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The weather has changed totally and rain is pouring down. But we have some experience now in countries with mountains and we hope the weather will be better when we are on the other side of this mountain massif.

Norway [6]

Elisabeth & Teije
2004-03-06 15:54:34

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Friday, July 5, Loen - Øvre Årdal

The weather has changed totally and rain is pouring down. But we have some experience now in countries with mountains and we hope the weather will be better when we are on the other side of this mountain massif. We are now on the west side of a large glacier field, the biggest on the european mainland. The Jostedalsbre glacier makes up the biggest part with its 24 glacier tongues: 475 km².

Many houses in this area (and to the north) have grass growing on the roof. It is an excellent isolation against the cold, but the roofing has to be very good to keep out the moisture.
In the pouring rain we almost drive into a herd of goats, but fortunately we don't drive that fast and we are used to these sort of things after all the reindeer we have seen in the north.
We pass many long tunnels and suddenly we see our first glacier, immediately after coming out of a tunnel. And we are not the only Dutch who stop for taking a picture.

When we arrive at the eastern side of the mountain massif the weather is indeed much better. Just past Sogndal we visit another stave church, in Kaupanger, a small one. Then we drive back and go to the north. The weather has improved so much that we can picnic outside, on a parking place. It has become a habit to have a picnic along the road, especially because the prices are too high in Norway to afford a normal lunch.
From Gaupne we take a narrow and bad road through the Joste-valley. The last part is a private toll road and then we are near the end of the Jostedalsbre glacier. To go there one can take a ride by boat, crossing the lake.

And today is waterfall-day. We see dozens of them today and they are big. Back on road 55 we go further to the north because we want to drive around the fjord to visit the stave church at Urnes.
Driving on the west coast of the Lustrafjord we can see the 218 metres high Feigumfoss ...