Iconic Lysebotn

Today was a visit to Lysebotn, at the end of a massive fjord, where the giant cruise liners sometimes dock. This is one of the iconic Norwegian tourist board pictures. For some idea of scale see the ferry on the right of the picture.

Lysebotn

So I left Kristainsand in 10 C light drizzle, and headed for Lysebotn 140 miles away, but the predicted journey time was 4:40 to give you some idea of the slow winding roads and mountain passes.

Initially a simple route, following the main road to Stavanger then turn off at next major intersection, or so I thought. What I hadn't bargained on was that the major junction was inside a dimly lit tunnel and I missed the turn off; never mind, I'll do a U-turn (sat nav "when safe"). Do I do an illegal U-turn, no, the next junction is only 2 km away. Nope, road closed, then I'm in a one way traffic control diversion with no way to turnaround, so had to go round an old road (5 km?) prior to reaching the waiting oncoming traffic, where I did my U-turn and at least jumped to the front of the queue to go all the way back again.

About 40 km from Lysebotn the Garmin sat nav said go straight on, but the signs said turn left, so let's try going straight on, only to reach major road resurfacing in the middle of nowhere. They have an escorted vehicle service with their lead vehicle with "follow me" flashing lights. Whilst queuing I asked a workman about the left turn road sign, he said that was the "new" road and I was on the "old" road. So, after being escorted I started to climb, in the cold wet drizzle, with the road surface turning to gravel, then to a wet clay/mud. Hmm, this doesn't seem like a very good idea, so common sense prevailed; I turned around and went back to wait for the escort vehicle and had a nice chat with the traffic control guy whilst waiting (no other vehicles were mad enough). When I reached the end of the escort area there was a bike in the queue, so stopped and spoke to the female rider and advised her of the road conditions and she thought better of it as well.

So onto the new road, over the pass, up to 1000m where there was snow.

Snow on top of Lysebotn pass

At the top of the sheer cliffs was a visitor area where you could look down on Lysebotn and the hairpin bend descent.

Lysebotn from top of sheer cliffs

There was very little traffic, so it seems this is nothing like peak season. The last part of the descent had a tunnel, but it also had hairpin bends in it!

Hairpin descent into Lysebotn

I met a German guy on a BMW who was riding with his hazard warning lights on, and stopped to ask if he was OK, he said one of his "blinkers" (indicators) was stuck on, so had to put them all on for safety.

Finally another hours journey to my hotel, making eight hours in the saddle, with maximum concentration required over the mountain passes, but one of my journey goals ticked off, just shame about the weather..