Europe India Trip: Day 10 - TrollTunga to Hardanger [Apr 22, 2023]

Two back to back camping days due to bike headlight malfunction

This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip . Please read the post for more context.

map link here

I had partied with Lucas & Olev at Trolltunga camping & remember sleeping with cold feet (refer to my previous post). It was ok as the place was cheap as I had to pay only 150 NOKs (around 12 Euros) for overnight camping.

That is Lucas. Olev was still sleeping when we got up. Lucas is from Czechia & works in Bergen. We ended up meeting in Bergen as well.

The lake next to my campsite. The water in the morning in Norway becomes very clear & reflective. I had noticed the same on my first day of ride from Evje as well. Thsi time, I took a pic.

Lucas knew quite a bit about the place & he told about the big boulders were drawn to the ground by a glacier which melted at this point leaving the boulders here. Also, we were just so many camping - 2 camper vans, one convertible car & 3 of us bikers. This place gets really crowded in summers as per Google reviews.

Lucas wanted to make his own coffee & we had plans to do a bit of sight-seeing guided by Lucas. I went to a cafe in the city to grab a coffee & something to eat. The lady on the counter graciously made something for me vegeterian food. I think overall cost of the two combined would be 100 NOKs. It was yum.

We getting ready to leave after I came back from the breakfast. The guy in black dress is Olve. We took proper pictures later before we parted ways.

Lucas took us to a quickish ride through small roads to a glacier nearby. That was my first experience of riding on not so paved roads with my motorbike & thankfully it was all good. I did feel a bit nervous to start with, thinking that the guys gonna ride fast & I need to ride fast too to catch up with them, but they dint ride like that.

This was the last point probably as I am standing next to Lucas. These pics were shot from my GoPro.

Soon we were back & then Lucas took us for a trek to an abandoned hydro power station. We climbed a little on the motorbike & then we hiked. It was a difficult hike with both me & Olev panting pretty hard :).

The fjord view from the top is worth it. My first time having a proper Fjord view. Fjord (pronounced Fiord) are backwater surrounded by steep mountains. Only Norway, Canada & New Zealand have Fjords.

Thats Olev in the center. We hiked up, went into some caves & tunnels (thanks to Lucas who knew how to go there & apparently you cant figure it out by yourself) & then we hiked down. This is where I decided to go towards the Hardangervidde (pretty tall waterfalls) while these people had other plans.

Thanks to Lucas who suggested that to be able to ride to the huge waterfall, I should put Fossli hotel on the map which is located next to the fall. The waterfall might have its name but searching for Hardangervidde showed a different area.

I actually wanted to start my day with the ride to Hardangervidde, then the Hardanger waterfall & then ride to Bergen. They were located on different sides hence I wanted to start early but pretty much lazed with these guys & was able to start by like 2 PM. So guess I was hurrying a bit.

Total distance was 264 kms in mountains & hence I had decided to hurry a bit.

I remember stopping by at this amazing toilet on the way in an hour at 3 PM. I had seen pictures in visitnorway website about how the toilets in Norway are so nice so I wanted to try & use them as well :).

The place had nice resting area for people to park & eat their food. I think you can possibly overnight camp as well.

You cant seem to drink the water it seems. So camping could be a problem.

I also happen to meet Evy Hettervick (the lady) & Jon Arne. They were driving their car from Stavanger to purchase a boat & then noticed the UK thing on my motorbike. They happen to mention that once they have also seen a couple on a Tokyo bike. They were very nice to talk to & were very encouraging of my ride as well.

I started to ride again after a short break as I was aware of less time in hand. I had looked up a cheap hostel called Montana in Bergen but I dint want to book in advance because I was not sure if I would be able to reach Bergen. But I was a bit nervous about stay because places in Norway were not as warm as I thought & I had bit of a struggle when I thought I could camp at Roldal which was pretty cold anyway.

I was crossed by a guy on a BMW motorbike & he waved at me. Later I stopped by to have coffee at a cafe & I noticed the same motorbike parked. The guy also had decided to stop by for a coffee. He smiled at me & we started talking. He also ended up sponsoring my coffee.

Thats George (pronounced with all alphabets spoken out not like the English name). George is from Latvia, worked in Bergen & had owned a Vstrom earlier as well. I did ask him opinion about next steps for bike service etc & he gladly shared his opinions. I guess we talked pretty long at the cafe.

The day has turned out to be pretty good so far meeting a lot of interesting people & have nice conversations. I resumed my ride.

On the way to the waterfall, I came across tunnels that were winding in nature & going up. Lucas had mentioned about it but riding on tunnels that are going around & ascending was one of its kind experience.

Soon, I remember seeing a blue light & a roundabout (circle) right in the middle of the tunnel. I literally stopped thinking what exactly is the thing, only to look at my map to realize its a roundabout & I had to go left. It was an amazing feeling but I was so awestuck that I did not take a picture.

I soon reached Fossli hotel & figured that it would not be possible for people to reach by public transport & most people have either their own or hired car to reach the place.

parking at the waterfall. There was no fees to view. Apparently Norway has the policy that nature should be accessible to public free of cost.

There was snow & I had to navigate my path with caution. The ride to the place was worth it. I would have seen taller falls but the unique feeling was feeling of fear because you see the fall with a protuded viewing area & when you look down, you see you are standing over a vertical cliff. It made me (& a few other folks) quickly back track, take some deep breaths & then proceed again to view.

I made a video with my GoPro & I was holding it so tightly with the fear that it can potentially fall down in the gorge that you can actually see my finger in the view :).

It was 6:30 PM or so when I started from the place to the other Hardanger waterfall. There is sunlight till 9 PM but I was aware that I am not a bit late. I anyway decided to ride to the other fall. I remember crossing those winding tunnels & the blue colour roundabout as well. I should have taken the picture but it was hard to figure out when you approaching the roundabout. I did see a car ahead of me did like 2 circles of the roundabout for a better view maybe :).

Reached Hardanger fall at around 8:30 PM & it was about to go dark now. This was a fall where the path goes from behind the fall & it does make it unique in certain ways. But I probably found it ok.

I had parked my motorbike at a closed shop next to the fall & then went for a view. After coming back, I checked for the hostel in Bergen & to my dismay, figured it is not listed on Booking for the day, which means it was full. I went to its site & the same thing. I became a bit jittery about my night stay & then I figured, the front headlight of the bike isnt working. It would be dark soon & Bergen was still around 80 kms away. I cant ride my motorbike without the headlight.

There was a proper parking for the waterfall & I rode my bike to the place. I decided to call the European breakdown cover, who after making me wait for an hour, told me that since the next day is Sunday, they will pick the motorbike & provide me 2 day of stay & it will be only looked over by Monday. This means, I would be stuck in the place for 2 days. I knew that Bergen had mechanic shops & the next morning I can ride my bike. I thought if they could just give me one night stay & let me ride my bike the next day, which they refused. Also, I was only covered for 60 GBP per night & being a small/touristy place, all hotel accommodations were fairly expensive.

So that is when I decided to fulfil my desire of free camping. It aint a wild camping but it was next to the toilet :). I contemplated a bit if it is ok to camp but then I had read rules & you can camp 100m away from nearest establishment & there should not be any no camping sign. I later also read in one of the Google Map reviews of the place that someone said, you can camp from 8 PM - 8 AM. So I was like - I guess I would go ahead. I had stocked a bit of food from a grocery store just before reaching waterfall as I was pretty hungry & lacking coffee. The stock helped me with my overnight stay as well.

It wasnt cold but my feet did go cold. The other issue was - the weather prediction was for the rain (& hence I wanted to rush to Bergen by end of the day) & it starts in the night. I had thought of putting tent in a shade but then it would be too close to the toilet & there was a bit of smell. I anyway went ahead, pitched in grass in a way that there was not much light & slept off. Thankfully it was not much rain in the night but I did woke up from rain in the morning. The next day turned out to be much nicer & more about it in next blog.