Western Norway: Roadway To Heaven

Nitin Chaudhary takes a long and winding road through Western Norway, and drinks in its scenic - if perilously distracting - sights.

- Nitin Chaudhary

“To understand a city, learn its streets. To decrypt a nation, read its roads.” So I was once advised.

Somewhere between Flam and Geiranger, in western Norway, I chased a furtive road. It bent at improbable angles to hide behind the mountains, and reappeared in a truncated form, half eaten by the clouds that had descended unannounced, regaining form again only to slope down and dissolve into a the local tourists prefer the lærdal tunnel, which passes through three mountain halls patiently waiting fjord. A ferry would connect me to the asphalt hanging loose at the other end, from where the pursuit began all over again. The pattern had repeated itself many times over the 2,000km or so that I had spanned in Norway so far.

I stepped out for a breather. The valley was quiet except for the slow thump of the marine engine. The sun was hidden behind the mountains, its absence rendering a touch of gloominess to the ambience. Noticing me standing alone on the top deck in quiet reflection, Reidar approached me. He spoke English haltingly, but with enough clarity to facilitate a conversation. I had noticed him earlier driving a Tesla Model S behind me, and had waved out.

“So why am I noticing Teslas all over Norway?” I asked as we sipped coffee to palliate the chill of the wind.

“Well, Tesla’s second-largest market in the entire world is this tiny country,” Reidar explained with a certain seriousness. “We value cars that are environment friendly, and if you buy an electric car, the annual registration fee is waived, as are tolls, and you get access to less-congested traffic lanes.”