Days 4 - 6 - Bergen 17 - 19th September 2023

We had a buffet breakfast at the Marina and relaxed as we had an 11.30am checkout.

We walked slowly through the morning sun - oh yeah the sun came back on the day that we AREN”T riding down muddy mountain goat tracks - to the train station and took some pics before chilling in the sun.

We grabbed our bags from the storage and jumped on the world-famous Flamsbarna train. This train went back up to Mordor, I mean Myrdal and took an hour to climb the 865 metres over 20 km of train line - we biked for 22 yesterday btw.

There was a video commentary in Norska, Deutsch and English on the train and the engineering was pretty incredible. Jen grabbed some unbelievable pics and we even stopped at the Kjosfossen waterfall to jump out onto the platform and get a pic of this truly gargantuan waterfall. To add to the atmosphere of this place they had hidden speakers pumping out some kind of ethereal music and a blonde woman on the mountain doing her best Kate Bush impersonation… very weird.

Anyhoo, just like Frodo and Samwise, we made it to Mordor and jumped on the final part of the train ride to Bergen. This was a local train full of happy, Sunday day trippers and the two hours to Bergen went past pretty quickly.

We jumped off at this westerly port town and dragged ye olde suitcases over the cobbles to our funky room in the Magic Hotel Korshikken. The room was designed by the finest fucktards in the land - including chairs that you can’t walk past, lights that don’t light up the room, a three-walled shower and a bathroom mirror with a light in the middle of it. Ya Norge!!!

We had a quick explore of the immediate area - dodging the junkies - and had some tapas in a Taperia around the corner. We felt good being in this bed though and slept like lions.

Speaking of beds in Norway - all of the beds that we have slept in both here and in Iceland have been two singles pushed together with a double topper. There is a clear delineating line down the middle and each person has their own single doona… pretty funny.

A huge buffet then saw us roll out into the town in big jackets as it was drizzly and a bit cold (13 degrees.)

We then met Sami our Canadian guide for our Bergen City Walking Tour. Sami was a legend. He was a mixed-race dude with a huge puffy ponytail that told he us lived in Oz in 2017 and can’t wait to come back. It’s his fav country in the world. Hallelujah, brother!

The next two hours were spent learning all about the architecture, famous people, resources, housing, social programs, electric vehicles, fishing and oil industry, economy, recycling program and where to eat in this city that is considered the rainiest in all of Europe. It rains for 240 days a year here but normally drizzles for an hour of so. The gardens and lawns are lush as, and the city is pretty charming - even if they do sell whale meat everywhere. Yep, Sea Shepherd hoodie is staying packed away.

We finished off at the Three Krona Hot Dog Stand - yeah they cost more that 3 Kronas - and had a reindeer dog Norwegian style - dog, mustard, lingonberry sauce, and ye olde fried onions. The kid liked us and gave us a free soft drink. Nae bad.

We then organised to meet friends of friends from Old Bar. We went to Rhett and Min’s wedding around the same time that we got married and I remembered Rhett’s Norwegian mate Mads, telling a story about how one night Rhett was saying that he never had a nickname as a kid despite being a fast runner. Mads then nicknamed him Turbo - which I still occasionally call him. Anyway, we met Mads and his wife Kjesrti (Shasti) for after-dinner drinks. They took us to a locals only place behind where we were staying and we talked travel, life, education and Norwegian culture for hours before we were like an engine that doesn’t work - piston broke. We crashed out after another 15,000 + step day.

Day 6 started with a well-deserved sleep-in and a leisurely, very good buffet downstairs in the cool Villa Blanca. We then walked a short distance and caught the funicular up the mountain to the viewpoint at Floyem.

The whole of Bergen was laid out before us here and the view was spectacular. Bergen is ringed by 6 hills and a mountain - as mountains need to be 600 metres of height (MOH) to be classified as a mountain. Only one of the surrounding was so, they got called 6 hills and a mountain. The view - as I said - was insane and this port city - the arts capital of Norway - is also one of its busiest ports and one of the most Western. The cruise ships, container ships and freight ships stretched to the horizon and the neatness and orderliness of this Scandinavian gem was laid out in all its glory. Magnifique.

We then walked to the lake and checked that out for a bit before electing to walk back down the hill to town rather than getting the funicular back down. Now this is becoming a bit of a habit in this country - using our own leg power to descend fuck off big bits of rock!!

The walk down was steep and curvy but mostly through the streets, on footpaths and steps. Anyway it took about 45 minutes and felt bloody good to be finished. Where were the bikes though?

After a chilled arvo it started to drizzle a bit as we walked through the main square to a restaurant that Sami recommended yesterday on the tour. This place - The Daily Pot - does soups and bowls and we had to wait 20 minutes to get a seat in this Bergen favourite. Jen went for the Thai soup with a topper of mushrooms, capsicums and nuts, while I went for a poke bowl of chicken and nearly everything else that you could think of. TBH the thing was probably TOO loaded. Apart from the chicken it had, shredded cabbage and carrot, lettuce leaves, avocado, pickled veg, sauerkraut, feta, lentils, sprouts, and topped with nuts and seeds. It was mammoth and delicious, but somehow I needed something else to finish off the meal... I had 50kr left on the way home though and got two Cheeseburgers from Maccas… I had to try Maccas in Scando (it doesn’t exist in Iceland) and I discovered that the cheesies are pretty much standard all around the world.

Home, watched some Prime Amazon in our FT room and packed for the next leg of the tour… back to our fav: Thailand.

The next morning we got the tram to the Lufthaven (airport) and the city was beautiful, clean, and slum free throughout the 45 minute ride.

Norway certainly was a shop stopper. There’s nor-way that we could affjord to go back in a hurry, but it sure impressed us. ;) We were pretty impressed with what we managed to pack into our short stay and the physical activities that we completed were impressive to us.

So, that’s about it.

See you in Thailand.

Tack.