Pining for the Fjords....

We left Stryn this morning intending to go to Geiranger Fjord but were put off by the stream of tour buses that come down the road at you, (yes at you, not towards you) and as the road is not wide enough for two vehicles to pass in places, we decided to give it a miss and head for a different part of the region around the Jotunheimen National Park. We wondered if by leaving the fjords, we would experience the same feelings that the Norwegian Blue suffered all those years ago.

However,  the scenery continued in its usual stunning nature but without the fjords, (just a few lakes and glaciated valleys with no sea water evident).

Being up early, meant no wind to ruffle the lake.

Shortly after leaving upper Stryn the road began to climb sharply and whilst not quite Trollstiggen there were plenty of sharp hairpin bends and steep, long tunnels. Not as long as the 25km tunnel we drove through to get to Flam but long enough, (4-7km). Some of the tunnels were quite narrow, so meeting a bus when you're several km underground is a bit on the nerve wracking side. But the ones we encountered did at least slow down to squeeze past.

The view from halfway up the climb.

Once on the other side of the ranges, we were above the snow level for a while at about 1500 metres elevation but the roads were clear and the temperature about 6-7 degrees, so there was no likelihood of snow. The E15 highway at this point was the best road we had driven and we had a painless cruise to our destination for the night at Lom. This village is a centre for alpine and nordic winter sports and is close to the two highest peaks in Norway, (Glittertind and Galdhopiggen), which unfortunately, were shrouded in cloud.

We were also surprised to find, that unlike the rest of the country, Lom is open on Sundays and shops and cafes were open from 1000 to 1800, although we didn't discover this 'til later in the day.

Because of our early start from Stryn, we were in Lom at about 0845, just in time to hear a sound that I hadn't heard since boyhood - the village church bell tolling to bring people to the morning service - very nostalgic (the sound, not the service).

The church in Lom is one of about 25 churches in Norway that date back as far as the 11th century and are called "Stavekirks" and as the name suggests are built entirely of wood. Even the downpipes from the wooden gutters are made of wood, but lined with lead.

The Lom church was built in the mid-12th century and is notable for its mix of viking and christian symbology. There are dragon heads on the external decorations and a viking carved gate at the rear. The church had also been fairly well singed at the rear and although the fire must have been put out before serious damage ensued, there was clear evidence of charring over a large portion of the rear of the building that had since been painted over.

Looking across the river to the stavekirk

 

The dragon head carvings

 

 

Ancient Viking carvings around the back door.

 

The graveyard surrounding the church on all 4 sides was as immaculately maintained as the war graves in Belgium. There was a big difference in the tombstones though, with most prefering a simple slab of local rock with a name and date and very few other words. Some families couldn't agree on the spellings of their surnames with the Rudsars/Rudsers one example and the Blakars/Blakers another.

Another simple grave had the date of birth and death, the name of the person interred and one word - "Thanks". I hope he was as eloquent in life.

The Rudser/Rudsars. If they couldn't agree in life they can continue their argument in eternity.

 

 After our visit to the church we continued towards the village waterfall and came across a "zip-line" or flying fox, as they used to be known before becoming commercialised. This consisted of a wire rope suspended across and along a stretch of river that resembled the  Huka falls near Taupo. We watched three fairly young children, (probably from 8-12 years old), make the ride. The youngest was fearless, the middle child was hanging on for dear life but all three made it comfortably and were gabbling excitedly afterwards.

 

 

After the zip-line we went and had a browse through the village shops. One was selling wool (amongst various other things) and had a special of 10 balls of wool for 99 Kroner.

 

There were 9 balls of red wool left, so Iris offered to knit me a red scarf instead of the sky blue and lime green scarf that is underway, (Version 5, that has reached about 6 rows worth so far). "What will you do with the existing scarf" I asked innocently. "Oh, I'll save that for someone else" was the reply.

 

So be warned, someone, (in approximately 2019 at the current rate of progress), will receive a delightfully constructed and fashioned lime green and blue scarf for Christmas. This will inevitably occur in New Zealand, where a scarf is the least of anyone's requirements in summer.

In the meantime, the fabrication of my red scarf may happen but I won't be counting on hanging round my neck in the short term.

 

I'm swapping this (Version 5)........

 

 For this! Such is the price of progress.

 

Finally, the village square had a sculpture, which I suppose is meant to reflect the general characteristics of the area and its environs by - yes you've guessed, a waterfall! And a particularly ugly one at that.