Gudvangen - 20 July 2018

Geoff 

Stunning scenery for a while as road 5 took us high above the fjord. After a while, through a two mile tunnel which ended at the ferry which took us from Mannheller to Fodnes, about half an hour. Then a four mile tunnel to the interesting little town of Lærdalsøyri. We stopped here for a while. A Landrover Club meet was in progress with a large campground occupied, as well as a couple of other areas filled with campervans. The main draw of the town, though, is its old wooden houses and church. 

From Lærdalsøyri, to avoid a fifteen mile tunnel (the world's longest), we followed the Aurlandsfjellet, involving a long climb with hairpin bends, a photo stop at some rapids

another stop to simply take in the views and breathe the mountain air

over a rocky plateau with plenty of snow, quite desolate but beautiful, and then a long descent with more hairpins to the village of Aurland. We were behind a car towing a caravan which really shouldn't have been on this road. Several times he had trouble negotiating the narrow road when meeting other vehicles. 

After Flåm, there were three and seven mile tunnels, where we emerged at Gudvangen. At 5.30, we stopped to make tea in a lovely circular layby surrounded by mountains and decided to stop for the night. It was peaceful until a couple of families in convoy with a caravan, trailer tent, kids with bikes and a barking dog arrived and set up. However, it's quietened down now.  

Amanda

Today we completed the circuit around a large part of Sognefjord, starting with another ferry and two tunnels to reach Laerdal. Time to explore the old town on foot. All beautifully maintained wooden houses and shops, painted in soft pastel colours, mostly dating back over a hundred years, with a colonial feel. The town itself is very flat, but there are soaring mountains on all sides.

Moving on, and having no  desire to drive through the world's longest road tunnel, at more than 15 miles, we took the alternative route, the Aurlandsfjellet, over the top. A series of hairpin bends, interspersed with zig-zags and a few blessedly straight stretches, kept taking us higher through lush forested areas with lots of waterfalls, until we reached the rocky, lake filled, landscape of the plateau. Highest point 1300 metres above sea level. Some of the snow still remaining was up to 6 ft deep in places. Spectacular. As we started the long descent we were overtaken by a cyclist who quickly disappeared from view, clearly enjoying the reward for having made it to the top.

As we returned to lush green the views of the fjord opened up, with tiny ships, just like in the brochures! There is a famous viewpoint, but we did not stop. Very crowded! Down and down we went, until we reached Aurland, and then onwards, bypassing Flåm with its huge cruise ships hovering. 

We have stopped for the night in a lovely lay-by, with towering mountains around, and a tumbling stream nearby. There were only two other campervans here when we arrived but, not surprisingly, several others have since joined us. Including, unfortunately, a large family party who have just set up a caravan and a trailer tent immediately behind us, and the children have been cycling round and round the lay-by. Oh well, supper was peaceful!