Fellow Norway lover Rob van Hoof has a special hobby. During his trips through Norway, he and Astrid organize their own treasure hunt. They bring along a little stack of old postcards of Norway from the ’50s-’60s and go hunting with them. The mission: to photograph that same spot as it looks today. And that makes for some pretty amazing pictures!
Road trips – then & now
It seems kind of tricky to me to recognize the places. I think you’d drive right past them before you even noticed. Above, on the left, you see the Sognefjellsvegen and on the right the famous Nigardsbreen, an arm of the Jostedalsbreen in Jostedal. These four photos are right up there among my favorites from the series, mainly because of the cars in them. Especially the little car in the bottom right photo makes me long for endless road trips through Norway.
Bøyabreen glacier
In the distance you can see the Bøyabreen glacier. One of the many arms of the gigantic Jostedalsbreen glacier in Fjærland. It does me some good to see that this glacier arm hasn’t melted as fast as the Nigardsbreen above. The Bøyabreen is pretty steep and ice movements happen regularly. Super cool of course, but also dangerous. You can get very close to it quite easily, but don’t make the same stupid mistake we did..
(Read here how a hike to Bøyabreen almost cost us our lives!)
Oppland & Rondane
Left (on mobile, top): a stray sheep on a country lane next to Helin lake, Oppland. The nearby area has been known as a national park of botanical plants since 1930.
Right (on mobile, bottom): Høvringen Høgfjellshotell, located at the entrance to Rondane national park at 980 meters above sea level. Rondane is one of the best-known national parks in Norway and lies almost entirely above the tree line.
Låtefossen, Odda
The famous double waterfall Låtefossen near Odda was already a busy spot decades ago! And I can see why, because even after being here dozens of times, I still can’t resist stopping for a moment. The Låtefossen waterfall is about 165 meters high and thunders down in two separate streams from the Lotevatnet, which lies at an altitude of 340 meters. At the bottom, the streams come together again and the water flows on into the Grønsdalslona river. When you drive over the bridge, your car gets a free wash from the spray. So don’t forget your poncho when you get out!
Flydalsjuvet, Geiranger
We see this recognizable view more and more often these days in travel guides and on social media. The famous Flydalsjuvet viewpoint in Geiranger – also affectionately called ‘the pearl of the North’. In the distance you can see that quite a bit has been built in the years in between. If I had a time machine, I’d love to visit the village in the ’50s and take it all in calmly without the hordes of tourists. Even though, apparently, there were already cruise ships in the fjord back then too!
Djupvasshytta, Geiranger
At 1030 meters above sea level lies Djupvasshytta, a really special place to stay. The ‘hytta’ is hidden away in the mountains, right next to Geiranger and the famous viewpoint Dalsnibba. Behind the accommodation you can see the almost 200-meter-deep Djupvatnet lake. A perfect place to feel like you’re on a completely different planet for a while. And it has barely changed over the years.
Spot the differences in Gålå..
Left (on mobile, top): Here the contrast is really huge because of the different seasons, but if you look closely, you’ll see that it really is the same spot. The picturesque little village is Gålå in Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland.
Right (on mobile, bottom): The same village, the same spot, but a slightly different composition. In these photos you can see the Wadahl Høgfjellshotell in Gålå!
A special encounter
There’s a special story behind this photo. Rob decided to politely ring the doorbell of a house to ask if he could take a photo in the ‘front yard’ to recreate a postcard. The young woman who opened the door didn’t mind at all. “That man in the photo is my father’s grandfather and those children are my uncles and aunt,” she said. How amazing is that?! It just goes to show what special and unexpected things you can discover on a treasure hunt like this.
These photos are published with permission from the photographer Rob van Hoof.
Personal travel advice
Would you like to go on a treasure hunt through Norway yourself someday? I can help you put together your dream trip. Get in touch with me, and soon you’ll be Lost in Norvana too!
