The Road To Lysebotn - Norway by Motorcycle

Welcome to Norway. In the last episode we got the ferry from Herschels in Denmark and we took it to Kristiansands in Norway. We rode north past all the lakes and streams, it was absolutely beautiful. But now it's about 12 degrees, it's a late afternoon, but we're about to ride one of the most famous roads in Norway. We're gonna take this road here all the way to Listerbotten where we'll be staying tonight and then tomorrow we'll be catching the ferry through the fjord. Such a beautiful lake this one. Look at that road, Em's naked up the mountain. Oh wow. That's where we're heading. We're only 40 minutes away from our destination so the really cool road must be just around the corner. Awesome. It looks like the sun's just about breaking through the sky. It's a little bit drizzly today but we don't mind too much. The roads here in Norway so far have been incredible, however they've been very narrow. Yeah, not much space for two camper vans so you get stuck behind a couple of them. It's hard for them to pass each other. I keep trying to put the camera down and I can't. One of the unique things about this road is that you can't see anything. Although you are exposed to the elements, you feel the cold, you get wet but you do experience what these countries are like and you do get exposed to them and you really soak up the atmosphere here. It's absolutely spectacular. It's so bleak here and rugged and remote and you just experience the whole thing while you're riding through it. It doesn't matter that it's raining. It's fantastic. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes here in Norway. We've been riding through lush green forests surrounded by trees. We've gone past these gigantic lakes and now we've climbed to quite high altitude. Well, I'd say about a thousand meters I think and the scenery here is really rugged and rocky with the huge bodies of water in between. The stones are grey, some are pink, there's moss and heather growing around everywhere. It's such a contrast and the weather changes every five or ten minutes. It can be raining one minute and then it'd be clear and sunny the next and then raining again. So I think we've just concluded to keep our rain gear on as it's going to change again. Look at that! They're quite narrow these roads so we've had a few camper vans that have had to reverse quite a bit to let the other one pass. This is incredible! Look at that road! It is incredible, isn't it? What a place. What a fantastic start to the Heading North tour. More sheep. Can we have less sheep for Norway and more reindeers? Because we're from Wales and I know you're welcoming us. However, the rain and the sheep, we can get back home. We haven't gone all this way for that. Whoa, here comes a big view, eh? I think we're about to see the fjords for the first time. Is this your first time seeing a fjord for Stockholm? Yeah, it is actually. Where have you seen them before? New Zealand, many years ago. Wow, we're still so high. Yeah, we are, aren't we? Apparently we're going to be there in 12 minutes but it looks further than 12 minutes on the map. Things are starting to get twisty. Yeah, the hairpins are coming up. I think we've got this few big sweepers and then I think we're going into like a the tight zigzaggy section. There we go, it's the first of many turns. A dry line that's formed on the road which is nice. That's a very blind hairpin. It looks a very old road. It does. I believe it was only built to reach a power plant. Is that right? That it wasn't actually a main access road. Maybe like a hydroelectric plant or something. Yeah, I think it was. There's another one, clear. We can just about see on the GPS we have so many more of these hairpins to go. They're not as steep a gradient as the Stelvio, I don't think. No, they're a lot wider and not as steep, you're right. It's a nice road, great road surface. Quite well cambered too. And incredible scenery. I've heard traffic jams on this road so we are quite lucky because we have it to ourselves. Yeah, it won't take much to back this road up. It must be really hard for the caravans and campers but for the bikers it's pure heaven. I feel like we're going into some sort of underground bunker. Oh wow, and it's got a hairpin at the end. Look at the sat-nav. Oh wow. It's going like back into the mountain to turn around. That's odd, isn't it? Maybe the last section of the mountain was a little bit too steep. Look at that. It's amazing. The temptation to open the bike up and just blast down there is overwhelming. I feel like we're in a Bond movie and we're about to go and get a villain and his underground lair. Or like the Batcave. I wonder what the view's going to be when we get out of this tunnel. What are we waiting for? There we go. That was impressive. Look, there's the fjord. Oh my gosh, should we pull in here for a second? Yeah, let's do that. That was awesome, wasn't it? It was really cool. Some feats of engineering to build that tunnel. So now, to the hostel, right? Yeah, the hostel should just be down here. It's only six o'clock. We're actually early for a change. No, who are you kidding? No, really? It will actually be nice to get in, get into some comfy clothes and find a spot to make dinner. Where is it now? There's not much going on down here. No, not many people stay here overnight, I don't think. Unless you're catching the fjord ferry in the morning, which is... I think it's just like a transport, but it's more like a pleasure cruise with like... Wow, for the sightseeing, it's going to be spectacular. Little houses. It's cute, isn't it? Really sweet. Is this our hostel? I think, I think it is. Maybe, yes. Yeah. Tourist... Yeah, it is. Yeah. Yeah, it's right. Shall I go and have a little look down the bottom? Yeah, sure. Oh, that's it. And that's it, there's the ferry. Oh, wow. And that's where we were going to camp, but we thought maybe it was a bit too wet to do it tonight. So, yes, straight off there and we catch the boat in the morning. Awesome. We are staying at the tourist hotel here in Lissabotton, and we were going to stay in a dorm, but they actually had a double room available, so we've opted for that because it's just a bit easier with all of the equipment. Sean is over in this direction behind this building. They had a hose, so he's just hosing down the bike because it was covered in mud from all of the rain. But let me give you a little quick room tour. This is room number three. And we have a little bathroom with a hot shower, I'm hoping and excited for. And then two single beds in here. But the best part, we have a fjord view. How awesome is that? I'm looking forward to waking up to these views in the morning. But I think our plan is to get in, get dressed, get some comfy clothes on, and then have a little walk around the area and take our stove and our cooking equipment and find a little spot to cook by the water, because tomorrow is such an exciting day. We're getting the ferry out of here really early at eight o'clock, and then we're going to be on the ferry all morning, basically, going all the way along the fjord. So that's really going to be a cool morning. But I think I can definitely hear Shadow pulling up outside. I think Sean was going to bring him around the front here just so we could unload him. But yeah, what an amazing day. And I'm really happy that we found this spot. This is a great place to stay if you want to ride that road that we did a few times, because it was awesome, as well as it's got a lovely vibe here. And there are a lot of other hikes you can do from this location. We've checked in at the hostel, and the good news was that they actually had a private room available. So we've managed to take that instead. So we've got all the bags in. I actually gave Shadow a little rinse. There was a hose pipe outside, so he's clean again. And with all hostels, they come with a kitchen you can use. So it's an absolute bonus tonight that we don't have to get the cooking stuff out. And look at Em in her element there. So you've got some ingredients for what you're cooking up tonight. Yes, we're doing chickpeas, tomatoes, and we brought this from Switzerland. This is a pea protein hack that kind of tastes like mincemeat. We're going to do them in some gluten-free wraps, kind of like a tortilla taco vibe we're going to try and do. And then when the rain stops, because I think it's just a shower, we might go for a little walk down by the field. Yeah, hopefully. It just, yeah, literally just started raining, but that's all right because we're all checked in now. So we're going to have tea and a cup of tea as well, and then go for a little walk as Em said. All right, dinner is served. This is the chickpea and pea protein that we made up. Some wraps and a few old views. This was from our stock food, wasn't it? Yeah. Entirely planned. No. Emergency ration. It's coming up to nine o'clock now. We had a nice dinner. Thank you for that, Em. You're welcome. Appreciate that. Just having one last little walk around here. It's not much to see or do around here. There is a pub though. There is a couple of pubs. Maybe we go for a little drink in a bit on the way back. But just behind us is exactly where the boat's going to come in, and we're going to drive the bike onto that in the morning. Yeah, and it's just going to start to rain, I think. So we're going to have one little last walk around Liseburton. Let's get back into the hostel before it pours down.