Norway in a nutshell - Part 2

Between the traveling and settling down in Manchester, and my hard disk crashing, this post was long pending. Now that I am finally settled (for the next few months), I can focus again on this incomplete story. The previous post (http://doesnotxsist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/norway-in-nutshell.html ) ended when we reached Gudvangen.

Inside the cottage

We were staying the night at Gudvangen Camping (http://www.visitgudvangen.com/ ) which is about a kilometre walk from the ferry drop-off. The original Norway in a nutshell tour does not include a stopover here, those tourists boarded a bus and were going to Bergen now. We followed Google

Maps and checked-in at the camping site. Our cabin had four beds (two bunk beds), a small hob, a few utensils and a small fridge. The bathroom and shower was outside and shared. Our hosts told us about the nearby fuel station shop and we were immediately there to replenish our supplies.

The Camp site.

Back to the campsite, it was time to relax now over a cup of coffee and a hot pot of Maggi. The site is very  nicely placed in front of the Kjelsfossen (the Kettle Waterfall). Surrounded by mountains and no other human colony nearby, it is the best place to relax. Even though we were staying in a cabin, the cabin did not have any water connection, we were bringing the water from the common area, which added more to the camping like feeling. As the night settled in, and the stars started to appear, the only sounds that you could hear were that of you breathing and the waterfall.

While entering the Bakka tunnel (that's Satish)

 The morning was early, and after freshening up and a breakfast of hot scrambled eggs and toasts, we were out biking. Bikes were available at the camp site free, and I chose whatever suited best for me. It was a long time since I cycled, but soon, I was accustomed to it (though I could not figure out how the gears worked). Our destination was Bakka, a tiny village, and the first challenge was to go through the Bakkatunnelen which was 1.7 KM in length and it seemed that there was no biking path. We took the chance and entered the tunnel and it sure was a wonderful experience. When we reached the middle of the tunnel, both the ends were not visible, it felt as if we were going to the centre of the Earth.

Inside the tunnel

The ups and downs of the roads were pretty steep, and a few times I had to get down from the bike and walk along, but the serenity of the place made up for all the effort. The village of Bakka has about fifty residents. It is quite a non-descript village and we hardly saw any person there. We spent some time just roaming around and feeling the nature. The return journey was un-eventful except the scare a high speeding garbage truck gave us while inside the tunnel.

Lunch was some roast chicken and rice. And it was time to pack up. We boarded the same bus which takes the tourists to the Voss station. Our driver took us through a winding road which is open only during summer and we were grateful he did. This trip was one of a kind too.

Kayaking

Bakka

Google Map View

We made a mistake of not booking the return ticket from Voss. Our tickets were from Myrdal and hence we had to pay for a costly ticket (since we bought over the counter) from Voss to Myrdal. As the train sped towards Oslo, it was time to get some sleep now.