Vassenden E39 - 6 July 2018

Geoff
My walk before breakfast was really good. Nearby was a path which went over the tunnel, then over a rocky downfall, from where a narrow path wound its way through ferns and bushes uphill quite a way. Near the top I came across two old wooden cabins. I was able to nose around the lower one and through an aperture in the door I could see what appeared to be a millstone. Outside was a wooden flume so I think when the water is high it could be used for grinding grain for flour.

Last night another van parked next to us which reassured Amanda that we were less likely to invite unwanted visitors. We actually had a very peaceful night. This morning we chatted to our neighbours who were Norwegian and lived only an hour away. They were driving up to Ålesund to buy a new kitchen. They extolled the virtues of their home town of Loen and surrounding area.

So, we had an unexpected plan for the day. At Loen, we followed signs for the Lodalen valley. The road narrowed after a while and we navigated, with care, a single track road for several miles. A fjord was on our right going out and we saw beautiful waterfalls and the most amazing blue water.

Eventually, we reached a café and lunched in the nearby car park. There are glaciers further up but this would have involved a further 5km drive and probably a walk and time didn't permit, unfortunately. The drive back to Loen was just as exhilarating.

From Loen, we followed the 60 road along the southern edge of a fjord, a lovely route. Leaving the fjord, the road climbed and zigzagged to 600m before dropping gradually to the E39 at Byrkjelo. Just after Skei, we were at a standstill for at least twenty minutes as extensive road construction was in progress and traffic coming the other way was endless. Once we were moving though, driving was slow at times but steady.

We had planned to find a camperstop south of Førde but before then we came across a new parking area with loos (N61.51186 E006.15832) and decided to stop. Other vans are here and we shall have a good night. 

Amanda

I felt much more comfortable staying in the rest area when a Norwegian motorhome joined us sometime after 10 o'clock. I was even grateful that they pulled up quite close to us in the otherwise deserted car park. It felt much safer, even though that was ridiculous really, and we slept really well. We exchanged a few words last night, and chatted much more this morning. We had decided to backtrack and rejoin the old E39 route, ferries and all, rather than brave the tunnels ahead, but our friendly neighbours recommended continuing on our original route, taking in their home town and then diverting for some beautiful scenery. They even gave us a little guide book!

So today was a day of slow but very scenic driving, through Horningdal, Stryn (a stop for the Tourist Information Office) and Loen. We stopped briefly to watch in awe as the cable car ascended vertically up the mountainside for 1011m, and weren't sorry that we didn't have time to spare to spend the £40 each to enjoy the 5 minute ride. From Loen we took the single track road to Bodal along the Lodalen Valley for 16 slow beautiful kms. The lake was an extraordinary colour turquoise. We would have liked to spend more time here. There is plenty of interesting history and, had we carried on along the road, we would have reached famous glaciers. As it was we retraced our steps, and continued along the 60, which took us high up into the mountains via a series of zigzags, with views back down to the fjord, and down again to rejoin the E39. A scenic days driving indeed.

We were aiming to get somewhere beyond Forde tonight, but hit serious roadworks just after Skei which held us up for 30 minutes.  A bit further along the lakeside, still on the E39, we found a very new rest area, in a lovely lakeside setting, with a few Campervans already spread out around it. So here we are for the night. It feels very much more welcoming than last night's.