A very deep valley, surrounding by high mountains, waterfalls on my right, emerald green stream running close, a few cows here and there...stopping for a BBQ....this is Norway!

Hecti and I agree that this country is the most beautiful- in raw nature- that we have ever seen. We have spent the last 10 days driving along the fiords, winding roads, the sea always on the side, the majestic mountains, the red- yellow or white house's against the greenery, through tunnels after tunnels (even the longest one in Europe- 25 km!), passing high bridges, crossing ferries, hiking....and we are in awe of what we are seeing. It has been a question of "oohh" and "ahhh" most of the time

Kristiansand

First it was the Drobak, the "Christmas village" with the all while wooden houses, we slept then in Horten in an end road with only the fishermans as companions, then it was glorious bike ride /hike in Kristiansand. Small restaurants- almost hidden, around the sea ; a panoramic view; a great  beach. Then it was a cute fisherman village by the sea, where we found a Swedish guy working in the marina's office drinking mate!!! And after the Preikestolen hike, a 2.5 hours nonstop walking through rocks and bushes going up 600 meters above sea level, an spontaneous swim in our way in a crystal pond against the rocks, so taking by the incredible view; immense rocks hanging in the air, the fiords below...breathtaking and so scary, we laid on the rock and on the edge, the pull to the void is so big, it felt like we were going to fall at any moment.

(Still today, every time I close my eyes and "go back" to that place, my stomach churn with fear!). And then..... we met our new friends, our super companions for the next 4 days. Together we decided places and routes; sleeping areas, parkings, adventures...it was so good .

Suddenly,  it was Hecti birthday! We spent the day in Bergen where 362 days of the year rains. And rain it did! But the beautiful harbour, the glorious fish market (oh! their wild salmon) and the wooden coloured houses took away the disappointing weather. We bought a little cake and candles for the night ahead....

BUT the challenge was just around the corner, in the form of a tiny and narrow road on the side of the mountain in the country , a "big heart" (as said by my friend) of mine being courteous with another corner...pushing just a bit more SalSolcito to the side so others can drive pass and a bit more and a ditch! ...and we basically blocked the road....SalSolcito got stack; and it needed an international group of good willers to help....a Norwegian young couple on their bikes doing their usual training who just threw themselves to the trench and with pieces of wood behind and beneath the wheels  pushing and then acted as interpreters on the phone;  another Norwegian man from Oslo who gave us his phone to call international road assistance and stayed with us for a while; our German friends with their motorhome and a big rope trying without any luck to tow us all while emotionally supporting us with hugs and  "it is ok", "it will be fine", "this is just part of the adventure"....Hecti up to his knees in mud, worrying face ...and then out of nowhere a French couple (living in New Caledonia and on holidays) with a 4x4 jump out of their car telling us "we can help, our car can do it"....and so after 3 hours we broke free..and as they came as soon as we turned around the French couple left....

It was cold and wet, and that night we made a bonfire, eat steak , potatoes and vegies. Plenty of wine, cake and candles and Hecti at 55 drank for the first time a full glass of wine...and even some port! We went to sleep exhausted, still talking about our luck....Cheers to the birthday boy!

Beautiful Bergen

The train from Flam goes through valleys, waterfalls, mountains, an  spectacular scenery on both sides...1,000 m above sea level in just 1 hour.....(can you believe that we met our "French rescuers" again! ) and then after a fantastic and emotional farewell from our friends - they were standing on the road, waving arms- doing a Mexican wave.... we continue to the north, this country still surprising us at every corner.

ps: our insurance said that they couldn't help us, we were not insurance for tows...and us thinking "this cannot happens in the most expensive country...OMG"

Geiranger

It was the worst wind; at night, sleeping on the edge of a stream; our motorhome moving side to side by the wind...I really thought we were going to be blow away...In the morning, still shaking, we started our drive to Alesund- the national route way. It is interesting that in this country we do 6-7 hours drive and we don't move that much! We can never go more than 55 k/h, the roads being so narrow and winding...it is exhausted but so worthy.