Høstferie Sist Dag (10)

I suppose you could say we ended the trip in the same way we started it.
It was a pretty average morning, and it went off without a flaw:
Up at 5:30- check
Pack bags- check
Take down tent- check
Cook havregryn- check
Eat havregryn- check
Walk to ferry- check
Wash dishes- check
Brush teeth- check
Wait 23 minutes for ferry- check
Board ferry at 7:15- check
…
Due to unsynchronized ferry and bus schedules we waited an hour and a half before taking the bus from Stavanger to Kristiansand. It became obvious while walking downtown at eight in the morning that Saturday night in Stavanger had been a wild one. Benches were strewn everywhere, almost as commonly as the incredible amount of McDonald’s garbage decorating the cobblestone.
While en route to Kristiansand, I discovered that a one hour detour through the mountains on a one-and-a-half-car-wide, winding road meant we would miss our connection in Kristiansand. (There was only one accident during our detour through the mountains; it involved a biker slowly tipping over while waiting for the bus to get around a switchback. He couldn’t lift his motorbike up, so the bus driver got out to help the very embarrassed, leather-clad biker.)
The bus driver told us that because of the delay, we would get half-price on the next bus, but that it did not arrive for another two hours. This wasn’t so bad; we got to walk around the streets of Kristiansand. Unfortunately, it meant we would also arrive in Oslo two hours later. We had planned to catch a ride with a friend from there, but we didn’t expect him to wait for us. After some Subway, we boarded the next bus to Oslo, only to find out that, no, we don’t get half-price?! In any case, we didn’t have much choice in the matter so to Oslo we went. Because our previous plan had folded, we now needed to take a third bus to Leira from Oslo. No problem, right? Our friend Stian informed us over the phone that the last bus left at 21:00, fifteen minutes before we arrived… Now what? I called the bus company and described the situation, hoping that because of the delay we could get some sort of compensation. As it turned out there was a way to make it work. All we had to do was get off at a stop ten minutes before Oslo. The bus to Fagernes would leave Oslo and get to this stop, Lysaker, ten minutes later. That relieved a little bit of stress the stress for a little bit. By looking at the clock and the bus schedule, which I had in front of me, it became apparent that the current bus was 16 minutes behind. This meant the bus to Fagernes would arrive at the stop 6 minutes before we got there. We talked to our bus driver and he made a couple of phone calls. He told us the bus would be there waiting! We jumped out of the bus to grab our luggage, which, conveniently, was at the very back underneath numerous other bags. While Olof and I crawled around in the undercarriage, the bus driver shouted over the passing cars, in broken English, that “it’s gone”. I got out to look, while Olof obliviously continued to wrench out our bags. I couldn’t see the bus, but our driver seemed to have changed his mind and he said it was still there- on the other side of a 6-lane divided freeway. We ran as fast as we could, found the tunnel under the road, and ran back up the hill, finally reaching our ride home. Breathing heavily, we grudgingly paid another expensive ticket. But did we ever surprise Anton! Sitting there with his broken wrist, he could only laugh at the sight of his two foreign friends from folkehogskule, desperately boarding the bus at some small unknown stop outside of Oslo. The last leg of the journey consisted of sharing this long, complicated story and many unsuccessful attempts at sleep. We’d been up since 5:30 and when we finally arrived at midnight, I was ready for bed. But instead, I stayed up for another hour to socialize with the small crowd occupying my room.
What a day! Very chaotic, but we got home eventually. It only took a few phone calls, some really fast running, and a lot of time and money.
A couple of e-mails and another phone call also rewarded me and Olof each a bus ticket to Oslo in compensation for our troubles!
All in all, it was a great trip. We saw a lot and met up with a bunch of friends in different places along the coast. We owe a big thank-you to Ivar and his brother, Rebecca, the Tveitaskog’s, Sunniva and Elise, Sondre, Nils, and Stian (who would’ve given us a ride). You guys were great!
We had rain and shine, and both Olof and I gained some significant travelling experience. It was well worth the trip.













Getting a risky hair-cut from a barber who didn’t speak any English. A mere $35 compared with the $100 price tag at the first shop I checked.





Making pankaker in Tau.



And for now, it's back to school (in other words, a four day hiking trip).