Geiranger & Sogndal, Norway

Gonna be a photo-overloaded post - there's nothing more fascinating than the sceneries in Norway, more often than not, breathtaking.

We continued from Helsinki towards the famous Fjords of Norway. First night stay - Hamar, a municipality in Hedmark county. There's actually quite a few things to look at in Hamar, but I was so exhausted, plus no tourist information given by the tour company - we didn't do much at all in the town.

Loving the scenery :)

Haven't seen such houses before - but cute, aren't they?

More photo stops
*Not that I minded this time, the views were gorgeous!*

We stayed at Scandic Hamar, which is part of a hotel chain. It wasn't located in the city or anything like that, but the rooms were comfortable and there were computers in the lounge for free usage. Not only that, free wifi in the lounge, and like the previous hotel we stayed in - free wifi docket for a local provider is provided by the hotel for wifi use in the room :).

Next morning - journey to Geiranger! First stop : Lillehammer.

Located in Oppland, Lillehammer is famous for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It also bidded to host the 2012 Youth Olympics but was unsuccessful, losing to Austria. What a waste though - the place is beautiful!!

@ Lillehammer

More of Lillehammer :)

Leaving the wonderful views of Lillehammer, we made our way towards Lom, located in the municipalityof Gudbrandsdal for lunch, and also the famous Lom stave church. Lunch was extremely welcomed, especially the hot soup in the cold cold weather!!

Lunch stop :)

Check out the wooden skis! :)

That caught my eye more than anything else! Wooden skis!!*Just to the right of the cafe's entrance* Not that much different looking from the ones that are currently used, in terms of shapes and length - but interesting nevertheless. I can't remember where it was that I saw the older skis - the ski bits looked a little like baseball gloves. That was even more amusing!

Lom stave Church

The Lom Stave Church was possibly built in the 12th century but was rebuilt,redecorated and extended in the 17th century. It is a really small church compared to what I've seen but the architecture is really unique. There is a small entrance fees for the church, but I can't remember how much it was. It's worth it though :).

A stave church is wooden church built with timber framings, and are generally built in the medieval times. All of them are located in Norway, except for one, which is located in Sweden. The timbers in the church were really obvious, and the insides of the church were really quite chilly. The entrance to Lom's stave church isn't particularly tall, but once inside, it no longer is. Although small, it certainly made an impression :).

We spent a bit of time in Lom, near the church doing tourist-y things - taking more photos of the sceneries, spending some time in the souvenir shop and and , there's a waterfall nearby! It's quite hidden, but if time permits, one should really make their way towards it. It isn't that far away from the church - it's near the bridge and a short walk downwards will bring you to the waterfall - for photos - the waterfall isn't directly accessible. Actually, come to think of it.... I don't know if you can even call it a waterfall.. *Oh well, whatever - it's still worth a short walk*

Waterfall?

More houses with grass rooftops!! :)
*they must really work*

Here's the next fascinating bit of Norway - It felt as if we drove past 4 seasons in a day. See how green and the sun in the pictures before? Compare it to the next set of pictures.

On our way again....

Check out the sun and snow!
*see the water? Compare it to later*

More snow, less greens

Check it out! No more water - just ice!!!! :)
*all within hours of journey*
It must be ski-able all year round! I definitely saw ski tracks :)

Btw, it's meant to be summer :P

:)

From there, we then drove past 'autumn'
and back into summer.

First glimpse of Geiranger Fjord

Absolutely loving the views! :)

We stayed the night in Geiranger Hotel, which is definitely a tour group tourist hotel. It's not that it's bad or anything, but it definitely lacked the local feel. There were multiple groups from Asia, and also the Trafalgar tour group. The meals were buffets and slot times... there wasn't really much to enjoy from, but at least the views were great! There's a souvenir shop just below the hotel, close to the waters. Great for photos, although it started raining while we were there :(. Hence, my lack of photos.

My bit of complaining - our tour provider was obviously trying to maximize profits, so none of us had an even room number. The even numbered rooms are the ones that faces the fjord, while the odd numbered ones faces the road. On the other hand, tour groups like Trafalgar place their keys on a tray and for their patrons to pick their luck. Much fairer!! *As you can tell, I am still quite sore with the services provided by my tour provider*. Hence, tip : If you get to choose the rooms, pick an even number one :).

Next day highlight : Briksdalsbreen Glacier. More scenic photos on the journey.

Just can't get enough of the sceneries :)

Isn't it just amazing?
Within an hour apart - Summer in one, winter in the other

There's a tradition in the mountains of stacking up rocks/stones and making wishes.The higher your stack is, the closer and higher chance of making your wish come true. There was plenty of stacked rocks in the area, even in random places.

This person's wish should be coming true....
Look at how tall it is! :)

:)

Briksdalsbreen!!

One of the most accessible glacier of the Jostedalsbreen glacier (which is the largest glacier in Norway), the Briksdalsbreen glacier has become one of the most frequented place in Sogn og Fjordane.

We were spoiled here by the tour provider, as we were treated to the troll cars to head up towards the glacier. The hike would have otherwise been a little uphill, which wasn't ideal for a lot of the tour group members, so the troll cars were a nice touch. Not exactly sure how much it costs though - it was all included in our trip :).

At the Glacier entrance.
*Info board to L), and souvenir/info centre to R)*

Getting onto the troll cars
*Oh, it was drizzling btw - hence, the trip was more than welcomed!*

Once we got to the top, there's still a little short hike to actually reach the glacier. Mum and I walked fairly quickly to get there so that we could get more photos with less people in it *evil laugh* LOL.

Briksdalsbreen Glacier

The glacier terminates into a small glacial lake, the Briksdalsbrevatnet, which is about 350 metres above sea level. The glacier is expected to move more foward in 2010, after an increase in glacier mass between 2007-2008. Years ago, people were allowed to actually walk up towards and touch the glaciers, but due to the possible increment in melting from that, the glacier is now sealed off to public. Not that I minded anyway - I wouldn't want it to disappear any faster!

Closer shot

There is a board near the main entrance to the glacier which shows pictures of the different times of the glacier. How big it was initially, and how much smaller it is now.

Someone was obviously bored
*cute isn't it?*

Waterfall on our way down

We then had lunch at the cafe, which was also of buffet style.. I was getting quite sick of buffet meals by now. But at least there was more pretty views to take the pain away.

Check the waterfall out!! :)

The rest of the day was spent in the bus, making our way towards Sogndal. I didn't really mind that - I spent the whole journey taking random pictures of views. It was absolutely too good to pass on!

Stopping by at Gryta Camping site :

Opened in 1993, the campsite was awarded to be the best campsite in Norway in 1996. Located next to the Oldevatn Lake, it is not hard to believe why. The views were great, not only taking in the lake, but also the snow-capped surrounding mountains. It is also only about 10 km from Briksdalsbreen.

:)

Lake Oldevatn
*see what I mean? How can one resist this?!?!*

Cute toilet signages :)

Continuing our way to Sogndal :

:)

At another fjord in Sogndal

Check out the bright houses below :)

By the time we arrived in Sogndal, it was pretty late. We only had time to drop by the local supermarket to grab a couple of things before dinner. We stayed in Quality Sogndal Hotel, who's service was a little below par for Quality hotels. While it was semi new, there was no internet service, no wifi, no business centre and the staff barely spoke English. A little disappointing for an international chain hotel really...

Food though, was pretty good :).

At hotel's restaurant

Finally, no more buffet dinners!!! :)

Yums! :)