Flying into either Bergen or Oslo, the picturesque mountain town of Vossevangen is only an amazingly scenic and comfortable train ride away.
Coming from Bergen, a 2-hour train ride follows the tracks following mountain passes and lakes. From Oslo, take the 7 hour ‘Bergen Railway’; here white snowy lands are added to the views.
We opt for the 7 hour (extra) scenic ride.
Fun Fact; the train stops at Finse, a ski station at 1222 meters. You may recognize this spot as this is where Star Wars’ scenes on Hoth, the ice planet, were filmed.
Fun Fact 2: Do you know those fancy glass water bottles ‘Voss’? Yep, this is where they are bottled! The lake looks rather tasty too.
Near Voss train station, a blue and white ‘Nordic Ventures’ van awaits us next to the mountain lake. We hop on and ride towards Gudvangen to fit our kayaking gear, and stack on food for the BBQ.
From Gudvangen we drive through one of the old tunnels, towards Dyrdal. A tiny hamlet, population 18. Having a 1km tunnel built for a township of 18 people shows how rich Norway is.
Dyrdal has a beautiful little wooden church, with a very sad story..
A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away, sorry I had to), the religious people of Dyrdal took a boat towards the nearest church every Sunday morning, as there was none in the small village. One day, the boat capsized, unfortunately drowning a large part of the population. This is when they decided to build Dyrdal’s own beautiful white wooden church.
We hop on the Nærøyfjord with our guide and 2 other couples (one from Belgium, and one Austrian), each in their own double kayak. The equipment is top notch, and the views even better.
As the winter snow is still melting in May, we pass many beautiful waterfalls. Luckily early summer’s sun reflects its heat on the Fjords, and we get a perfect temperature above the water.
At 1PM, we stop at a small beach, in the middle of nowhere. After a few hours of easy paddling, luckily we find a rugged wooden toilet cabin up on the hill. It is quite romantic.. for an outhouse.
Our guide starts a fire and brings out the grill. There is coffee, tea or hot chocolate for all, including biscuits! A bit later we get a marvelous pasta salad, with plenty of meat and veggies from the BBQ.
Fully rested, we remount our water-steeds, and start the way back, stopping a bit further down the Fjord to visit one of the amazing waterfalls.
Close to Dyrdal, we find an untouched burial mound, containing a Viking Chieftain. One of the many chieftains who lead their Viking crew by this once busy harbor.
We take a nice and hot shower in Gudvangen around 5PM, and hitch a ride to Bergen with our Austrian fellow-kayak-friends.
Awesome day, achieved!
Costs
The Kayak Tour, including pickup/Return at Voss, guide, gear and food
at 1095 NOK (roughly 115EUR // 135 USD // 100 GBP)
more info Here.
For info and tickets on the Bergen Railway, check Here.
Never Lost, Always Wandering 