Route: Stockholm, Sweden – Ringebu, Norway
(via Gävle, Falun, Mora, Älvdalen, Lillehammer)
Distance: 700km
Highlights:
- Unplanned grilling with +60 years old caravanners
- Helicopter trip with +60 years pilot
- 30 min. introduction to camping regulations in the region Älvdalen (don’t click on the link, there is nothing interesting there)
Important question to be answered:
- What is the Moldovan magical trick to get a free helicopter trip in a Bell 206L-1 LongRanger ?
- Where you can find a pair of spare skis?
The idea of driving as much as possible in Sweden was connected to the below facts:
1. Sweden is the most beautiful country in the world (or at least this is what it’s stated in this book)
2. No Tax Free refund on the petrol bought in Norway
3. If you get a speeding ticket in Sweden, train tickets/taxi in Sweden to Stockholm are slightly cheaper than from any point in Norway
4. Sweden has a Chinese castle, Norway doesn’t
5. …and seriously, Swedish country roads are definitely wider and with less caravans than in Norway
- Unplanned grilling with +60 years old caravanners
Caravanners were very entertaining. The most entertaining part was the introduction to camping regulations in the region Älvdalen. If you have problems reading the below attachment I can send you the original full size photo 
.
Here you can see the Chinese Castle which currently is used as a hotel for reindeers.
Helicopter Trip
Do you ever have a wish/need to visit somebody’s backyard ? Basically we had the same wish/need when we saw a helicopter parked in the backyard of a Swedish farm.
The mission was very simple. We drive carefully and slowly and park the car near the helicopter, take a quick photo and continue our journey to Norway.
Unfortunately/happily we were caught in flagrante delicto. Our comprehensive excuse was: “we got lost”…of course in his backyard and we kindly asked for direction to…Norway .
Per-Gunnar (the pilot) quite impressed by the Moldovan sense of humour and our interest in backyards, wanted to find out more about Moldova and its people. We took this opportunity as a manipulation technique and offered him a complete description about Moldova, while having a small trip with the helicopter. Certainly this trick didn’t work, especially since a 1h trip costs 9,000 SEK. Then my brother (one of the best negotiators in the world) tried the Moldovan secret weapon – the cognac . Per-Gunnar (the pilot) accepted the challenge with only one condition, he will not drink while flying the helicopter. We had an agreement and this is the result:
However you know that there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Not sure how it happened, however Per-Gunnar (the pilot) “recommended” us a road to Norway, which in reality was quite bumpy and required additional 150km vs. our original itinerary. I believe one of the below versions could be the root cause of this “misunderstanding”:
1. We were too excited after our first ever trip in a helicopter and we completely forgot about exact itinerary
2. Per-Gunnar (the pilot) was not entirely happy with the age of the cognac (it was only a 7 years one) and perhaps he wanted us to spend some more time on the Swedish roads.
3. Roads from a pilot’s view may look more straightforward and smooth than in reality.
Lillehammer
We did not have Lillehammer on our itinerary and we were not planning during the next 10 years to visit Lillehammer. Not that we have something against this city or Winter Olympics history, however the purpose of our trip was to see really spectacular sceneries and preferably nature and big things. Perhaps if the city name was Bighammer, we would have included it initially in our itinerary.
However destiny (Per-Gunnar-the pilot) had apparently a wish that we must visit the hosting city of the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Lysgårdsbakken Ski Jumping Arena
Here is the answer to the second question. Free skis are available in Lillehammer (just go behind the Lysgårdsbakken and preferably after 20:00 during the autumn, since during the summer is quite bright outside)
Make sure you note down this new fashion trend – Flip-flops + green skis, you will see this trend again during the Milan Fashion week:
