Through the Mountains to Ortnevik

After an eventful car rental and visit to the Norwegian grocery store where we had a slight disagreement, but managed to smooth things over, we headed out to Ortnevik. There is only one road to Ortnevik, so the trip was pretty easy. We did have the choice, though, of going over the mountain to get there or going around the mountain along the fjord. We chose over the mountain.

It started raining as soon as we landed in Bergen and it pretty much didn't stop the whole time we were there. Thanks to our experiences in England, we were prepared with waterproof everything.


It was kind of cold up on the mountains. The higher we got,the fewer trees there were and the more cutting the wind was.



Fortunately, most people had the good sense not to drive over the mountain in the rain, so we didn't see many people on the road. The road, as you can see from this picture, was incredibly narrow (and scenic)



In the mountains, behind Jim, we could hear a tinkling sound. Finally we noticed the little specks of sheep grazing, their bells tinkling like windchimes. It was such a peaceful sound, and something that we heard throughout our trip because all the cows, goats and sheep were wearing bells.


There are trolls and there are also tunnels in NOrway. THis particular tunnel was a little scary because it had no lighting at all (most did). It was very cool to think that we were driving right through the middle of the mountains.


After a few hours, we made it to our cabin! It was made of stone, with a grass roof. The farm we stayed on was sustainable and we could recycle everything that we used, practically. The electricity was generated by the river that flowed nearby and the water came from a well.

Jim agreed to pose for some pictures in the cabin.

Here is Jim coming in the front door:


In the bedroom.

In the kitchen:


Relaxing with a book on the couch:


Taking in the countryside (hah ahh ahha hah hah hah...I can't believe that hotels actually take pictures like this for promotional purposes!):


And, enjoying a delicious home cooked meal (there weren't any restaurants in Ortnevik, so we cooked in our little cabin and packed picnic lunches for our hikes.


There was also no internet and a TV, but no reception, so we spent most of our downtime playing board games, reading, and watching me kick Jim's butt at Spit multiple times:


They say I do really cool victory dance:


Down the hill a little was a large cabin and next door was another small cabin, where the parents of the farmer seemed to live (or at least they were there a lot).

Kristi, the mom, also runs the coop store in the village part time. The village only has fifty families living in it and did not have a road until 1982. At that point they also got telephones and a ferry line. Prior to that, they took all of their cows across the Fjords on boats. We were really in a remote place and everyone was incredibly nice to us.