North of Edinburgh

In the center of Edinburgh, a beautiful canal leads towards Glasgow. The canal had been built in the times of the industrial revolution to transport large amounts of coal into Edinburgh. Alongside the water runs a towpath which had been used to pull the boats. It is now a walking and cycling path.
The canal is quiet and beautiful, winding through the landscape, at times leading over high and ancient viaducts. I am astonished by the art of engineering that had been used to construct the canal. And then I am baffled: the canal running over aquaducts - ok - even the romans had thought of this. But a tunnel?! Suddenly the chanal plus towpath disappear under a massive hill. And boats actually go underground. Lots of fun!

The British are not only masters of canal building, they also love to erect fences and walls wherever there is an empty space. The public has a "right to roam" though - land owners have to grant access to their land. This means there are millions of gates all over Britain that facilitate that lifestock stays put while hikers and bikers enjoy their freedom.

But sometimes I find gates in comical positions. The gate on the picture above has no fence, leave alone any area that would make sense to be fenced in: it is situated right between a road and the ocean. Building a fence would allow for about 10 suare meter of pasture... that would be sufficient for ONE sheep or maybe - twenty hamsters?

Welcome to Great Britain!

Rain and sheep - what else did I expect?

Back in Norway, (to be precise: back in Trondheim) I took the occasion to visit the production of Lundhags (see Equipment overview) one more time. They had supplied me with fantastic outdoor gear for the winter and now their new summer collection is out.
Here on the coast it finally rains and a cold wind is bashing into my face from the North-West. I am able to test my new jacket and pants. Very light fabric! It weighs almost nothing and has a minimum pack size. But it keeps me perfectly warm and the wind and water out. Great. Thank you Lundhags!!!

The cycling path along the coast is fantastically marked! It is part of the North Sea Route that follows the shores of the North Sea for 5000km through Britain, Benelux, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I meet lots and lots of cyclists here following this route bit by bit, Another holiday, another country. A fantastic international idea.




Compared to the Norwegians (who usually look at their own shoes when they talk to you and look at your shoes when they try to hit on you), I perceive the British as very polite. Everyone greets you with a jolly "hello" and asks where you are headed or where you come from, how you like Britain...



The coast between Newcastle and Edinburgh is a mix of sandy beaches and rough cliffs and volcanic rocks. I often sleep right behind the dunes and enjoy the evenings looking at the sea, the birds, the waves.

In Edinburgh I meet my mother Margit and her friend Gabi who are on a holiday trip through the highlands. We set off to explore the capital of Scotland with its unique ancient architecture - very tall stone buildings and small alleyways (so calles "closes"). Edinburgh ran short of space and so the buildings had to be erected higher than usual.




I stroll around without knowing where I am heading and find an old cemetary where Adam Smith (18th century Economist, Philosopher), author of "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" is buried. Inmidst massive monumental graves I find this tiny plate (see picture) with just his head and name on it and think to myself: "What a modest man he must have been..." when I realize that the green is sprinkled with these little plates. They lead to a gravestone the size of a shopping window surrounded with tall fences. Not the most modest way to end.

Gabi, Margit and I spend a couple of relaxing days on a camping site outside Edinburgh and enjoy the sunny weather in the city center with coffees, ales and bar food. Holland wins against France and Czech Republic looses against Turkey. Tonight, Germany will play. But by then I will be on the road again, somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow on my way into the Scottish Highlands...

Queen of Scandinavia - from Bergen to Newcastle

I love ships. Big ones, small ones. This one is a big one. Its name is Queen of Scandinavia. 10 decks, casino, several restaurants, tax free shop and the usual "Mermaid Bar".
Boarding the ship I meet the guys from Mungus HiFi in their van on the way back to Glasgow :)

The trip takes 27 relaxing hours. I had to take a cabin but now I am happy about it - it is a single cabin - just me, my book, a couple of Grolsch beers and a massive pack of roasted nuts.




Cycling on the left side (which is the right side if the right side is the wrong side - you decide) Newcastle is exiting. But I stay just long enough to find a map of Great Britain, an ATM and a pint of Cider. Then I follow the coastal cycling path direction north - Scotland. After my Norwegian days of abstinence, my tolerance for alcohol is now pretty low. With the pint of cider in my legs I don't get very far. I soon crash for the night in the sandy dunes of Whitley Bay.

Bergen

The road from Sognefjell to Bergen leads over a last 1000m pass and then the terrain gets so steep and rocky that there are simply no more roads other than the national highway. The highway is very narrow, traffic is horrific and I have the impression that I spend more time inside of tunnels than outside. My nerves are at their limit - a riding mistake can have very serious consequences here. I don't feel well and my stomache aches from the stress. I take long breaks between the tunnels and try to find bypasses but there aren't any.

This stretch of the road is not recommendable for cyclists and as I happen to learn later: it is not recommended to cycle here - the guidebooks suggest to take the train into Bergen.

Well... I tell myself that you can't be a winner everyday and finally get my humor back by blasting AC/DC's "Highway to hell" on my little handlebar stereo... then Metallica and Rage Against The Machine take over. It works.

And then - finally - I find a cycling track following an old road along the shoreline. I don't mind the road conditions, it could as well be deep mud here or river pebbles. I would still prefer to push or carry my bike rather than spending another minute in one of the hellish tunnels. But the road is tarmaced and nice and peaceful and takes me into the center of Bergen. And suddenly I realize that this is the end of my time in Norway. After seven months in this wonderful country I will leave for Great Britain.

Downtown Bergen I visit the famous "Brygge", a UNESCO protected area of old wooden buildings in the harbour. It is spoiled with tourist shops nowadays but still gives you an impression of how life in a fishing and trading harbour must have been hundreds of years ago. I find one alley especially authentic - a strong stench of rotten fish and vegetables creeps through the stilted wooden floor. When we think about the good old times we usually see nice architecture, wood carvings and old taverns. But we forget how much it must have smelled in those times before washing machines, deodorants, automated floor cleaning machines and central garbage collection had been invented.

I didn't plan to stay too long in Bergen but unfortunately I just missed the ferry to Newcastle and the next ferry leaves in 4 days. I don't know really what to do with 4 whole days and start wandering around the city center.

As I walk over the main square I see a group of Rastafarians setting up a massive wall of loudspeakers - the Bergen Reggae Festival is about to start...

Wait a minute, aren't those guys over there Zlatan and Espen, the guys who used to play Reggae in our bar in Tromso? Yes, it is them! And the Rastas are Mungus HiFi from Glasgow in Scotland. They need help setting up their venue and so I am hired for two days helping with the light installation for a free ticket and a couple of beer. I love it.

I also meet Erik, a guy who is about to cycle from Bergen to China (he has some sort of a bet about it going with some friends) and a Portugese guy who had already cycled around Europe for the last 5 years (he stands in the harbour with his bike and a map of Europs and tourists tip him money for the next 5 years). Then I meet Janine who invites me to a BBQ on an island on the coast. Time flies and suddenly I am not looking forward to taking the next ferry to Newcastle anymore. I wouldn't mind staying another 4 days...

Tunnels

Norway is a very mountaineous country. Which certainly is one of the reasons for its enormeous beauty!
One problem that comes with mountains is that (in rich countries) people tend to build plenty of tunnels. Tunnels for cyclists are almost as bad as E605 for Rats. It's a killer.

Some of the tunnels that I cycled were longer than 3km. Three kilometer, that is approximately two miles! One of those really long ones connected two islands - thus it was under water! 114 meter under the surface. I felt like in a spaceship - anxious to get out as fast as possible. The fumes in the tunnels are bad and the roads are narrow. I have the feeling that most truck drivers have never in their life ridden a bicycle, especially not a fully loaded one.



This particular tunnel on the pictures had NO LIGHTS at all!!! It was 700 meters long and it was pitch black dark. The second picture shows the tunnel after roughly 100m, the third picture was taken after 200 meter. Even with my flashlight shining into the tunnel it was impossible to see anything at all. I had to shine to the walls on the left and right to get some bearings about where I was.
Cycling blind is a very funny experience... try to close your eyes on a (EMPTY!) and straight stretch of road for 5 seconds and you will know what I am talking about.