Today’s post is going to contain a lot of photos, and it would not be doing the scenery we see justice if we reduce the photos in size to where a reader can’t appreciate what we saw. Please forgive us for crowding this post with so many large photos.
It’s a beautiful sail into Leknes, Norway where the cruise dock is located.
The ship docks at 10:00am, the same time as we meet in Sirena Lounge to pick up our bus passes for our excursion Full Day Tour To The Village Å (and yes, that is the name of the village we are heading for – note the circle above the letter. More on all that later). It’s to be a 7-hour tour, and we look forward to it from all we hear about Lofoten.
We board our bus and our guide Veronica introduces herself and Mike our driver. Within fifteen minutes, we already know that we have a gem of a guide. She is flooding us with interesting information, which we will impart in bullets as we go.
- Fifteen minutes into our trip, we enter a tunnel that will take us 70 meters underground beneath the fjord separating the island the island of VESTVAGOY where Leknes is and FLAKSTADOY. It opened in 1990. It was financed with government funds and a toll. Within ten years, the tolls were eliminated because the bridge had been paid for. What a concept!
- There are 200 species of birds in Lofoten. The largest population is the white-tailed eagle, that has a wingspan of up to 2.4 meters (8 feet). It’s a raptor, and is known to swoop down and snatch a housecat in its claws and fly away with it.
- Almost all of the roads in the archipelago were built after WWII. Prior to that, people traveled between villages in boats. Therefore, boats have always been important to residents because they were used for daily transportation as well as to earn a living through fishing.
- As we drive along, we see an occasional house with a grass roof. Because people couldn’t afford otherwise, grass roofs provide insulation. The grass requires cutting, of course, and various methods are used. Veronica passes around a picture of a house we just passed, where the owner – a farmer – has placed two of his sheep on it and left them there for a few weeks. Mission accomplished.
- The scenery is already breathtaking. As we drive along a road by the shore a of fjord, our guide explains that there are plans to build a bridge across it. Why? Winter storms are sometimes so severe that the road is closed, leaving towns isolated. In fact, in 2017, a storm dumped 7 feet of snow in the area in 24 hours. That’s when the plans began to take shape.
- We begin to see sheep – some of them black. In fact, our bus has to make a small detour to avoid a group of sheep crossing the main road. The detour takes us to a beautiful small church where we make a quick stop. It is built of wood imported from Russia.
- This gives Veronica an opportunity to bring up the Pomor Trade. Here’s some Wikipedia information on it: It “is the trade carried out between the Pomors of Northwest Russia and the people along the coast of Northern Norway, as far south as Bodø. The trade went on from 1740 until the Russian revolution in 1917.
“The pomor trade began as a barter trade between people in the area, trading grain products from Russia with fish from North Norway as the main trade. With time it developed into a regular trade against money: in fact the ruble was used as currency in several places in North Norway. The Pomor trade was of major importance both to Russians and Norwegians. The trade was carried out by Russian pomors from the White Sea area and the Kola peninsula who came sailing to settlements and places of trade along the coast of North Norway. The pomors were skilled traders and sailors, and they did also explore the areas around the White Sea.”
- Right now, we are traveling in the northwest of the Lofoten. Most villages are in the southeast because the winter storms in the northwest are brutal, sometimes with hurricane-force winds measured at up to 117 mph with whiteout conditions.
- Tides in Lofoten run from 7-8 feet up to 13 feet. The farther north in Norway you are, then higher the tide will be. There is a phenomenon called tidal choke that creates some of the most dangerous tides in the world as the water enters and leaves narrow passages between islands when the water rushes in to and out of fjords. Boaters really need to consult their tide charts carefully in these areas to avoid these dangerous conditions.
We travel from Flastadoy island to Moskenesoy island (which is actually a series of several islands). We are passing through more tunnels and also some brand new, very attractive “snow sheds,” structures that are open to the water but serve as tunnels on the side facing the land.
Our first stop is in the village of Reine, said to have some of the most photographed scenery in the country of Norway. There is a cultural center that Cathy visits while Steve walks to what is suggested to be the best place for photos.
He is not disappointed. In thirty minutes, we meet at, of all places, a Circle K gas station where our bus is parked. (In these small villages, residents have asked tour companies to be respectful of their wish to maintain the quiet, rural nature of their villages. For that reason, buses drop off their tours and then travel to a place where the buses do not stand out. They then travel to another spot to pick up the people – hence our meeting at the Circle K.)
After quick visits to check out souvenir possibilities in the couple of stores there, we sit and view both the antics of what we are told is a magpie hopping around the picnic tables we are sitting at as well as the incredible cliffs across the water. Cathy says that they should remind us of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California. That is very apt, we later find out from Veronica. Climbers do climb these sheer cliffs.
It is such a popular climbing area that, several years ago, the municipality of Reine hired a group of Sherpas from Nepal to build a pathway from the gentler backside to the top of the cliffs. The pathway is actually a stairway of over 1,600 steps. Veronica also leads hikes in the Lofoten region and has led many groups up to the top. She tells us the view is, as expected, spectacular, much of the entire archipelago can be seen from there.
Off we go again. We pass through the village of Moskenes, another fishing village with the distinction of being the place where a ferry runs between there and the mainland. This ferry saves hundreds of miles of driving between these small villages on the Lofoten archipelago and the mainland of Norway opposite. Norwegian transportation is a marvel, made possible, it must be mentioned, by the oil and gas royalties the country has enjoyed since the discovery of those fields in the 1960s.
We reach our destination, the small village Å, which now only has 40 permanent residents. (It had 1,700 back forty years ago). First, an explanation of how this village got its name and why we are here, compliments of (what else?) Wikipedia: “Å (Norwegian pronunciation: [oː], from å meaning “stream”) is a village in Moskenes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located about two kilometres (1+1⁄4 mi) southwest of the village of Sørvågen on the island of Moskenesøya, towards the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago. It is connected to the rest of the archipelago by the European route E10 highway, which ends here. This part of the highway is also called King Olav’s Road.
“Until the 1990s, Å was mainly a small fishing village specializing in stockfish, but since then tourism has taken over as the main economic activity. The town features the Lofoten Stockfish Museum and the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum as two big tourist attractions.
“The village (originally a farm) is first known to be mentioned in 1567 as “Aa”. The name is from Old Norse word “á” which means “(small) river”. The name was spelled “Aa” until 1917 when the Norwegian language reform changed the letter “aa” to “å”. The village is sometimes referred to as Å i Lofoten (“i” means “in”) to distinguish it from other meanings that go by Å.”
It’s now 12:45, and we will eat at 2:15pm. The first stop is the Lofoten Stockfish Museum.
The owner, whose name we are ashamed to say we do not remember, sat us down and gave an enthusiastic and thorough 30-minute history of the village and the fishing for and preparation of stockfish. Here is just a smattering of what we learn (he really talks quickly):
- This is a seasonal business. The fish are essentially cod, the drying process taking place in a two-month process in the months of March and April.
- By late May, everything is packed in boxes, the measurements of which are determined by which country they will be shipped to.
- The biggest market by far is Italy, and the market there is further separated into Naples, Genoa and Northern Italy, with the volume and level of quality of each market in that order.
What is stockfish? Here’s a quick explanation: “Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called “hjell” in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world’s oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years. The method is cheap and effective in suitable climates; the work can be done by the fisherman and family, and the resulting product is easily transported to market.
“Over the centuries, several variants of dried fish have evolved. The stockfish (fresh dried, not salted) category is often mistaken for the clipfish or salted cod, category where the fish is salted before drying. [Please see our post on Kristiansund, Norway for a discussion on clipfish] Salting was not economically feasible until the 17th century, when cheap salt from southern Europe became available to the maritime nations of northern Europe.”
We were ushered out and followed our guide to our next stop, the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum, which is actually several buildings, including a souvenir shop, a bakery and several buildings befitting the fishing village that this village once was. We spend time looking around, taking photos and visiting the souvenir shop.
Now it is time for lunch. We walk over a small hill to the Brygga Restaurant, a large, modern and very attractive place. For the next hour, we are treated to a delicious lunch that included fish soup, cream sauce fish, chicken with mushrooms, potatoes, mixed veggies. We chat it up with our tablemates, a retired IBM executive and his wife. The food – especially the authentic Norwegian dessert – is delicious!
Alas, our visit to the lovely, peaceful village of Å has come to an end. We walk to where our bus is parked (in a parking lot cleverly placed to keep tourist buses and cars out of the village), take one more photo of yet another tunnel, and board. We are practically at the very end of the peninsula and will make our way back on the same roads.
Veronica is one of the most thoroughly-prepared guides we have ever had. We have learned a bit about her in our travels. She is actually from Austria, but has lived here in Leknes about fifteen minutes from the port for ten years. Her vocation is as a professional guide, and, as mentioned, she leads hikes and climbs as well as bus tours. During Covid, of course, she was laid off, and was asked if she would like to like to be a taxi driver, since she already had the proper license to transport people in her car. She has brought more than a dozen maps and photos to pass around the bus. Who knows how many languages she speaks, and she has a Master’s degree in we-don’t-remember. A very, very impressive young lady that is really adding immensely to our enjoyment of the day and our knowledge of Norway. Here are more items gleaned from her almost non-stop but well-worth-listening-to monologue:
- Two of the world’s strongest tidal currents are nearby, one of which has been written about by authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote about one of them – the Maelstrom. Eddies and whirlpools created by the tide draw in a lot of plankton. The fish follow to feed on the plankton, making these areas rich fishing grounds. Fishermen really need to know these waters well to avoid the dangers of these tidal currents.
- There is something called the Lofoten Wall, which is what the mountains in the peninsula look like when viewed from sea.
- As we pass through Reine again, Veronica points out two whaling vessels, which can be identified by the high lookout towers. Whaling is still practiced in Norway, but only for minke whales, who is numerous enough to not be on the endangered species list. There is a national quota of 1,000 per year, which is never reached. The catch can only be sold in Norway, which is why the quota is never reached.
- The fjords were all formed by glaciation during the last Ice Age. In Norway, the glaciers ran up to 3,000 meters in height (9,850 feet). They were so heavy that the land under them fell. When they melted, the land rose again – and is still rising at a rate of 3-9 millimeters per year.
- In northern Norway, the colors that people paint their houses varies a great deal – many in bright colors (probably to cheer them up during the long, snowy winters). In central and southern Norway, the houses were painted in three primary colors, red, yellow and white.
- Red was the color used by the poorer folks – often the fishermen. The color could be made using cod liver oil mixed with animal blood, which of course could be sourced locally and was therefore the cheapest color. Drawback was that the houses tended to stink in the summer months.
- Yellow designated middle class homes. The color was made by using pigment imported from Italy. Because so much stockfish were exported to that country, the pigment was easily obtained and thus not that expensive.
- White as a house color designated the wealthiest individuals or families of the community. That pigment was imported from Germany, which was expensive. Why? Because the Germans didn’t buy the stockfish, so there was no reciprocal trade.
We make a quick, unscheduled stop in a small village to take some more photos. Steve’s especially interesting in getting a good one of the drying racks where the stockfish is dried. We have been seeing them everywhere we have been today, which indicates how important this industry is to the region.
On our way to the last stop, Veronica discusses the salmon farms. This is a growing industry for all of Norway and other countries, and it provides a great deal of income as well as high-paying jobs. It has its drawbacks, as everyone is quick to admit. Packing the fish together like this often leads to sickness and other maladies among the fish. One of them is salmon lice that attach themselves to the skin of the fish. There are two methods of getting the lice off the salmon:
- By machine. The fish are all vacuumed up and run through a specially-built washing machine. There are special vessels that handle this process. It doesn’t harm the fish, per se, but it is expensive.
- By adding lumpfish to the “corrals” where the salmon live. The lumpfish live by nibbling the lice off of the salmon. The two fish therefore have a symbiotic relationship.
Our last stop is at an unexpected place – a beach. The question is raised: in a volcanic environment such as Lofoten, how is it that beaches exist. The answer is surprising: coral reefs. Coral reefs have been discovered in Norway. One of them in the area where we are is enormous – 27 miles long and 4 miles wide. The beach is in Flakstad, and it is beautiful and peaceful, with very soft white sand.
We arrive back at the ship right at 5pm as scheduled. We leave our guide, thanking her profusely for all the information she has given us, and give her a gratuity worthy of her skills and our appreciation.
We board the ship and wait for sail away, which is at 6pm. The trip out of the cruise terminal and down to the ocean is as beautiful at the entire peninsula we visited.
Lofoten has certainly lived up to its advance billing. It is entirely fitting that it is our last stop in Norway, which has dazzled us from the beginning of our cruise.
