We are worlds away from even Bergen, in a lovely old white wood farm house overlooking an apple and raspberry orchard, a small village of old wood fisherman’s house and last but not least, the shining waters of Lustrafjord and the high grassy mountains beyond. The drive here took about 5 hours from Bergen, much longer than it looks on the map (as we had been warned) which is no big deal because it was gorgeous scenery.
As our hostel operators suggested, we drove from Bergen to Voss to Vik and then took the ferry to Helle and then drove through Sogndal, a bigger town, to this tiny village of Solvorn. En route, we stopped for lunch on the side of a two lane road running though a green valley with a road zigzagging up a mountain beside water crashing down some falls. Wow. In Vik, we stopped at a lovely old Stave church circa 1140, made of carved wood, with painted murals inside a rounded entrance.
Eplet Bed &Apple is a charming homey place. Our room is small but cheerful and has a spectacular view. There are mostly young people here , some from France, but also a Jewish family from central Pennsylvania. Two strange coincidences: we met a couple yesterday in Bergen from the Pennsylvania family’s town. Turns out it’s their dentist. And the mom of this family went to Grinnell for college.
We went down to the one business in town, a small cafe and store where they served surprisingly good Thai food, cooked by a Thai woman who usually cooks at a restaurant in Oslo. She is summering here. Another pleasant surprise: we can swim in the fjord. There are two little beaches and the water is not frigid. As dirck says, it kind of feels like we are in summer camp or Ithaca on vacation by the lake.
TakeBetsywithyou 