Norwegian notes: some thoughts from Stavanger

Hi guys, I've just returned from a long weekend in Stavanger in Norway and I'd like to compile some notes on my experiences there. This is my second trip to Norway, having visited Oslo way back in 1998. It was a hideously expensive city then and Norway is just as expensive 25 years later (thankfully I am no longer a poor student as I was back in 1998 and can afford Norway these days). Don't forget you can see all my photos and videos from this trip on my Instagram of course. So here is a quick post from me reflecting on some of the memorable experiences from this short trip to Norway. 

1. Why you should go to Norway

Well it is an interesting country to visit, the nature there is also absolutely stunning. The point about traveling is to see something different, experience something that you don't normally get at home and Norway will definitely have plenty to offer in that department. The capital city Oslo is really the only big city in Norway with a population of just over a million but the rest of the cities have roughly between 100,000 to 250,000 - they would a relatively small city center and sprawling suburbs. The center of Stavanger was so small that I explored all of it in one day and did it all on foot. So if you are hoping to see stunning European cities with loads of historical monuments like Rome, Madrid and Athens - then no, Norway is not for you. But if you already live in a big city and are looking to escape to the majestic Norwegian countryside for a taste of outdoors adventure, then definitely, Norway wouldn't disappoint at all in that department. Norway's population density is extremely low (ranked 215 out of 248) in the world,  The population of Norway is slightly smaller than that of Singapore (5.5 million vs 5.9 million) but Norway is immense (529 times larger than Singapore): once you step outside the urban areas, you just see rolling hills, mountains, forests, lakes, beaches, fjords and that beautiful Norwegian wood landscape that goes on forever. Without a huge population stressing out the land, the nature is kept pristine and thus the air is incredibly fresh, the water is so clean and it makes it such a lovely escape for us city dwellers. 

2. Norway is a frightfully expensive holiday destination

Ouch, Norway is one of the world's most expensive holiday destinations for two main reasons: firstly, everyone is rich there, so even the guy getting you your coffee in the 7-Eleven speaks English fluently and commands a decent salary. The social contract is that people are paid very high salaries but when you want to buy anything, prices are high - but hey, the locals on high salaries can afford those high prices and it is only foreign tourists who are stung by those high Norwegian standards. Thanks to their oil wealth, the government is super rich and can afford to pay civil servants like nurses and teachers a ridiculously high salary compared to their peers in countries like France and the UK. So a Norwegian bus driver or postman can go to a country like Vietnam, Georgia or Sri Lanka and live like royalty, despite having an ordinary working class job. Secondly, the local currency: the Norwegian Kroner is extremely strong so that just adds another level of pain to the tourists in Norway. I suppose the way I dealt with it was, oh well I'm already here so I'm just going to bite the bullet, spend the money and have a great holiday without worrying about how much I have spent. I did some quick calculations: I spent about the same amount of money for a long weekend in Stavanger as I did traveling for one week in early January in Northern Italy - that's Italy I'm comparing it to, not Turkey, Morocco or Cambodia. There are of course young people who come backpacking in Norway who stay in the cheapest youth hostels and I'm sure they have a good time there regardless, but seriously, if you're after a budget option for your holiday, avoid Norway. Even neighbouring Sweden and Finland are both so much cheaper and more affordable compared to Norway, it's just that they tend to be a lot more flat and thus you just don't get the kind of stunning mountains and fjords that Norway is famous for. 

3. Trying to eat whale meat in Norway

This is a very controversial topic but whale meat is banned in most of the world except three countries: Japan, Iceland and of course, Norway. I have had whale meat in Iceland before and it had the texture of beef but there was a distinctive fishiness to it. So in the spirit of doing things that I can't normally do at home, I was looking for whale meat in Stavanger but my husband was appalled by my wish to consume whale meat even if it was totally legal in Norway. So we spoke to our AirBNB host who was a huge fan of whale meat, but even he said it was hard to find - it has to be fresh and so you are hoping for one of the local fishing fleets to have caught a whale very recently; otherwise it's not like you can walk into the local supermarket and expect to find whale steak there. He suggested a few restaurants in town but none of them had any whale on the menu. I then asked my hiking guide where I could get whale meat and he was like, "no I'd never eat whale, it's against my principles even if it is legal here in Norway, so I am afraid I can't help you, I have no idea. Actually a lot of Norwegians refuse to eat whale meat even if it is legal here." I then turned to my second choice: trying to eat reindeer, elk or moose meat, but once again, total fail. The only thing I found was a massive elk roast in the freezer section of a supermarket and that looked big enough to serve a family of five (and it was very expensive as well). In the end, we ate normal meats: lamb, prawns, pork, salmon, beef and chicken whilst we were in Norway and didn't manage to get anything exotic this time which is a shame, as I normally fare better in this department when I'm in Northern Europe. 

4. What time of the year to go

There are two key considerations: the length of the day along with the temperature. Thus in winter, the days are very short (extremely so in the North) and it can get quite cold (especially in the far North). Whilst in the summer, the days are very long (with some areas in the North experiencing 24 hours daylight hours at the peak of summer) and it is somewhat warmer for those of you afraid of the cold weather.  The longer days have far more of an impact on us because even if say the night is four or five hours long, we would tend to be asleep during that time so it would feel like we are experiencing 24 hours daylight even if that's clearly not the case. But in the winter when the days are five hours long, it does feel like the nights are especially long when it gets dark early in the afternoon and it kinda takes you by surprise as you'll be thinking, "but wait, I've just had lunch, why is the sun already setting?" The further North you are, the more extreme this becomes - when I was in Stavanager, the sun rose at about 9 am and set at 4:30 pm in the afternoon, which wasn't too bad for late January. But Southern Norway where the major cities of Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger are located has a relatively mild climate comparable to Northern Scotland. Hence you are far more likely to find great bargains in the winter months and the most popular tourist attractions are usually deserted - take Pulpit Rock for example, in the summer months, about 3,000 tourists climb it everyday, even more when the weather is good. It can get extreme congested and your path will be blocked by tourists taking selfies. Whereas when I climbed it in January, there were only a handful of climbers there and when we got to the top, we had the whole place to ourselves: that was just me, my husband and our guide having a picnic at the top of Pulpit Rock, it was quite foggy then but it was a surreal experience.

5. Great service but at what cost? 

You can speak English with anyone in Norway from the bus driver to the cashier at the supermarket. 90% of Norway's population speaks English and you have to compare that number to the US where it is just 95.5% and the UK which is at 98.3%. In Canada, that figure falls down to 83% and so Norway is way up there with countries like Sweden (89%), Denmark (86%), Netherlands (91%) and Iceland (98%)  where the vast majority of the population speak English fluently. I tried to speak to the bus driver in Norwegian and he just replied in perfect English - you'll probably need to find the elderly in very rural communities who didn't get a modern education to find anyone who doesn't speak English to a very high standard in Norway. The Norwegian education system is fantastic and very well funded by a government with deep pockets, but it does create a different problem: my hiking guide at Pulpit Rock has a masters degree and speaks five languages. I did think, "you're over qualified for this job, I don't need someone as qualified as you to lead me up the mountain. I just need someone who speaks English and knows the route well, yet you have a masters degree and I can't help but feel like I am paying for so much for this service because you've invested this much in your education, most of which is irrelevant to climbing the mountain." So if you got a guide to climb a mountain in a place like Nepal, that guide would know the route very well, have a basic grasp of English but just wouldn't have a degree and thus would be a lot cheaper. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time interacting with my guide and had some fascinating conversations with him whilst climbing that mountain - but in Norway, there is only the premium, luxury option. You don't get a cheaper, more basic or "economical" option when it comes to this kind of services as most Norwegians are so incredibly well educated. 

6. Taking a closer look at the 'socialist' Norway model

Perhaps a good reason to visit Norway is to see for yourself just how the Norway model works - after all, Norway is one of the richest countries in the world. It is extremely safe, the education system is not only excellent but funded by the government that means Norwegians don't have to pay huge tuition fees to get their degrees (unlike say in the UK or US). The environment is pristine, public transport works well and it is one of the safest countries in the world. On top of that, it has one of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds and the Norwegians generally have good faith in their government (in sharp contrast to the UK where we simply don't trust our government). The health service is robust and Norway has one of the world's shortest working hours as they are so ridiculously rich. The downsides of living in this perfect model is that prices and taxes are very high - however the income tax rates in Denmark and Sweden are even higher as Norway still has plenty of oil wealth to soften the blow, so the government can dip into some of that oil wealth for public spending without relying entirely on taxes. If these issues fascinate you, then it is definitely worth visiting Norway to see how a different social model works and see for yourself what life in Norway is like. In London, there are so many poor people, even homeless people in the streets but in Norway, the government is rich enough to provide for the poorest of the poor in society so they are never reduced to begging in the streets. Rather than just shaking our heads at the problems that our inept governments can't solve, a trip to Norway would leave you thinking, "well if they can solve all of these problems in Norway and get it right, what is wrong with us? Why are we so incompetent and stupid compared to the Norwegians?" 

7. Is the oil wealth well spent though - are things really that perfect? 

Of course the cynic would say, all this is only possible because of Norway's incredible oil wealth and the government there isn't doing enough to use that wealth to improve the life of the people there. For example, they could subsidize public transport to encourage people out of their cars and take the bus instead. A short ride from Stavanger City center to the airport (a journey which takes about 25 minutes) costs 180 NOK ( US$18, £14.64 or 23.70 SGD). The equivalent bus ride in London would have cost just £1.65 (US$2, 2.67 SGD or 20.30 NOK). If you want to give your bus drivers generous salaries, well then that's your choice but why are the bus tickets so freaking expensive then? It just doesn't make sense that the bus tickets were that expensive - if you have already invested so much in your public transport system by paying your bus drivers so generously, it would make sense to price the tickets in a way to maximize the number of passengers on the bus. After all, that 17:25 bus from Stavanger city bus terminal to the airport is going to make that journey whether you have just two passengers or if that bus was completely full. Thus Norwegians aren't really getting such a great deal if the government simply isn't subsidizing enough. Thus let's compare this to Dubai where there is also a lot of oil wealth, but the people don't even pay any income taxes; costs are kept low in Dubai by tapping into this endless supply of cheap migrant workers from poorer countries but that's not done in Norway. A bus driver in Dubai is probably a migrant worker from India or Pakistan being paid peanuts (hence the reasonably priced bus tickets there) but in Norway, your typical bus driver is a white local with a degree and paid a really high salary, hence the ridiculously expensive tickets. So at this point, even I think there are definitely rather big flaws in this Norwegian model of socialism. 

8. More diverse than you might think

So if the bus drivers are white local Norwegians, you might get the impression that Norway is mostly white, right? But actually, Norway is extremely diverse with white Norwegians accounting for only about 75% of the population and migrants for the other quarter but that can include white migrants from other parts of Europe like Poland and Estonia who do not look any different from the white locals. But even just walking around Stavanger, you will plenty of black and Asian people. There are two main reasons why Norway is so diverse: firstly, there are plenty of jobs in the oil and gas industry that cannot be filled with the local workforce and thus plenty of migrant workers come to Norway to do those jobs (and they bring their families with them). Secondly, Norway has always been welcoming to refugees and asylum seekers so some refugees turn to Norway, knowing that this is a very hospitable country to refugees fleeing persecution whilst other Southern European countries, like Italy and Greece simply do not have the means to accommodate any more refugees. 

9. One little bit of Norway vs the grand tour of Norway

Norway is absolutlely massive, the longest internal flight you can take in Norway is from Oslo to Longyearbyen and that takes about 3 hours - that's like flying from London to St Petersburg. That has mostly got to do with the shape of Norway, which is not as extreme as Chile but it is a very long country that runs along the northern coast of Scandinavia. To drive from Kistiansand in the south to Kirkenes in the north would be a journey of 2,150 km and it would take you 27 hours to drive that distance (but what an epic road trip that would be). Hence when you plan your trip to Norway, you have to decide if you're just going to see one city, one region or spend a good few weeks traveling the length and breadth of the whole country. Unless you have some specific interest in Norway, I would recommend either simply seeing one city like Oslo or if you do have two weeks, then spread it out by traveling to other European cities - Oslo is a great transport hub with plenty of budget airlines connecting you to far cheaper cities in Europe like Gdansk, Riga, Lisbon and Budapest given how expensive Norway can be, so Norway can be just one stop in your grand tour of several European countries. 

10. How to avoid spending 10 NOK every time you need the toilet

One of my pet hates are countries where you have to pay to use a public toilet - I think public toilets should be free and it is a good investment by the government. It is a vital service to the population and it will prevent public urination that will leave alleyways smelling so bad. Cities like Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong and even London are pretty good when it comes to free public toilet but Europe is terrible when it comes to the provision of free public toilet. In places like France or Italy, you usually have to pay about 50 euro cents to use a public toilet but in Norway, the standard fee is 10 NOK (about US$1) which is expensive even compared to other European countries! Even if you go to a relatively nice mall with expensive boutiques, you still have to pay to use a toilet in Norway. This is ridiculous as the government of Norway is so freaking rich, why do they feel the need to cover the costs of providing public toilets when it really should be seen as a public good like street lighting? Anyway, if you don't want to pay 10 NOK to use a public toilet, there are two ways around it. The first thing to do is to find a nice hotel and you will often find a public toilet in the lobby - hotel lobbies are usually very public places where people come and go so nobody is going to check if you're actually a guest at the hotel. Thankfully those toilets are always free. Secondly, you can always find a public building like a library or a local tax office, just walk right on in and use the toilets there - these will be free as well. As to why a toilet is free in the local library but not the train station in Norway, I don't know but be assured that if you can hold on, you're never too far from a free toilet!

Okay guys, that's it from me on this topic, please do let me know your thoughts about Norway. Many thanks for reading.