Day 15 - Saturday 6th May 2023

Today we'd be leaving Falun (in Sweden) and travelling to Lillehammer (in Norway). We had to have bags out for collection by 7am, breakfast at 7am, departure 8am.

We were in luck again - another bright sunny day but cold (-2C at 6am).

About five minutes after leaving, we stopped at an abandoned copper pit for a photo opportunity. The pit was about 100m deep. We spotted a ski jump at the top of a mountain nearby.

After a while, we noticed occasional patches of snow beside the road and some lakes that were frozen over with ice on top.

At about 9:30, we stopped at a little town called Mora for a break and visited a coffee shop that the locals told us was the best. The bus departed at about 10:20 but had only gone about 200m when one of our group said she had left her sunglasses behind in the cafe. We dropped her off but as she ran towards the cafe she realised that they were on her head. She giggled sheepishly and the rest of us laughed. I was glad it wasn't me.

The amount of snow beside the road increased. There was a lot more snow and frozen lakes plus snow on the mountain peaks in the distance. The number of logs piled beside the road also increased.

It's always hard getting good photos from a bus as you're travelling along. Sometimes the photo is blurred. There is also a problem with reflection from the bus windows - I call these Gazman photos because they end up showing a pattern background from the shirt I'm wearing.

Perhaps the biggest problem is with things that block the view. For example, just as you line up the photo, a truck goes past or you take a photo of a tree or a road sign, etc. It can be frustrating.

Suzy solved these problems. She rested her iPhone against the glass of the window and took lots of shots. This not only eliminated the reflection but also let her keep the good photos and discard the others. She ending up with some great shots of the snow-covered scenery near the road.

All the way along, the scenery was amazing - snow, pine trees, rivers and streams.

We stopped for a photo opportunity at the place which was used as the starting point for the 1994 winter Olympics.

For lunch, we stopped at a town called Salen at 12:50 where there was a shopping centre. The first shop inside was a government liquor store and so naturally we took the opportunity to buy some wine and beer (at reasonable prices) including Australian wine.

At the bakery, we ordered goulash soup which turned out to be delicious, generous and very hot. The bus left at 1pm.

For about 20 minutes, the snow beside the road changed from occasional patches to almost complete coverage. There was snow on the roofs of chalets on the slopes of the hill and people were enjoying races beside the road on snow mobiles.

In the middle of nowhere on the mountains, we crossed the border into Norway. The line marking in the centre of the road changed from white to yellow. Otherwise everything looked much the same. The roads were still very narrow with no shoulder on either side.

Gennady told us that the population of Norway is 5.5 million.

After 2pm, the snow cover increased again to be almost complete coverage. At 2:50pm, we stopped at a shopping centre in a town called Elverum for an afternoon tea break.

When we set off again at 3:30, we were travelling on a motorway towards Oslo before turning off onto another two-lane highway. Then we turned onto the E6 motorway which took us almost all the way to Lillehammer. Gennady told us that most of the motorways are toll roads unlike Sweden which are free.

Most of the countryside was flat farmland. For much of the time, the road ran next the Mjosa lake which is the biggest lake in Norway.

We reached Lillehammer at about 4:45pm and stopped up the hill behind the town at the foot of the ski jumps that were used in the 1994 winter Olympics. This was another great photo opportunity - the ski jump area and the town below.

The bus stopped outside the hotel at about 5:15pm. The driver had been told that he wasn't allowed to use the other entrance because he would have had to go across an old bridge that now has a load limit of 6 tonnes.

Apparently the hotel does not employ porters. So we had to drag our own bags up two small flights of stairs to get into the front entrance to the hotel. There was no ramp at the front of the hotel. Then, there was a queue for the lift to get to our rooms.

Although it was only a small room, the bathroom was bigger than most. The room had a small work desk, plenty of power points. Instead of a king bed, it had two single beds pushed together and each had its own separate quilt. There were two lounge chairs.

There was no air conditioning. Instead of a cupboard, there was a hanging rack. The fridge was tiny - so narrow it was hard to fit anything into it. The bathroom had a separate shower - not in the bath. No tea and coffee. No wine glasses. No safe.

The information sheet was in Norwegian with no English translation. The Wi-Fi speed was about 45Mb/s in both directions.

We met in Chis and Janet's room for predinner drinks and then headed out to find somewhere for dinner. Gennady recommended a place called Nikkers. It was a good choice. Popular with the locals.

Although we ate inside because it was it was warmer there, we did have a look at the stream at the back of the restaurant. On a summer day, it would be very pleasant sitting at a table on this deck overlooking the stream.

Consistent with being in Norway, it had a moose theme for the decorations. One of the options on the menu was the moose burger. I decided to play safe and have a normal burger, the Nikkers burger. The waiter recommended a red wine which we enjoyed.

When we had been heading out for dinner, we asked the man at reception how they deal with people in a wheelchair. He told us that they use the back entrance which has no step. He said this is also the quickest way to get to the shops and restaurants.

After dinner we walked from this back entrance down the street and around to the front entrance. We concluded it would be easy to get our bags to and from the bus using this back entrance rather than dragging them up and down the stairs at the front entrance.