Norway!

During my time in Europe, I flew to Norway for a few days to go rustic camping.

We landed in Bergen, and set out to find a spot to camp.  Norway has this law where if land isn't inhabited (or close to a house or other city building), it's free to camp on.  It makes going to the bathroom challenging to say the least, but you can't beat the scenery or the price.

Our view from the plane:

First, we stopped for beer with a buddy of Drew's from Ann Arbor.  Small world that he happened to be in Bergen, too.  He took this picture of us before we set out.

We climbed the path out of the city (and what a climb it was!), and on our way up the mountain, we ran into Ragnvald.  "Raggie" as he let us call him since his name is difficult for English-speakers to pronounce was 20, from Bergen, full of energy, a nature-lover and a fan of using the word "cool" so freely that he instantly endeared himself to me.  We chatted all the way up the mountain and eventually camped two nights together.  He was so sweet and while he was still fairly new to English, he could quote Gabriel Iglesias stand-up routines.  He also had some insightful commentary on American humor: "Americans like to laugh at other people's pain."

I couldn't get over how beautiful the scenes from the mountains were.

Our campsite:

That's Raggie's tent with Jason, Drew and my tents in the background.


For two days, we filtered our own water and made breakfast in the morning and then walked down to the city to explore, go to museums and enjoy overpriced ($10 each) soy lattes.

We also made friends with a troll:

 After a couple days in Bergen, we took the bus to Flom.  It was the most gorgeous bus ride I've ever taken in my life!  Plus, unlike Greyhound, the bus was super nice and the bathroom even had a sink.  Bonus that it didn't smell like a sewer.

Pictures from around Flom:

Since we were in the middle of the fjords, climbing to a campsite was imperative. It was tough on my legs, and I vowed that if I'm going to hike again, I must get a backpack that actually fits properly.

It was worth the pain though because this was our campsite!

 

Oh, and we got to eat here along the way.

Just as we had done in Bergen, we spent our nights in the woods, and we trekked into the city during the day.  Because dairy and eggs are really expensive to produce (since a lot of Norway is mountainous and thus not suited for grazing cattle), a lot of their baked goods are vegan.  Each day that we were in Flom, I ate a cinnamon roll the size of my head.  It was a dream!

After not having a shower for four days, I convinced Drew and Jason to stay at a campsite for one night.  As soon as we checked in and pitched our tent, I couldn't get the water on me fast enough.  I'm sure Drew and Jason appreciated my efforts as well since I don't think I smelled so great.

 

I relaxed at the campsite while Drew and Jason went for some hikes, and it was perfect.  And by relaxed, I mean I went to the grocery store to buy more cinnamon-head rolls.

While I was in the grocery store, this very Southern American woman, stuck a giant tub of margarine in my face, and loudly asked, "which one of these is butter?"

No "excuse me, can I ask you a question?" just a loud, in-your-face, demand in the thickest, most hideous trailer park/Paula Deen-ish accent you've ever heard in your life.

"I'm not sure," I replied.

"Oh," she said, surprised, "you talk like I do."

Dear God, I hope not.

The day before we flew back to Copenhagen, we camped in Bergen again.  This time, rather than hiking up the mountains, we took the funicular (say that three times fast).  My legs and back were so happy!

Here's the view (ignore the fellow tourists in the background):