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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Road trip around South Norway
7:20 AM And so begins my adventure!! My first road trip ever.. and my first hiking trip - all made it a very exciting road trip. And I also took tonnes of photos.. don't know how but I snapped about 300+ photos in just 3 days.. so I'll just let the photos do most of the talking. DAY 1 - Friday 24th Aug We set off about 9am in the morning, and drove all the way west from Oslo to get to the innermost part of the Lysefjord so we could hike the Kjerag and see the famous Kjeragbolten, which was a boulder wedged into a crack in the mountain and which is about 1000m above the fjord. It would take about 10km round trip and about 5 hrs to get up and back down. I wasn't exactly fully aware that the 2hr plus walk up (I was told it was not accessible by car) was going to turn out to be such a gruelling hike so I was also badly equipped for the hike! I was wearing my Puma sneakers and comfy sweatpants. I looked more like I was going for a jog in the park than hiking over "treacherous" mountains. My fitness level was even more ill-prepared for physical activity of this kind of intensity lah! So up till now my thighs are still aching, from going down all those steep slopes and having to bend your knees to make sure you don't lose your footing and roll down the slopes. We were one of the last few groups to make the ascent as well as one of the last few to leave. And by then it was too late to drive to get a cabin to stay the night, so we ended up making do with sleeping in a tent (Alex brought. he's incredibly meticulous and well-prepared for almost everything! except he didn't bring a corkscrew to open the wine he brought..) I slept in the car though, since the tent was only big enough for 2 people. And the 2 guys braved the rain through the night (was surprised they didn't come back into the car though.. I was already shivering inside the car so I couldn't imagine how chillingly cold it was outside.) I couldn't even last brushing my teeth outside of the car in the icy wind the next morning so I brushed inside the car. :P Ok pictures time..  Gorgeous lakes like these are all over the place in Norway. I am too short! ok these guys are too tall. Leander & Alex. :] prettyyyy.... we stopped by a lake to have lunch - sandwiches & fruit salad. *licks lips* Breathtaking view from atop a mountain somewhere along the drive On the way to Kjerag for the hike And the terrain along the way looked mostly like this. Making our way up the Kjerag to see the Kjeragbolten.All the mountains you see behind, we had to hike over those. There were no footpaths to follow!  It's really quite steep.. I look horrid here but I have to show how steep it was.. it was so friggin exhausting!!!! and the guys happily snap away while waiting for me.. the only signpost up in the mountains. we had to rely on red T markers to find our way. After about more than 2 hours, we finally found the Kjeragbolten! It was a huge pity it was so foggy though, so you can't really see the scenery from behind and below the mountains. MEE!! standing beside the boulder. I dare not go down lah! The guys went down though.. and stood on the boulder to take their pictures. the fog cleared up a bit so you can catch a glimpse of the view below. I was much more relaxed the way down lah.. can take pictures properly now. Can even take picture with the mountain sheep. hahaha Leander, and the gorgeous view! the sun's setting soon... last picture before we get back down... . . . . DAY 2 - Sat 25th Aug Phoebe was coming down to meet us at Stavanger along the way from Oslo and we were going to head down to the Pulpit Rock, also called Preikenstolen. This time it was a slightly shorter hike, about 2 hours to hike the 6km but the terrain was so much more friendly to ordinary people like me than going up to the Kjeragbolten. It explains why it was one of the best known tourist attractions in the Ryfylke region and with the stunning views you get when you reach the top, its really no wonder. The 350m hike upwards brings you to about 600m above the Lysefjord and there were so many people that morning. Oh and its really common for people to bring their dogs too. And well the dogs here certainly take after the adventurousness of their owners. In the evening, after our trip, we made our way to a pretty stretch of sand near Kristiansand (the guys drove, I slept. lolx) , in a town called Mandal, as recommended by the guide books. The guys were dying to get some sun and go swimming but the water is so incredibly cold it is quite crazy to stay in the water more than just a few minutes.. Alex ended up only getting into the water up till his knees. heh Oh and Phoebe and I were wearing our jackets and pants by the beach. lolx So not used to being so fully dressed by the beach.. but the wind was just too cold! Then we had a yummy hot dinner of spaghetti cooked in the apartment - ohh I found this out on this trip, that it is expected for cabins and apartments like the ones we went to to have the complete set of utensils and crockery as if you were back in your own kitchen. There were wine glasses, knives, pans and pots for our cooking and even a vacuum cleaner because you were expected to clean up the place before leaving, if not they charge you a cleaning fee. Here in Norway it seems like it is assumed that everyone will act responsibly.. that nobody will steal a fork or spoon from the apartment. so different from in Asia.. but well Norway is rich lah. Anyhow, we spent the rest of the night sitting on the beach munching on biscuits and drinking the wine alex brought.  The way up to Preikenstolen. Like at the Kjeragbolten, there are no proper footpaths along some of the way and you just have to climb up these rocks as if you were climbing stairs. some of the scenery along the way up pockets of water amongst the rocky terrain my favourite picture.. I like how the water looks so calm! making our way up... me and Phoebe trailing behind... the breathtaking view of the Lysefjord from beside the cliff us standing on the Preikenstolen Phoebe & Me, with the cliff at our feets another hiker, taking a view off the cliff one last view of the Lysefjord and the Preikenstolen.. . . Then we went to Mandal for some beach and sun..  exploring the beach sun, sand and sea! and cold wind. :P then the guys go "swimming"... and here's our comfy apartment, where we finally get a proper night's sleep till the next morning!. . . . . DAY 3 - Sun 26th Aug After a nice breakfast, we make our way in the direction back to Oslo, but intending to make stops to see other parts of south Norway. We eventually decided to go to Risor, one of the 4 quaint towns of white wooden houses. At Risor, we had the biggest 2 scoops of icecreams ever, each one of us and that ended up being our lunch cause it was simply too gargantuan! Took pictures at the pier and then headed on. Before going back to Oslo, we stopped by Verdes Edge for a barbecue dinner in front of the open sea and had salmon burgers for dinner. SUPER YUMMY!!!! :P ok peektures now...  the white wooden houses the local church Phoebe & me with our giant icecreams the guys, busy saving their icecreams from falling. we sat in front of the pier devouring our icecreams. done with our icecreams, so we go around taking pictures! last picture of the beautiful pier before driving on.... . .  At Verdes Edge our hair in our faces.. haha we settle down to make dinner barbecueing our salmon in front of the open sea! prettyyyy picturee hungryyyy us me and my yummy salmon burger beautiful skies and sea we stayed until the sun was about setting..and then it was time to get back to Oslo.  In 3 days, I've seen and done so many things I've never seen or done before. And traveling with these people made me feel like a 'little girl' cause I felt so taken care of. haha I am so glad I went on the trip with them cause I almost didn't.. long story but yea. hopefully there will be more such trips! oh and I love Phoebe! :]The rest of the pictures are at: http://saphiration.multiply.com/photos 0 comments |
ely belly Welcome to the drunk mootoo tiger's blog. This is the blog of a nonsensical 22 year-old. All posts are true accounts of misadventures in my life. misadventurer
I'm a shopaholic, a chocoholic, an alcoholic, a clubbaholic, an eataholic, a music junkie, a traveler.
I love crying in the movies, love cookies and popcorn, love lazing at home and love making people laugh.
I'm addicted to Johnson's Baby lotion, to my mom's cooking and to sinful desserts.
I cannot multi-task, I cannot drive, and I'm afraid of heights but I enjoy rollercoasters.
I like to be around people with whom I don't have to care if they think I'm crazy drinking bak kut teh from a straw.
I've never taken the reverse bungee, never been to the US, and never dyed my hair pink.
And I want to go on an misadventure once in my life.
the grand plan May - Scuba Diving with MichnFriends in M'sia! *hurrayy we're reeally going! :)* her heart's desire Sony Ericsson s500i The Europe Trip Once More An Australian Adventure SHOUTOUT the friends ♥ x for xine ♥ ♥ pepper ♥ ♥ chengwei ♥ ♥ Chris&Jing in India ♥ ♥ 1 to 100 ♥ ♥ aimee ♥ ♥ shuxin ♥ ♥ vince ♥ ♥ unkle nick ♥ ♥ adeline ♥ ♥ mootsdarling shee ♥ ♥ shingy ♥ ♥ pang ♥ ♥ isabel ♥ ♥ samuel ♥ ♥ jeff ♥ ♥ junhao ♥ ♥ david ♥ ♥ adrian bek ♥ ♥ qiaomei ♥ ♥ timo ♥ ♥ chingyan ♥ ♥ sarah ♥ ♥ melvin ♥ ♥ weiwen ♥ ♥ reina ♥ ♥ lionel ♥ ♥ jiayi ♥ ♥ shunzhang ♥ ♥ allan in suzhou♥ ♥ the one who wants to be known as 'peacefool' ♥ ♥ hall5 ♥ ♥ travel pictures ♥ ♥ Destination Europe ♥ music junkie
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