Close to the edge... Around three feet away from a 2000 foot drop at Preikestolen near Stavanger After an excellent breakfast at the Park Inn’s Airport hotel, I flew onto Stavanger which only took around half an hour and stayed at the excellent Radisson Blu Atlantic hotel: welcoming staff, superb breakfasts - oh yes, importantly, included in the price! - and an excellent view on the 6th of 13 floors overlooking the lake.
Stavanger is smaller than I had expected and the main area is around a small marina which leads later onto the main harbour further round. This was Norway as I was expecting: wooden, quaint and old-fashioned, brightly coloured houses; clean, cobbled streets and a nice sea breeze. There are plenty of trips on catamarans and ferries as the fjords are close by and the reason for my visit, the hike to Preikestolen or The Pulpit Rock on the Lysefjorden, had been booked a week beforehand when I knew that I was definitely going. Considering the cost of the Oslo and Stavanger Airport buses, the return fare to Preikestolen which includes return ferry to Tau and onward bus on arrival, was a very reasonable £23. It was a meagre amount for what would bring many wonderful memories.
The daunting drop towards the Lysefjorden from Preikestolen

The view down Lysefjorden from Preikestolen
Traditional houses in Stavanger
The thirty-five minute ferry crossing to Tau afforded wonderful views over small islands and the closest point to Preikestolen involves the twenty kilometre bus ride. To get to the Pulpit Rock involves a steadily ascending hike over boulders, through forest
and, on occasion, over a little ice, and takes around an hour and a half for the four kilometre hike. God knows how but I managed to do something to my left foot which has rendered it more than slightly tender but it most certainly wasn’t going to stop me experiencing these most breathtaking of views even if I have suffered since my return.
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