Odda 2014
This was our third trip to Norway and this time it was in a beautiful area of the town Odda, surrounded by mountains and one end of the Sørfjorden fjord. There are a lot of hike paths around this place, among them the famous Trolltunga stone tongue cliff and some glacier hikes, the Folgefonna glacier, including the Buarbreen glacier. There are also many large lakes such as Votna, Valldalsvatnet, Røldalsvatnet, Langavatnet, Sandvinvatnet and Ringedalsvatnet.
We lived in a very nice camp. It was near the fjord but not very windy, it was shielded by a hill. On the other side of the hill we discovered a great playground with lots of ropes and swings and… little rabbits running around everywhere. We got there by crossing a little forest with many small caves. It was very exciting.
Trolltunga cliff hike
This hike was one of the most difficult hikes I had hiked so far to that point, the round trip was 28 kilometers long.
We started in the morning and we took the route of the old mountain railway to rise through the first part which was a steep slope. It was actually very exciting walking on a mountain railway, even though on some parts we had to ve very careful.
We gradually rose, step by step, until we reached the first high point and saw a small mountain valley. The path continued to ascend through the mountains, another steep slope. We walked up and then down and we finally saw a beautiful view of the Trolltunga lake (Trolltungavatnet). From there we walked fairly without any rises or descents. It was a very scenic path.
Shortly before reaching the cliff, we had to cross a landscape dip. Finally, we saw the majestic toll´s tongue. It was a massive rock hanging above a huge height. There were a lot of people waiting in a queue to take a photo on the cliff. We waited too and caught this moment on a camera.
The journey back was the difficult part. I felt asi f my legs were made of wood and at the end I was extremely weak. My sister didn´t feel better. But we were happy to have seen this and to have conquered such a challenge.
Buarbreen glacier hike
Buarbreen was a fairly pleasant hike to the edge of the glacier. The round trip walk took only around three hours. We started at the bottom, along the wild Buar river after crossing a farm with animals. There is one interesting place near it. You can see hundreds of stone towers built by people from the abundant amount of stones that the river brought.
Then the path dives into a forest and you get to a hill with a lovely view to the valley. The Buarbreen glacier awaits you about half way there.
The special food
Our special food that we enjoyed while staying in Odda was sour cream with blueberries that we picked in the forest. It was a delicious food that we trreated ourselves with.
Folgefona glacier hike
This was a hike that was taken basically directly from the town Odda. The path went up a steep and high mountain through a forest, met by a wild and powerful mountain river falling down relentlessly. When we had conquered the height, we rested by this river, listening to it´s beautiful sound and seeing the incredible view down the valley.
We continued and the forest slowly disappeared, leaving only grassy and bushy lands with some stones. We had to walk up another steep slope that brought us to the edge of the glacier. It was stunning and completely peaceful. Unfortunately, the weather wasn´t good enough to continue. A storm was approaching so we had to head back. Despite that, this was one of my favorite hikes.
The mountain around the village Osa
One day we decided to drive to a small village named Osa. I don’t remembered why exactly we went there, but we drove on a mountain road above the village right to the very top of the mountain. I remembered this place looked very rocky, there were no trees, only sometimes a little grass. There was a small dam for electricity making and a mysterious water tunnel. The many electrical wires gave the landscape even more interesting look.
Trolltunga lake kayaking
It’s not easy to overlook the beautiful lake beneath Trolltunga. It has a beautiful crystal clean water and it’s surrounded by epic mountains with stone slopes. As we had taken our inflatable kayaks with us, we didn’t hesitate to crue there.
In the morning we prepared everything, we put on our neoprene suits and headed on to the water. The lake itself is pretty long, so it took us a few hours to get our little boats across to the other side. We usually went near the coast, and the most interesting thing was the water. It was so crystal clear that we could see probably as far as fifteen or twenty meters to the bottom. There were huge rocks sitting under the surface and between them some really deep dips. Sometimes it was a bit scary to look at those.
When we got to the end, we saw a little waterfall running into the water. Then we found a nice bay where we parked our kayaks and we got to the coast where we had some lunch and sunbathed for a bit. We chose a place where we could easily go to the water, so we took some short bath. The water was really cold. After staying there, we took the route back. It was a beautiful cruise, all by ourselves, just with the mountains.
Nature is sacred
We kayaked on other lakes and hiked some other mountains, but I can’t properly identify those. There were many beautiful and peaceful places. Thee special thing about it is the peace, the tranquility, when you´re there with no one around but the nature itself. I hope that these places stay as raw and tranquil as they are now. Because that is their beauty. We must not alter them, we must not destroy them, just quietly walk through leaving only our footsteps in the snow that will be taken care of by nature.
Nature is what gives us life and it is a gate that connects us to the Universe. It is the purity that it breathes into our souls. That is why we need to cherish it as something sacred and treat it as sacred.
