“the hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread”…

Watch the Relive video here: https://www.relive.cc/view/vRO7e5XMkKq

On the Road: 92km/57 miles I Elevation 2,068 metres/ 6,785 ft

Leaving the Nordic capital of extreme sports, Voss, we headed north weaving up the valley, with lakes and mountains all around us. It was not raining but roads were wet from evening rains, typical of our days in Scandinavia! The rain came later!

Photo left at 3am this morning, photo right at 6:30 am….

The road from Myrkdalen to Vik was full of contrasts – in about 40 km we got to experience high mountain terrain, waterfalls, fjord landscape and spectacular hairpin turns. Goats and cows graze in the valley, claiming the road just as much as the motorists and bikers in the area.

From Kvassdalen, the switchbacks winding up next to the 90 meters tall and spectacular waterfall Sendefossen. At 24km long, could this climb be the ‘Tourmalet of Norway’??

When the water levels are high, you’ll get a natural light shower at some of the turns close to the waterfall. Looking around on the way up – the nature in this area took our breath away!

We rolled over the Vikafjellet Mountain Plateau along mountain tarns with green, lush landscapes as well as spartan mountain terrain. The snow lasts long in this area – often until mid-July!

From the plateau summit and through a 1 km tunnel, we had a long glorious descent back to the water in the village of Vik, where we had lunch.

A spectacular ferry cruised the Sognefjord. Once off the ferry it was only a short 10km ride to our hotel for tonight, the Kviknes Hotel. The last 3 km in heavy rain.

The pleasant fjord town of Balestrand (pop. 2,000) has a long history of hosting tourists, thanks to its landmark Kviknes Hotel. But it also feels real and lived-in.

Balestrand pretty much shuts down from mid-September through mid-May — when most of its activities, sights, hotels, and restaurants are likely closed. But even during tourist season, Balestrand is quiet. How quiet? The police station closes on weekends! (to be honest, I have seen zero police walking the beat, breaking up altercations or giving speeding tickets, only once did I see a police car and that was the night of the fire alarm in Skein Denmark!)

And it’s tiny — from the harbor to the Balestrand Hotel is a five-minute stroll, and you can walk from the aquarium to Kviknes Hotel in less than that.

Balestrand became accessible to the wider world in 1858 when an activist minister (from the church across the fjord from town) brought in the first steamer service. That put Balestrand on the Grand Tour map of the Romantic Age. Even the German Kaiser chose to summer here. Today, people from around the world come here to feel the grandeur of the fjord country.

Dinner at a small restaurant in town made with all local fresh ingredients….salmon salad, pork shank w cranberry sauce and apple pie and ice cream.

Life is Good in Balestrand!