Flam To Fjaerland

These 2 places are quite close to each other, so the drive was quite short. Basically 2 places within the same wilderness area only one to the south and the other north (Fjaerland). Right outside Flam, we had to go through a tunnel that was reduced to one lane so we had to wait a bit outside to be escorted. On the way into Flam on the east side approach we came through the longest tunnel in the world... 24 miles I believe it was! That was crazy!! Anyway, we drove to Fjaerland, and right before we entered via the only road in, we had to pay a toll that we both thought was exorbitantly high. To compound matters, we discovered that many scenic sights were passed on the road in, and to see them we would have to pay toll in that direction, and then TOLL AGAIN to come back in. Yeah, live and learn I say for situations like this. R actually told the woman in the tourist office it wasn't worth staying in Fjaerland due to this. The woman was slightly offended, but R was right for the most part. The city we passed before Fjaerland was bigger and closer to these sights. If there's a "next time", we will forego Fjaerland for Sogndal. But moving forward, we got to our cabin and it didn't look as nice as the one in Flam. There was grass and weeds growing all over the roof! I mean, it suited ME if any of you have ever seen my yard! I can't keep astroturf green! But I came to understand that this was how they "did" roofs here. The area was also sparsely populated, but once inside the cabin we discovered we had water and a bathroom with this one, it was large with room to sleep 8, and a TV! We were quite happy with the accommodations if not the surroundings. We unpacked, and with the sun out through the clouds making for some nice lighting conditions, I started making pictures right away. We drove around the area looking for a place to eat. All of the places were closed for the day or the season still. We tried a Best Western hotel up the road, but it was like $120 for both of us and the attitude wasn't "warm", so we decided to "dine" in our rustic cabin. We had a full day ahead of us tomorrow, so we turned in around 11pm while it was still bright as 4pm outside. May 15th, and the morning was gray and drizzly. We decided to take the trip on the ferry through the longest fjord in Norway (already seeing the narrowest in Flam). The fjords are very pretty, but today it was quite chilly with the wind whipping up over the water and the sun playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds. We went to Balestrand, which is the ferry's last stop. We disembarked, finding out the time of the ferry we wanted to take back to Fjaerland. Balestrand is a larger town then Fjaerland, however most of it was still locked up from the off-season like Fjaerland. We walked around checking out the area. It was chilly and drizzly on and off, so it took a little out of the experience for us, but we always end up enjoying ourselves! After walking through local neighborhoods, stores, art galleries, and (yes!) a post card exhibit chronicling the history of the area, we boarded a ferry that would take us back through the fjord to Fjaerland. We discussed going back through the toll to see the other sights, but figured to wait until tomorrow so we could have a full day. We checked out the local glacier from a couple of vantage points, and that was our 1st full day in Fjaerland.