Journey time from Camping Flothyl to Kjerag Camping in Lysebotn was around 3 hours 40 minutes. Distance travelled 108 miles at 32.1 mpg.
The first part of the journey was south on route 9. This appears to have been the subject of a huge amount of construction and progress was good. One can still see the old road in places and this is most certainly a fantastic improvement. There were lot’s of opportunities for wild camping along this section, and also many cycle routes (note for another occasion!), but our destination on Sunday was Lysebotn.
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The second half of the journey (the last 41 miles) was a different story. The road is barely wide enough for two vehicles although there are numerous passing places. Lysebotn is a village located at the end of Lysefjorden in a very isolated valley which is only accessible via a summer seasonal road or by boat.
It’s a popular tourist destination with over 100,000 visitors each year and it is an access point for the Kjerag mountain, a popular base jumping spot. The final section of road drops over 900m into Lysebotn down a very steep cliff, going through 27 hairpin bends including one inside a 1100m tunnel that is actually inside the mountain. The road was opened in 1984 and it is only operational during the summer months when it is free of ice and snow.
From the Sirdal valley the road runs through impressive mountain peaks and has a lunar-like terrain. It reminded me of the Yorkshire Dales but in a much more extreme and almost endless manner.
The weather hasn’t been kind to us in recent days. The temperature has been as low as 6 C over the mountain roads and we’ve had persistent heavy rain in Lysebotn. Today we managed a five mile hike from the Campsite but we needed all our waterproof and thermal gear.
The campsite and its facilities are first rate and there’s even a cafe / bar on-site.
Tomorrow we re-trace our tracks over the Lysevegen and head to Stavanger where we hope to be boarding a ferry to Denmark…