Of Tunnels

So far, I've only been once to Norway; it was a weekend getaway to Oslo in late autumn of 2019 to visit a study friend. So, I didn't catch much of Norway's reality back then. Having spent almost a month in this country, I can tell you that there are many things to like about Norway beyond the majestic beauty of its nature. The country is well-organized, modern, progressive, and clean. It offers a superb infrastructure with various airports and trains, more than 1000 road tunnels, and over 180 ferries connecting fjords and islands.

On the map, you can see our route through the country.

Having done the usual research, we decided to split our Norway trip into two parts: After arriving in Oslo and a short train commute to Bergen, we spent roughly two weeks in the West and Southwest of the country.

There we were doing two "circles" as our friend Nici joined us for a week. The first circle included stops in Bergen, Stryn, Ålesund, and Førde, while for the second, we checked out the surroundings of Stavanger, Odda, and Voss. After that, we took an inland flight to Nordland, where we would spend the remaining ten days in and around Lofoten. So much about the route.

While we had a few days of extensive driving, being in the car was mostly fun. As said, Norway's infrastructure is superb; streets are of excellent quality, and like Switzerland, you would find tunnels everywhere. And there's one unique tunnel in Bergen, Norway's second most populous city. There, they recently opened a super-long bicycle tunnel. Fyllingsdalstunnelen is 3000 meters long and connects two city areas; check out the short video to get an impression.

You may ask yourself now how Norway finances its modern infrastructure. And for that, it's worth to travel south to Stavanger, where you find the country's oil capital. Oil? Indeed. Norway is Western Europe's biggest oil exporter (and ranked world's no. 8 in terms of oil exports), and while there are other significant industries, the oil and gas industry accounts for approx. 20% of the country's GDP. We highly recommend visiting the Norwegian Petroleum Museum in Stavanger for more insights into this topic.

Another interesting story about Norway's oil fortune is what they do with the resulting surplus. In 1990, the Norwegian parliament (Storting) passed a law establishing a sovereign wealth fund. The idea behind the fund is "to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway's oil and gas resources so that this wealth benefits both current and future generations." Nowadays, the fund has a stake in more than 9200 companies in 70 countries worldwide. Distributing this money equally to Norway's population would result in a payout of approx. 260,000 USD per person. Crazy, no?

Of trolls

Let's move away from hard facts to mystical matters. Ever heard about trolls? If not, it's time to spend some time in Norway.

Norwegians don't really know about the origin of trolls, but you can find them in the first written materials from the Middle Ages. Once you've seen the photos further below, you can easily understand why centuries ago, humans may have written troll tales in an attempt to explain incredible happenings. With deep fjords, high mountains, large forests, and long and dark winters, a troll may be the perfect explanation for a loud sound coming from nowhere. Some rock formations in the country also refer to trolls, such as the Trolltunga (troll tongue) or Trollveggen (troll wall). Further, you find trolls not only on postcards and stamps but also in every tourist shop and even as a protagonist in a Netflix movie.

Of orcas

Talking about magical creatures, there's one experience I really must share with you. It's definitely real compared to the trolls. As explained, we spent our last ten days in the north in the Lofoten, close to the Arctic Circle. While checking into our hotel in Sørvågen, our host Peter mentioned that we might be lucky to see orcas and he would let us know if someone spotted them along the coastline. Peter is member of a Facebook group called "Orcaholics", and there they would notify each other if the pod is in the waters around the Lofoten. Forty-five minutes later, while taking a shower, we got notified. So we ran to the bay and got impressive memories for a lifetime. Even better that Peter had his drone with him. A big thank you to Peter* for making his drone footage available for this short video. Lean back and enjoy!

That's it for today. Thank you for checking out rodamón mag. I love to hear who made it to this article, so feel free to comment in the guestbook and let me know if you have some questions or thoughts (also for future articles)!

By the end of September it will be time to say goodbye to Switzerland, we'll then fly via Istanbul to Uganda, where we'll hopefully take a glimpse at mountain gorillas!

Stay tuned, take care and best regards

Chris

* By the way, Peter is also a northern lights guide, in case you plan to visit Norway's north during winter season. Here's his instagram profile.