Norway, wooden church, and cliff Preikestolen (part 2)

Norway. Finally! As usual we avoided the big cities and preferred nature, small villages and hills, so we didn't visit Oslo. On the way to the fjords in the westside, we first stopped at the wooden church Heddal Stavkirke, which is the largest of the 28 still preserved wooden churches in Norway (length 24 m, width 17 m and height 29 m). It was built in the 13th century. It is entirely made of wood and coated with resin. The church is still in use and is also a popular tourist attraction.

Norveška. Končno! Kot po navadi sva se velikom mestom raje izognila, saj imava raje naravo, vasi in hribe, zato Osla nisva obiskala. Na poti proti fjordom na zahodu, sva se najprej ustavila pri leseni cerkvi Heddal Stavkirke, ki je največja med 28 še ohranjenimi lesenimi cerkvami na Norveškem (dolžina 24 m, širina 17m in višina 29 m). Zgradili so je v 13. stoletju. Je v celoti iz lesa in premazana s smolo. Cerkev je še vedno v uporabi, je pa tudi priljubljena turistična atrakcija.

Later as we were moving west the weather got cloudy and eventually it started to rain. The scenery was beautiful, rocks covered with moss, ferns, and sheep near the road. Like a fairytale!. Near the starting point for the hike to Kjerag (59.0457, 6.65065) there are some roadside stops, at one of them we spent the night waiting for the weather to get better. It rained in the evening, and the next morning it poured from the sky. The fog was rolling down the slopes. We waited a bit, drove to the starting point, but in the end decided that there was no point and it was too dangerous to climb to the top in this weather. We couldn't expect the view anyway. Kjerag hill is famous for the rock Kjeragbolten wedged between the walls 900 m above the fjord. On Instagram, there are endless pictures of proud hikers who have climbed it. 

Bolj ko sva se pomikala proti zahodu, bolj se je vreme slabšalo in nato je začelo deževati. Pokrajina je bila čudovita, z mahom prekrite skale, praproti, pa ovčke po cesti. Čisto pravljično in zelo lepo. Blizu izhodišča za pohod na Kjerag (59.0457, 6.65065) je kar nekaj postajališč ob cesti, na enem izmed njih sva brezplačno prenočila in čakala, da se vreme izboljša. Zvečer je padal dež, naslednje jutro pa je padalo še močneje. Po pobočjih se je valila megla. Malo sva počakala, se peljala do izhodišča, ampak se na koncu odločila, da v tem vremenu nima smisla lesti na vrh. Razgleda itak ne moreva pričakovati. Hrib Kjerag je znan zaradi med stene ukleščene skale Kjeragbolten 900 m nad fjordom. Na instagramu je neskončno slik ponosnih pohodnikov, ki so se povzpeli nanjo.

This trip in Norway did not start as we wished. But obviously the weather cannot be changed, so we changed our plans. Since we could only see a few meters in front of us, we also gave up on the ferry trip along the Lysefjord and drove to the starting point (paid parking) for Preikestolen (58.99773, 6.13557). It was a gray day and it was still raining, but considering that this route is easy and undemanding, we hiked anyway. Maybe there were fewer tourists because of the rain. Preikestolen is a 25 x 25 m platform that looks out from the walls 600 m above the Lysefjord. On the net you get a lot of photos with a view of the fjord, which can be something wonderful. Unfortunately, we didn't see anything, only a huge sea of thick, gray fog. But, the scenery was very gorgeous. I could only imagine the place in the sunny weather. 

Tale najin potep po Norveški se ni začel najbolje. Ampak vremena se ne da spreminjati, spremeniti je treba načrte. Ker sva lahko videla le par metrov pred sabo, sva se odpovedala tudi vožnji s trajektom po Lysefjordu in se z kombijem odpeljala do izhodišča (plačljivega parkirišča) za Preikestolen (58.99773, 6.13557). Dan je bil siv in še vedno je lilo, ampak glede na to, da je ta pot enostavna in nezahtevna, sva vseeno šla. Tolažila sva se, da je zaradi dežja manj turistov. Preikestolen je 25 x25 m velika ploščad, ki 600 m nad Lysefjordom gleda iz sten. Na netu dobite ogromno fotografij z razgledom na fjord, ki je lahko nekaj čudovitega. Midva žal nisva videla ničesar, le ogromno morje goste, sive megle. Ampak, tudi če oba vzpona nista uspela, že sama pokrajina je bila zelo lepa. Kako mora biti lepo šele v sončnem vremenu.

We continued along the western side of  Norway to north and crossed two fjords by ferry. While waiting for the ferry, we talked to a Norwegian who said that this year the temperature is about 10 C lower than usual.

Nadaljevala sva po zahodni strani Norveške proti severu in s trajektom prečkala dva fjorda. Med čakanjem na trajekt sva se pogovarjala z Norvežanom, ki je rekel, da je letos temperatura okoli 10 C nižja kot navadno.