Oslo
Bob Lin, another dearest brother of mine, came to visit me on 28th May, 2019. I picked him up at the Flixbus station. Upon seeing Bob Lin, I almost burst into tears with joy and excitement, for it had been almost 6 months since I last saw my family. I showed him around the city and shared my lives here with him.
I should have been his tour guide while he was in Oslo, but the next day, I got to finish an assignment, so I left Bob Lin alone to explore the city. I spent the whole morning doing my exam, after finishing it, I went to meet Bob Lin downtown. I took him to Opera House, which is one of the scenes in movie, Tenet, and Harald’s vaffel, which is a famous waffle place in Oslo. I love Norwegian waffles so much that I have come to believe in my delirium that pizza might love me back in return. Norwegian waffles are hearted-shape. People often have it with the classic flavors, such as jam, cream, and Norwegian brown cheese. We ordered two, a flavored one and a sweet one. After satisfying our appetite, we hurried back to pack our things and rushed to catch the plane. We almost missed the plane since we lost track the time while having waffles. (Fortunately, I was quite familiar with the route to airport and the airport was really small. So, we caught the flight at the last moment.)
Bergen
After around an hour flight, we arrived in Bergen. As I expected, it was raining heavily. There are 226 rainy days in 365 days in Bergen. So, I did not expect a good weather there. This is not my first time to be in Bergen. I was there with Narcissa, my American friend, in March, 2019. So, I have already learnt how to enjoy myself in this rainy city. “Just sing in the rain!” We put our luggage at the hotel first and rested for a while after an exhausted catching-flight sprint.
Bergen is a harbor city, and it is well-known for its seafood. We randomly picked a restaurant in its famous fish market. Just by coincidence, we found out that the waiter was a 21-year-old boy, immigrating to Norway from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We chose a window seat and sat down. We ordered king crab, fish soup, fish and chips, and a seafood platter. I highly recommended the seafood platter. A seafood platter has only what is fresh that day. So, for our customized seafood platter, we had oysters, shrimps, crab claws, lobsters, and White Wine Steamed Mussels. I still remembered the oyster was as big as my palm. (I am not exaggerating!) It is that big and fresh!
After the meal, we took the cable bus to the top of Fløyen, one of city mountains in Bergan. Up there, you could enjoy the stunning view of the whole city, the surrounding fjord and the mountain landscape. Norwegian landscape is so magnificent that I cannot put it into words. It can only be seen and experienced in person.
Though it was May, it was still freezing cold. Once I read an article on BBC news, and it said that Nordic parents put their baby or toddler outside in the freezing cold for their lunchtime nap. I was so shocked and impressed. Though the air was fresh, it was sometimes tough for me to breathe in such cool air.
In Fløyen, there was a small forest. Bob Lin and I walked into this small forest and strolled along the trails. “How long have I not been far from the world, far from the madding crowd?”, I murmured to myself. At that moment, I found myself at peace.
There was also a small playground. Kids were playing and laughing so happily. Bob Lin and I also played on the swing. I still have a video of us playing on the swing. We were laughing like kids. I was so happy from the bottom of my heart at that time. How long have I forgotten that I can be so happy easily and purely?
Time to say goodbye to Bergen. We rent a car in Bergen and headed to Odda.
Odda
Roads in Norway were so complicated to non-locals, like… us. There are so many roundabouts, which means you get to choose the right exit, or you need to drive back again. We drove around on the same route for 3 times. Part of it was my problem to be honest. Since it was my first time to guide the road, so I was so nervous. And I did now know how to give the instructions properly. I would point to the right with my fingers and shouted out loud, “This way! This way!” “Which way? You have to say RIGHT or LEFT to me! I could not see where you are pointing at!”, said Bob Lin angrily with his rolling eyes. It was supposed to be a 3-hour ride, but it took us 4 hours to arrive the destination at the end.
Hopefully, the scenery was so beautiful along the way. Reflections of mountains could be seen clearly in the crystal-clear water. Everything was so tranquil and serene around us. But the further we drove, the “uglier” the town became. There was an industrial area. The manufactories and the industrialized look in the middle of these beautiful mountains broke the peace and tranquility in this area. It was like a beautiful apple with a rotten core. (By the way, I just finished Ragnarok, a Norwegian TV series on Netflix, recently. The issue of manufactories destroyed and polluted Nature was also brought up in it. While watching Ragnarok, I could totally relate it.) At about 9 at night, the sky was not yet dark, we arrived our place. The place we stayed that night was so cozy and the view from the window was so cute. It worth it, but it would be better if we arrived earlier. After such a long, exhausted ride, I just wanted to be in the bed and have a deep sleep.
Good Night…
Trolltunga
I still remembered the day vividly; it was June 1st, 2019. Bob and I decided to hike one of the famous mountains in Norway. People call it Trolltunga. There is a rock formation situated about 1,100 meters above the sea level sticking out, and that is how it gets its name. The mountain was originally open for the hikers in the middle of June, but it was open earlier June in 2019, the year we went there. However, we had no idea of the intensity of the nature until we were there.
At the beginning, the trails were quite easy to hike. But the weather was not so ideal. It was drizzling with wind blowing. And the further we went, the more difficult and dangerous the trails became. The rocky ground became the thick and snowy ground. A vast expanse of white snow land opened up in front of us. And then for another moment, the straight roads became tortuous and twisted. This mountain was so unpredictable, which made it scary for me. “You never neglect the power of Mother Nature.” I felt I was so tiny and powerless in this solemn, magnificent mountain. I thought of the name again, “troll”, which means a giant in Norwegian. “Herregud! this is the reason how it gets its name”, I murmured to myself shockingly. (Fortunately, we had our equipment well prepared. I have to give the credit to Bob Lin. I told him it was unnecessary to have the equipment. He insisted because he had already predicted this bad situation. I have to admit that he saved us.)
I was not an experienced hiker, so I was careful of every step of me. The landscape was spectacular along the way indeed, but I could not enjoy it. Suddenly, the trail became so narrow, and it was connected to another trail, which the cliff was by its side. Moreover, the snow on the ground was melting. It made the ground extremely slippery. There was an iron cable for us to grab to pass through the trail. But I just felt such dread of passing through it. If I missed a step, I might probably fall off cliffs. “How can I pass the trail? I want to go back now!” I stood there, felt so frustrated and hesitated about moving. At the same time, I saw Bob Lin already be at the other side. He encouraged me that I could do it. “Do not look down, you can do it!” With strong fear and tears in my eyes, I grit my teeth and passed it. Yes! I did it! (It is so far the most challenging and dangerous thing that I have ever done in my life.)
After that, the rest of the route to Trolltunga was quite comfort and easy. And after five hours, we finally reached our destination “Trolltunga”! The landscape up there was breath taken. It was astonishing. Everyone went to the tip of the rock to take an iconic picture. However, “Trolltunga” is a rock formation situated about 1,100 meters above the sea level, so people who fear of heights would feel uncomfortable to get to the tip. Bob Lin is just the person who has the symptom of fear of heights, but in order to take that I-am-here picture on the iconic cliff, he plucked up the courage to go to the tip. He was not even half way of the “tongue”, but he asked me to adjust the angle in the picture to make him feel like he was standing at the tip. (You know, behind every Instagram picture there is an unseen hard-working and sacrificed friend/family.)
We also saw a couple proposing up there. But at the beginning, the girl was so afraid to go to the tip. Her boyfriend persuaded her so hard. She made a compromise at the end. The moment they walked to the tip, the boy kneeled down and took out the ring. The next second, the boy shouted happily,” She said YES!” It was so romantic. But Bob Lin had opposite opinion. He thought it was not romantic at all, it was scary instead. I told Bob if my boyfriend wants to propose to me, he has to do the same thing—we go up here, and he makes a proposal to me. Bob Lin rolled his eyes at me again and said, “You have to be prepared that no one is going to marry you.” (Umm)
When we were up there, I thought nothing more dangerous would happen again. But I was so innocent. The way back home was more dramatic and dangerous than the way up here. On the way down the mountain, the fog started rolling in. And we could not see the T marks, which are the marks that we followed up here. Some were covered in snow and some were hard to spot because of the fog. “We lost ourselves in the mountain in Norway.”, I was almost crying and became so anxious. Besides, it was 3 at the afternoon, if we did not find our way out quickly, we would get stuck in the mountain in the dark. When we were trying to read the compass to find the right direction, we found out that our phones were out of battery. People say “Rainy days will not just last for one day.”; they are talking about this situation, right?
Luckily, while I thought we were going to die (Too exaggerated, I know, lol), we met a Ukrainian couple. The guy was an experienced hiker, and he stood up to the highest rock to find the T-marks on those stones. After searching the nearby area for a few minutes, he found it. And we followed his steps and found our way out the mountain. (Wait, it suddenly hits on me that maybe the couple is that couple who proposed up there!)
It was actually my first time to go REAL hiking. After 10 hours, 28 kilometers, 49610 steps, we made it! We trudged in the snow, passed by the cliffs, made it to the top and made it back home safely.
If you ask me if I would do it again. My answer is definitely, NO! I have to say we were lucky this time. We neglected “Fjellvettreglene”, known as Norway’s “mountain code”, which educates human that nature does not care about our ego. Under the code, we have to show much respect and take much caution as possible. Our neglection to “Fjellvettreglene” could bring a tragedy. So, I am so grateful that we made it. Next time, I will prepare and be responsible before going hiking.
Here is a link about “Fjellvettreglene” on BBC news. It can give you a clear idea about the Norwegian mountain code: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171015-why-norway-is-teaching-travellers-to-travel
