Lysefjord Cruise

As I said in my first post from Oslo, one of the things Norway is most famous for is fjords. I was determined to get my fill. So, for this morning’s activity from Stavanger, I booked a three-hour cruise to and through a small portion of Lysefjord.

Lysefjord is reputed to be one of Norway’s most beautiful fjords that’s reasonably easily accessible from a major tourist destination, in this case, Stavanger.

I’m undecided as to whether to call the vessel I was on a boat or ship. The former makes it sound smaller than it is. The latter makes it sound larger than it is. But I’m going to go with “ship.”

The cruise listing said it had a maximum capacity of 150 customers. I think it would be crowded if it sold out.

The ship has three decks. The lower one comprises mostly a fully enclosed cabin with tables, chairs, and a snack bar. There are also some small open areas at the front and back of this deck.

The back half of the second deck is an open area with benches. In front of that is a small, public, covered section. And in front of that is the closed area where the captain steers the ship. Neither that public covered area nor the captain’s cabin extends the full width of the ship. On either side of them, open aisles with benches against the walls extend to the front of the second deck. That’s where I spent most of my time.

The top deck covers only maybe a quarter or so of the ship. It’s a standing-room-only observation deck. I checked it out before the ship left the port but wrote it off because several people had gravitated to it and the view in front was partially blocked by the ship’s radar and communications equipment.

Not Yet Lysefjord

The cruise provided an occasional recorded commentary. One of the first things it told me, while we were still in Stavanger, was that Stavanger is one of Norway’s largest cities, with a population of 140,000. Yes, one of Norway’s largest cities is home to only 140,00 people.

Wikipedia told me that the greater urban area of Stavanger has a population of 234,757. That makes it the third—most-populous urban area in Norway. Oslo is number one, with a little more than a million people. And the Bergen urban area is number two with a population not much larger than that of Stavanger’s urban area.

Before getting into Lysefjord we passed an archipelago of low islands with mostly trees and rocks, but also a few residences. The residences are dispersed sparsely enough that few if any of the inhabitants can see their nearest neighbours from their homes.

Further on, the mountains are higher and steeper, but still gentle enough that they are well-forested. The mountains here are also closer to the water than in and near Stavanger. However, despite the height, steepness, and closeness to the water, at those few points where the slope is gentle enough across an area sufficient for habitation, there are a few hamlets, villages, and towns.

After sailing for about 45 minutes, the ship made a turn, passed by a town and under a bridge, and entered Lysefjord.

In Lysefjord

Lysefjord is much more of what comes to mind when I hear “fjord” than Oslo Fjord, which I cruised on earlier in this trip, particularly as we got deeper into the fjord.

At that point, mountains that descend right down to the water distinctively define the fjord.

On one side, the mountains are steep, but for the most part, not so precipitous that forests weren’t able to colonize their slopes. However, even on that side, a few rock cliffs break up the forests.

On the other side, the mountains are the reverse. Forests are the exception. Most of the mountainsides are rugged, sheer rock cliffs.

The colours of the rock on that side of Lysefjord vary from slate-gray to tan, with a few gradations between that.

The total effect is very dramatic and met my high expectations for the cruise.

After making the turn to head back to Stavanger, the cruise made four pauses in Lysefjord to get a better look at some of the sights we sailed past on the way in.

Waterfall

The first pause was at the turning point. Here, the captain nosed the ship up as close as he could to a dramatic waterfall. Water gushes down the craggy cliff and into Lysefjord. It’s quite beautiful.

Pulpit Rock

The next pause in Lysefjord was in front of Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen). Pulpit Rock is a section of a cliff that naturally cantilevers out from the rest of the cliff. The jutting out top is flat and the rock angles back from that to meet the regularly scheduled cliff a little way down.

According to the commentary, Tom Cruise hung off Pulpit Rock in one of the Mission Impossible movies. I wouldn’t know.

I loved the Mission Impossible television series when it was originally broadcast. I saw the first Mission Impossible movie and I was red-hot furious that they turned Jim Phelps into a bad guy rather than having him die or retire honourably to make way for the Tom Cruise character. As a matter of deeply righteous principle, I refused to see any of the later Mission Impossible films.

The Pulpit Rock scene wasn’t in that first film, so I didn’t see it.

But back to Pulpit Rock.

There are some guided hikes I could have taken to the top of Pulpit Rock. I decided against them for a few reasons.

For one, the tour first buses customers to a base camp. From there, it’s a two-hour hike to Pulpit Rock and another two-hour hike back. I don’t know the altitude of the base camp and how much elevation change there is on the hike, but I think it would be a struggle for me. I probably could have made it, but at the end of it, my body would likely have hauled me up before the International Criminal Court on a charge of crimes against humanity for subjecting it to that.

I’ve never been especially physically strong, but there was a time, even just a few years ago, when such a hike would have been, I won’t say easy, but not overly difficult for me. I fear those days are destined to get ever smaller when seen in the rear-view mirror. My citizenship forbids it, but in not so many years I’ll meet the age requirement to be President of the United States. (Yes, that was a Biden/Trump geriatric joke.)

Another reason was that the weather forecast for the two full days (as opposed to the partial days on either side of them) that I’m in Stavanger showed rain for at least part of each day. The prediction for tomorrow was for an all-day rain.

And then there’s the big reason. I’ve seen pictures of Pulpit Rock from up top, including pictures with people on it, from which I could judge the scale. The surface area of Pulpit Rock is not all that small. From those pictures, I’m guessing that a dozen or so people could stand on it at once without being too crowded. But it’s still small enough that if I hiked to Pulpit Rock, with its vertical sides and inward-sloping front dropping down to the foot of the fjord, there’s no way I could even approach it without my acrophobia stopping me cold. It didn’t seem worth hiking all the way there if there was no way I was going to take in the famed view.

Goats

For the next pause in the Lysefjord cruise, the captain again edged the ship up close to the shore. At that point, the cliff made room for a small area of a more gently sloped, grassy hill.

There, two goats are set out to graze on the grass each summer. The ship got close enough for one of the crew to throw some grain to the goats.

I suppose the goats have learned to come as close to the water as they can when the boat comes by. I imagine them saying to each other, “Praise be to Goathashem [the goat god]! I was getting so tired of eating grass. Variety is the spice of life, whatever the heck spice is. Where do these nonsensical expressions come from? It’s probably the silly humans.”

Rather articulate goats, I’d say.

Vagabond’s Cave

“Vagabond’s Cave” is the name that the cruise company gave on its online tour description for the next pause on its cruise. I hate to be a stickler (no, I don’t), but it was the cave of a group of vagabonds, not a single vagabond. It should be “Vagabonds’ Cave.”

Okay. Stickling over.

The story is that some vagabonds wanted by the law held up in the cave. The sheriff came after them and they scrambled up the craggy cliff. Having gained the high ground, they threw rocks down on the sheriff. Eventually, the sheriff gave up.

Leaving Lysefjord

Shortly after leaving Lysefjord and turning the bend at its start, the ship docked at a pier in a small town. The announcement before that happened said that anyone who bought a cruise and hike combo ticket should disembark there. A bus would then take them to the base camp for Pulpit Rock (Preikesto), where they’d begin their hike to said rock.

When I booked my cruise ticket I didn’t see any option for a cruise and hike combo listed on the booking platform I used, Viator. I checked again while we were at that dock and I still didn’t find one.

I’m kind of glad I didn’t know about it. I might have been tempted to take it. I checked the forecast when we were at the dock. It predicted rain starting at three in the afternoon. If that proves to be true, they’ll be in the rain for at least a part of their hike.

And then there are all of the other reasons I mentioned above as to why I doubt a Pulpit Rock hike would be right for me.

After that brief docking, we continued to return the way we came. That part of the journey is attractive, but not as exciting as Lysefjord. So I moved to the indoor area on the first deck. Today was cool, particularly in the wind (or, maybe, the ship pushing through the air). I would have been more comfortable this morning if I had worn another light layer.

The sky was overcast throughout the cruise. And a constant light haze gently shrouded some of the more distant views.

I must say, despite the cool temperatures and thin haze, I thoroughly enjoyed the Lysefjord cruise.

I’m sorry. That was a silly thing to say. Must? Nobody’s forcing me to say it. I’m sure the tour company and local tourist bureau would like me to say it but, as far as I know, there’s no law requiring it.

So, let me rephrase the earlier sentence. I will, notwithstanding not being required to, say that despite the cool temperatures and thin haze, I thoroughly enjoyed the Lysefjord cruise.