The Land of Trolls

They say Norway is the Land of the Trolls. I think a more apt name would be the Land of Waterfalls. Never have I seen so many waterfalls, dropping from the tips of mountains at such sheer depths that at times the water doesn't even touch the rock but instead drifts with the wind. I saw waterfalls so massive that entire farms were dwarfed, mountain sides covered. Yet at the same time I saw streams dribbling down black rocks, giving the impression that on top of that mountain, just over the peaks where no one can actually see, there is a bath overflowing at the edges.

It makes for a beautiful landscape. Green and white and stone. The drops between mountain sides and gullies come suddenly and unexpectedly, causing the viewer always to be shocked by each turn and round in the bend. If Scotland had a raw kind of beauty, this is of the earthy, ancient variety. The fjords are water gorges created from several million years of glacier ices slicing through rocks and cleaving through mountains. Its a forceful, powerful beauty, much like its creation, I suppose.

The day was spent traveling, although it was sight seeing traveling so its not quite the same. We started early in Bergen City (after a hearty breakfast at the hotel. I don't know what it is about Europe but the milk is divine. I think its all local). We mounted a train and set for Voss, in which we unloaded and reloaded onto a bus. The bus trail travels along side a mountain, complete with thirteen hairpin turns as the road snakes down the steep side. If there wasn't all that beauty to distract, it would be as terrifying as it is death defying. The bus goes slow enough for photos, as long as one is apt at taking a picture through glass. After a few tries, Pami and I got the hang of it.

Once at the base of the mountain, we boarded a small cruise vessel in Gudavngen towards Flam along the Naeroyfjord. Aside from being singularly the most beautiful sight one can ever hope for, its the narrowest fjord channel in Europe and recently was added to the UNESCO's World Heritage List (or so I was told. I really have no idea what the UNESCO is...but it sounds impressive).

I can't describe the cruise except to defer back to the beginning of the blog--in which case this would just end up a string of words on how breathtaking Norway is. Suffice to say, words are not enough, and even a photo, with its thousand word value, falls pathetically short. So I'll instead tell how we met up with a Japanese student--an impressive woman who was studying music in Austria, but also was volunteering at schools in Africa. I had a fun time speaking Japanese again (my Rotary Club experiences at work again!) and Sato-san joined us for the rest of the day. The rest of the cruise was spent talking, taking photos, or watching a furious Pami try to swing her umbrella at the pesky seagulls (who seemed bent on pooing on any and every passenger they could. Take that, tourists!)

We ported in Flam, a very small...well, village is to grand a term so perhaps we'll call it a large train station. We ate lunch (a reminder that Norway IS the most expensive country in the world. $10 for a half-pint of beer, $15 for a half-glass of wine, and we're just winding up.) We were back to boarding something, this time another train. This train, thankfully, had windows that, with great effort, could be pulled down so that Pami, Sato-san, and myself hung out of them, like eager little puppies, cameras in hand.

And we weren't disappointed. Aside from the little villages nestled in valley bottoms, or the ever present streams through rocks and caves, we encountered Kjosfossen. Kjosfossen deserves its own introduction. Standing at 738 feet tall, this waterfall dwarfs all others. The problem is that the waterfall is so massive, its scope is impossible to fully grasp in the camera lens. Sure, it looks impressive, but how can a viewer tell how immense it truly is? Much to our shock, an ethereal voice overpowered the crashing water, filling the gully with traditional Norse magic. A woman in red danced onto the rocks, long blond hair blown back by the spray. She is dressed as a legendary Huldra--a seductive forest creature in Scandinavian folklore--and despite the wet stones, twirls rather confidently along side the waterfall. Problem solved. Now the size is a bit more comparable. (The Huldra actresses are all students from the Norwegian ballet school, which I found interesting).

Back on the train, heading towards Geilo, where we parted ways with Sato-san. This is one thing I adore about traveling--one can make a friend in an instant, connected by our shared amazement (or confusion) in a new country and culture. Pami and I ended up in Geilo, a very popular skiing site, and certainly the glacier tips of broken ice and snow prove skiing is a possibility, even in June.

The end of our day was rather slow, but a much needed rest. We ate, we talked, and downloaded and uploaded. And now I'm off to bed, as tomorrow we head to Oslo.

PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=438437&id=794430163&l=a924f68c8d