Day #164 - Oslo to Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway train station -- big time tourist town

Wet streets of Bergen

A view from my hotel window in Voss, Norway

Wednesday, August 25th

Today was challenging. I got off to a bad start when I either didn't hear my wakeup call or they forgot to make it (Hotels in Nordic countries don't have alarm clocks. If I'm super tired, my watch alarm won't due the trick) I had to take a 6:15am shuttle from my hotel over to the airport to catch a 7:08am train to central Oslo. I woke up at 6:04am - not packed at all. No time to wake-up. I went from a dead sleep to supersonic in less than 30 seconds. I made it downstairs at 6:14.

Once I arrived at the central station in Oslo, I then waited for my 8:11am train to Bergen, Norway. It's on the other side of the country - but it sure doesn't seem like that far. However, the train took over 6 hours - arriving in Bergen at 2:52pm.

By this time, I was tired and hungry. I had not booked a hotel. I hit the streets to find that it was raining and cold. Tired, hungry, cold, and wet --- these are not good combinations. I made my way to the tourist info center. It was now 4pm. I needed to figure out what I was going to do the next 3 days - this is why I hadn't booked my hotel.

I talked with some people about options - but just wasn't feeling it. All the tours were hundreds of dollars. They told me that all the hotels in Bergen were booked - except for a few starting at $400/night. They had no Wi-Fi so I walked over to McDonalds. I needed food. I ordered and gave them my credit card to pay for the $15 meal. They didn't take American cards - really? I dug in my pockets until I found enough change to pay. I sat down and turned on my computer. My computer wouldn't power up - I had forgotten to charge it last night. I walked the 3 floors of McDonalds and found 0 outlets. I finished my food and walked back to the tourist center. I powered my computer there. I figured I'd try to get some kind of Wi-Fi signal while I waited for the computer to charge. I found some weird connection. It was slower than molasses - but I was able to find a hotel in a town that was 1 hour away by train - Voss, Norway. I had to pay $189 for 1 night.

I walked back to the train station, found out that the next train to Voss leaves at 6:10pm. I got to the hotel and found my room after completing a maze. I hit the internet looking for hotels to stay the next 3 nights on the west coast. All were hundreds of dollars a night. I bit the bullet and decided to stay here 1 more night. I then found a place a couple hours north to stay Friday and Saturday (only $110/night). I have no idea how I'm going to get there for sure - as there are no trains. I'm either going to taxi, bus, or water shuttle -- hopefully 1 of these options will come through.

I'm now going to sleep and forget about today. I can only hope for a better performance tomorrow. No worries - they can't keep me down.