Norwegian Brown Cheese is Life

So it appears we’ve gotten a little behind in our blogging (thanks to our parents for reminding us and also validating our posts beyond just for our own use haha.)

Alas! Here we go. We managed to recover from our long and arduous (and rainy) hike from Priekestolen at Songesand Camp located east of Stavanger in the Lysefjord. What a nice couple of days hanging out in the sun, just reading and talking to the owners, Ellen and Ketyl. The property buildings consisted of a renovated schoolhouse, and we stayed in the old woodshop (it was really cute, too!). Ellen and Ketyl were really easy going, and it was a much appreciated break as we just hung out, read, and enjoyed…being!! Definitely recommend if you have a few days as it’s a really great getaway. Ketyl even teaches survival courses. Had we known, we would have signed up. It probably would have helped on some of our previous hiking excursions, too. Ha.

Don’t have any pics of the buildings, so I’ve documented our run while there.

Here’s some sheep that cheered us on during our run. I have to admit, the sheep on the left appears to be smiling. As much as I want to say the sheep shared in our excitement to stretch our legs, in all actuality, we just interrupted its mid-morning snack of tasty grass blades. This just further demonstrates that photog timing is everything.

We survived the run to the top, and the view was so worth it!

After a couple nights, we hiked down to the fjord where the ferry took us to Lysebotn at the back of the fjord. More importantly, we witnessed my favorite chickens “with pants” and quite possibly one of the biggest pigs I have ever seen.

The ferry picking us up was like a water Uber group ride for locals who wanted to get to other spots in the fjord. We also realized it was a really cheap way to do a booze cruise along the fjord if you didn’t own your own boat. Haha.

The next couple days spent in Lysebotn were really fun. The first day there, we got up early to beat the crowds and hiked to Kjeragboltn or “Sandwich Boulder”. This by far was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. It’s a boulder that is sandwiched between two adjacent granite walls at roughly 3,000 feet above the fjord. For all you real daredevils, there is also a granite bluff located just next to it that is a very popular base jumping location.

Here’s some pictures from the hike, and guess what?! More chain traverses (😆) However, it was absolutely beautiful watching the sun come up over the mountains.

We made it to the infamous boulder, and it was definitely a mental game trying to convince yourself to hop out on this boulder with nothing but serious airspace under you until water at 3000 ft below. After much contemplation and evaluation, we…did…it.

We hiked back down to the parking lot, and being carless, we put the thumb out for a ride back down the four mile serpentine road to the Airbnb. As fate would have it, no cars turned to go back down the hill from the parking lot at the trailhead. With a shuttle bus costing 30 dollars a person, and they wouldn’t be there for another hour, we hoofed it down with packs the entire four miles. It was like that longboarding scene from Secret Life of Walter Mitty only minus the longboard. Haha. Alas, we survived, and made it back to Lysebotn.

We departed from our home in Lysebotn early the next morning to head to Florli, a recently renovated village across the fjord from Songesand. Essentially, the discovery and harnessing of hydropower from lakes in the mountain above the fjord helped to develop this small but really beautiful little village. Did I mention it’s known as being home to the world’s longest wooden staircase at 4,444 steps? We obviously were gluttons for punishment, and had to see this absurdity firsthand. Spoiler alert: The staircase is indeed real.

After curiosity almost killed both these cats, we managed to find the trail back down to the main station. The stairs were too narrow to support two directions of traffic, and we needed some distance from those quad murderers.

Just as we were reaching the bottom, we ran into Ellen and Ketyl from Songesand hiking the trail. We walked with them to the power station which has been converted into a history museum and cafe. After ordering what we thought were just some simple dishes, we were proven very wrong. Y’all, this was really, really good.

Morgan got a cream-based seafood soup with potato, and the bread served with it had both a thai curry and dill butter spread on it. Hessell the chef is from Holland, and he helped revitalize this previously abandoned village of 15 some odd houses into a thriving little day trip spot. I really think you should Google the history. It’s very interesting!

From Florli, we traveled to Jorpeland for two days before heading back to Stavanger to fly to Stockholm. It was a quieter couple of days, but it was nice. We had a dad and son give us a ride on the way to his son’s soccer game, we hiked to a local island with frisbee golf and obscure wooden figures, ate plums from the backyard of the Airbnb, and watched Big Bang Theory. Also, we hiked through town to where they have a salmon ladder installed for salmon traveling to spawn. We sat there for what had to be 45 minutes scanning the water, but we managed to see 5 salmon use it! It was really cool to witness.

We left Jorpeland to go back to Stavanger to catch a flight to Stockholm. Beforehand, we had to collect the rest of our stuff from a bus station locker. We stowed it there to lighten our packs for the Priekestolen trek, and we begrudgingly took it back. It’s funny how you think you need so much for four months of your life, and honestly…you really don’t need nearly what you think you do. This is traveling, not vacation, remember? Our objective to is to see and experience, and it seems to be a lesson we’re learning more as we go. We’re currently trying to give away and mail back some items.

Sparing other frivolous details, we made it to Stavanger and then flew out to Stockholm.