several hours trying to fill the day and wondering what in the hell people did here. I'm sure the rain had a lot to do with my unexpected bad mood over the village. Had it been nice I could have gone for a hike in the surrounding mountains. The hostel was not that great and there were no interesting people there. I made plans to get out of there the next morning.
Early the next morning (Tuesday, 11 July) I took the bus from Å to Narvik, Norway which was about a 9 hour bus ride. It was incredibly scenic and included a 30 minute ferry ride which was really cool.
posted by Dustin at 2:32 AM
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