The first thing that struck me waking up, perched on an overlook above Sundvollen, was that all of my fellow campers were still asleep, at 8:00am! In the US I often feel like a late riser but was already realizing things were different in Norway. I liked it.

My tentative route would take me to Bergen. From there, I planned to make my way slowly up the coast. I had no campgrounds booked, no stops planned, just an aim to drive 100 km or so a day, stopping whenever and wherever the urge struck.

First stop, Hønefoss, I needed some essentials to make the journey more comfortable. Among these were missing kitchen items, a doormat, dish soap, cash, and the like. From there straight west towards Bergen. 

I made my way through the valley on E7 before gaining elevation and arriving at what would become one of my favorite legs of the trip: the highlands. 

A vast area of barren, treeless, tundra with sections of winter snow still speckling the landscape, which added a level of contrast and dimension that was truly eye-grabbing. Lakes all over, glaciers in the distance, complete magic. 

I found myself pulling off the road constantly to photograph this land that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. And what also struck me was how quiet it was. There were so few cars, so few people. This was peak season in Norway but here it was vacant. A good omen. 

There is a noticeable affinity towards cairns in Norway. I first experienced this on my journey through the highlands in Haugastøl at a side-of-the-road tourist attraction called Maka Papa’s Field. Here thousands of cairns have been built by visitors. Feeling inspired, I added one to the mix.

And then made my way to a pullout on the side of the main road to camp for the night. It is permissible to park and camp in almost any legal parking area in Norway unless it is posted otherwise, which I only experienced in the most popular tourist destination, namely The Lofoten Islands.

My view for the night. Heaven! 

The next day took me through more spectacular highland scenery and would eventually drop me into the astounding down of Bergen! But that is for the next post. 

Lessons from: The Highlands

• Google is an excellent way to translate parking signs and other notices when in a foreign country. I would learn later that there are a myriad of apps that can translate entire phrases.