FOG!

I made it on the boat last night a around midnight. It was bigger then I expected.

A huge mechanical gangplank came out from the hull, and I walked into the well lit interior as if entering a UFO from the darkeness of the pier. Instead of humanoid aliens, I was met by a grey haired crewman with a voice like Sean Connery in front of a reception desk. I paid about 130 Canadian dollars for the overnight trip, and headed up to the observation lounge where I slept on a curved couch that was about 10 metres long. It would have been another 30 or 40 dollars for a cabin. Did I mention Norway is expensive?

It would be no exaggeration to say that Norway is the most expensive place I have ever been. I've lived in Japan, been to Tokyo, been to New York and Moscow (all expensive) but Norway tops them all. I spent 30 dollars at a 7-eleven, 16 for kebab and and fries. I had withdrawn 2000 Kroner from an ATM not knowing how much that was exactly, and was shocked to find out how much I was paying for things when I finally looked up the exchange rate. For instance, it's over three dollars for 600 ml of Pepsi, at a 7-11.

Back to my story...

I had a great night's sleep and woke up surrounded by daylight and old people. Most of the chairs near the windows were occupied and all the assembled passengers were staring out into a thick gray fog. Every now and again a dark rocky hump of an island would poke it's head out of the water, but the rocky coast and the mouths of the fjords were invisible to everyone. I rolled over and went back to sleep until sometime after 11.

Sean Connery was back at the reception desk. I asked for the key for the showers unaware that the sauna was open. "Shouna ish better," the Connery sound-a-like informed me. He was right, a good 25 minutes of sweating made me feel great and ready to hit the ground running when we arrive in Bergen.

The sky had not cleared when we docked at the terminal in Bergen. In fact, a light drizzel had started. I found my way to the tourist office to get the weather forecast and was met with the bad news that I'd have to wait three or four days for clear skis. The idea of spending time in a rainy city-- which was very nice mind you-- and paying Norwegian prices was out of the question. I considered going inland to the Fjord town of Flam, but the forecast was no better there. To make a long story short, I am back in Oslo, and had a great train ride up into the mountains and by a beautiful river. Had I thought of it, I could have found a hostel and gone cross country skiing. I think I can handle hanging out in Olso for a day or two before heading south.

Event though I didn't see any beautiful coastal scenery today, I did see a lot of beautiful fjords valleys and mountains yesterday on the train and bus to Alesund.