We had a hitch hike race to Preikestolen which is a cliff that drops over 1,300 ft into a Fjord.\u00a0 The teams included Katja and I as team one, and Jais and Steven as team two.\u00a0 We all had bus tickets so we took the local bus out as far as our tickets would take us which was Flekkefjord, approximately 3 hours away from Kristiansand.\u00a0 Katja and I won a bet the night before so it was agreed that we would get dropped off at the farthest possible spot and the other two would get dropped off one spot before.\u00a0\u00a0 This was arranged to avoid having 4 hitch hikers all together.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for us, our tickets took us to the center of town and towns are always hard to get a hitch hike out of, because the traffic is not direct.\u00a0 After about an hour of walking around town and trying to find the right road, we ended up back at the spot where we had dropped off Jais and Steven.\u00a0 We walked a little further up the road and saw the two of them getting into a car!\u00a0 Katja and I couldn\u2019t believe that they got the better end of the stick even after they lost the bet!<\/p>\n
Luckily for us, 5mins after we started hitch hiking, a camper van pulled over and said he would take us!\u00a0 Steven and I really wanted a camper van during our dog sledding trip so I was so excited that we got to ride in one.\u00a0 The guy that took us had just bought the van and was bring it home.\u00a0 We were in his van for about 1.5hours which felt like so long because I was really tired, and I fell asleep a little bit.\u00a0 We got dropped off on the side of the highway which was a little scary because the cars were going so fast and because we had to walk through a tunnel.\u00a0 The tunnel was pretty cool, but definitely dangerous.\u00a0 Cars were honking at us which echoed so it was really loud; once we left the tunnel a police car pulled us over and said that we were not allowed to walk on the high way.\u00a0 So we walked about 3 meters away from the highway till we came to a little round about where we got our next hitch hike to the Luvik ferry.<\/p>\n
While we were waiting for the ferry, a guy came up to Katja and I to see if he wanted him to take a picture for us.\u00a0 We talked for a little bit and told him we were hitch hiking to Preikestolen.\u00a0 He seemed pretty impressed and went to clean out his car to see if he had space to fit us in.\u00a0 He came running back to tell us he had space for us and he could take us all the way to Preikestolen; needless to say we were quite pleased with our new friend.<\/p>\n
We arrived and ran into Luke and his family which was pretty fun.\u00a0 They had their camper van with them so they invited us to coffee in the van which was so sweet.\u00a0 Katja and I waited about 2 hours and then the other team arrived.\u00a0 Once we were all there we started our hike to the top.\u00a0 The hike was pretty steep initially, and it was quite tiring carrying our packs since we had not carried our packs in a while.\u00a0 It was definitely noticeable that this was a tourist attraction with how clear the paths were marked.<\/p>\n
We set up camp about 1km away from the top of Prekiestolen, and then we left our packs there and hiked up the rest of the way.\u00a0 The weather was pretty cloudy but still such a great view on the top of the cliff.\u00a0 I was worried that I would be really scared when I went up there but surprisingly enough, I have come to find that I like heights.\u00a0 It was unreal looking off the side of the cliff and just seeing the straight drop!\u00a0 We stayed up there for about 30min before we headed back to camp for dinner time.<\/p>\n
That night we thought it would be cool to wake up early and see the sunrise on the top of Prekiestolen.\u00a0 So we set our alarms for 4:30am, with the intentions of waking up.\u00a0 Sadly it was raining at 4:30am so we agreed that we would go out once the rain stopped.\u00a0 The rain didn\u2019t stop till 8am so we got a little extra sleep.\u00a0 After our tents were packed and breakfast was made we hiked to the top again and had some morning coffee that we had made at our camp site.\u00a0 We were the first ones up there that morning so it was fun to have the whole place to ourselves without any tourists.<\/p>\n
Coming home was the tricky part of our trip.\u00a0 Steven and Jais went on the road right away to find a hitch hike while Katja and I tried for 1.5hr to find a hitch hike in the parking lot.\u00a0 After waiting so long with no luck we decided to start walking on the road even though it was raining.\u00a0 Within 5min of walking on the road, 3 Norwegian girls picked us up!\u00a0 It was really nice to finally be on the move since we were in the same spot for so long.<\/p>\n
The girls dropped us off on the road a little off track from where we wanted, but luckily enough we got picked up within 15min but a German guy who was headed to the ferry.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just say Katja sat in the front seat and I didn\u2019t do much talking that car ride.\u00a0 Once we were on the ferry we had to find another hitch hike. \u00a0Katja was looking at a van that had a kayak on top and thought that would be a nice hitch hike.\u00a0 I really hate asking people if they have room for people, especially two people with huge packs.\u00a0 Anyways we asked the guy and he said we could go with him!<\/p>\n
Hitch hiking has really taught me that you never know what you\u2019re going to get until you ask.\u00a0 The guy with the kayak was so nice and a really good time to talk to as well.\u00a0 He took us to a road that was a direct shot to Kristiansand which was so helpful of him.\u00a0 We waited about 20min on the road before this cute lady pulled over and picked us up.\u00a0 She was all smiles and would giggle about most things Katja and I said throughout the trip.\u00a0 We got a ride all the way to Flekkefjord from her and from there we took the bus to a train station.<\/p>\n
We thought our bus car would work for all sorts of transportation but learned after we got on the train that the card was only for buses.\u00a0 We asked to be let off the train when we found out our cards wouldn\u2019t work; but the conductor said that there was no way we could find a way home if he let us off.\u00a0 So he told us \u201chappy birthday\u201d and that we could stay on the train for free.<\/p>\n
This trip really made me appreciate people in Norway and their generosity.\u00a0 Every time someone picked us up I was just so thankful and amazed how many nice people there are around us every day.\u00a0 When people are nice to you it really makes you want to return the favor in some way.\u00a0 I know I can\u2019t hitch hike in the states so I am going to have to find another way to pay my experiences forward \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We had a hitch hike race to Preikestolen which is a cliff that drops over 1,300 ft into a Fjord.\u00a0 The teams included Katja and I as team one, and Jais and Steven as team two.\u00a0 We all had bus … Continue reading