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| Simon Raven on the Eagle Highway (Norway) Photo © Chris Raven. |
There are few roads in the world more dramatic than the Eagle Highway; a breathtakingly and beautiful pass that crosses towering snow capped peaks, frozen lakes and where eagles soar high above the valleys and fjords of Norway.
By Simon Raven
Photography Chris Raven
I first heard about the Eagle Highway from a Norwegian guy on holiday with his wife in their RV motorhome. They had just returned from visiting their daughter in Barcelona, and he told me as a long distance truck driver the decision to go on a one-month road trip to Spain was insane. “Fishing, not driving. I should have gone fishing instead," he laughed. We were in a service station south of Oslo. My brother and I had the hood up and we were checking the engine’s bits and bobs. Magnus offered us his mechanical knowledge. While he checked the oil I asked him about Norway and places to visit. He took the time to recommend areas and encouraged us to drive the Eagle Highway, or Ørnevegen as it is called in Norwegian. He described it as a magical road with deep snowdrifts and frozen lakes. I could tell the road was special to Magnus by the excitement in his eyes.
So it was set. We were going to drive the Eagle Highway.
It wasn't long before we were weaving around crystal clear fjords on route to the rainy Hanseatic port of Bergen. It seemed hard to imagine the winterscape that Magus had described. It was summertime here in Norway, fresh and wet with the occasional burst of sunshine penetrating through the gaps in the clouds.
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| Winding road around a frozen lake (Norway) Photo © Chris Raven |
Starting our journey at the highest point of this scenic stretch of highway, 600 metres above sea level, it was within minutes of driving that we began to see snow at the roadside. Climbing higher, we snaked around sharp bends and passed a large black towering mountain of rock covered in white snow. Looping around to the right the land fell sharply away, as we began to traverse the edge of a large ice blue frozen lake.
Dropping rapidly in altitude the snow began to quickly disappear, revealing a rocky landscape of fast flowing rivers and waterfalls that cut through the steep green valley. Stopping off at Ørnesvingen (Eagle Bend), a viewpoint that offers a dramatic panoramic view over the Seven Sisters Falls, we gazed down at the road that snaked wildly below. There are eleven hairpin bends in short succession on a one in ten incline on this stretch of the road, drawing teams of motor bikers, cyclists and road trippers from across Europe each summer.
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| Viewpoint at Ørnesvingen (Eagle Bend) Photo © Chris Raven |
As grey storm clouds cast shadows overhead, we raced back to the car and made our way down the mountain in a heavy downpour; pausing only to rest our burning brakes and to appreciate the breathtaking views of the stunning Geirangerfjord below. Arriving at the banks of the sweet water lake, we set up camp for the night and cooked fresh fjord muscles on an open fire. Watching the setting sun flood the sky in warm orange light, I closed my eyes and imagined
the solitary eagle we had seen on the pass soaring through the sky in a snowy
paradise high above Norway
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| Cruise Ship on Geirangerfjord (Norway) Photo © Simon Raven |
Books by The Raven Brothers
by The Raven Brothers
Out of shape and unprepared, The Raven Brothers return to the road in a collection of ten quests to travel to their dream destinations against all odds! After two decades pioneering new routes across the globe, you would expect the authors of 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' to be hotshot explorers, with a sixth sense and an ability to survive in almost any situation. Think again! With virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the internal combustion engine and very limited skills of wilderness survival, Simon and Chris struggle into their hiking boots and power across three continents by river, tarmac and trail.
Venture to the top of Norway, cruise the road to Damascus, hike the Camino trail into Spain’s Wild West, row the Ganges, explore Frida Kahlo’s world in Mexico City, hangout with the dead in Sicily’s eerie catacombs, crawl deep inside Bolivia’s notorious silver mine, seek lions in Gujarat, wellness in Berlin and journey into the Naga Hills where tribal kings still rule.
Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”, 'Hike, Drive, Stayin’ Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing “buttock clenching” travel comedy with the first in a series of candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.
by The Raven Brothers
On Amazon >
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving; to wave goodbye to routine and commitment, to drive into the unknown hungry for adventure? Well, that is precisely what overland travel writers, Chris Raven and Simon Raven, decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. Not being petrol heads and having zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, the brothers fired up their rusty Ford Sierra Sapphire and headed east.
After clocking up over 11,000 miles, quite literally living in the car, the pioneering duo miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in Siberia on the Sea of Japan. What they had in fact done was to drive the entire length of the new Amur Highway before it was finished, which crosses Russia and the notorious Zilov Gap in a 6,200 mile swath of cracked tarmac and potholes. Along the way our trusty heroes drink vodka with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet the eccentric and plain weird at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and have a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving this insane journey by the skin of their teeth the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in this toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure.
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving; to wave goodbye to routine and commitment, to drive into the unknown hungry for adventure? Well, that is precisely what overland travel writers, Chris Raven and Simon Raven, decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. Not being petrol heads and having zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, the brothers fired up their rusty Ford Sierra Sapphire and headed east.
After clocking up over 11,000 miles, quite literally living in the car, the pioneering duo miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in Siberia on the Sea of Japan. What they had in fact done was to drive the entire length of the new Amur Highway before it was finished, which crosses Russia and the notorious Zilov Gap in a 6,200 mile swath of cracked tarmac and potholes. Along the way our trusty heroes drink vodka with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet the eccentric and plain weird at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and have a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving this insane journey by the skin of their teeth the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in this toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure.
by The Raven Brothers
Overland travel writers, Chris Raven and Simon Raven, embark on a new comedy adventure that leads them to the wild and colourful continent of South America. From bull's testicles in Buenos Aires to bums and boobs on the beaches of Brazil, the Raven brothers put their dream plans into action and traverse the Trans-oceanic highway from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast of South America.
Pioneering a new frontier over the Andes and through the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the bizarre and the beautiful cross their dusty path as they seek inspiration for a new book and go in search of the ultimate carnival. Not always getting it right, Simon and Chris tango through the Argentinean vineyards, cycle to the Moon in Chile, lose themselves in the mysterious world of the Inca Empire, swim with caiman in the Madre de Dios, experience panic in the Pantanal, The Rolling Stones in Rio and conclude their journey in Olinda at the carnival of the soul.
Living the Linger
by The Raven Brothers
On Amazon >
The sudden break-up with Emily Willow finds Simon Raven, ex-amateur rock god and bored internet producer, on a Boeing 747 bound for Seattle. Led by his twin brother, Chris, who is more than happy to exchange a career in fashion photography for the open road, they embark on a buttock-clenching journey of paranoia and self-doubt, as they traverse Interstate 15 across backcountry America.
The sudden break-up with Emily Willow finds Simon Raven, ex-amateur rock god and bored internet producer, on a Boeing 747 bound for Seattle. Led by his twin brother, Chris, who is more than happy to exchange a career in fashion photography for the open road, they embark on a buttock-clenching journey of paranoia and self-doubt, as they traverse Interstate 15 across backcountry America.
Along the way the hapless duo bumble through bear infested wilderness, meet the eccentric and plain weird on the American freeway, escape a bullwhip wielding maniac in Missoula and survive the evils of Las Vegas. Testing their friendship to the limit as they battle to reach their nirvana, which exists in the form of the bikini beaches of California, the brothers find inspiration on a journey that exposes the stark truth about work and relationships and which asks the question - what do you really want to do with your life?
The legends of Jason and the Argonauts, Noah’s Ark and a tribe of fierce female warriors known as the Amazons all originate from the Black Sea. Gripped by curiosity, Simon and Chris fire up their twenty year old Volvo that looks, as rustic and weather-beaten as a Cold War tank and embark on a quest to drive full circle around this ancient body of water at the birthplace of civilisation.
In the shadow of rising tension in Ukraine, the brothers get up close and personal with the fascinating people who inhabit the six nations that surround these colourful shores. Living on the road like the nomadic horse bowmen who once ruled the steppe grasslands, they explore Crimea, the Caucasus region of southern Russia’s “Wild West”, the Georgian kingdom of Colchis, Turkey’s Pontic coast, the megacity of Istanbul and complete their journey in Romania at the outfall of the mighty River Danube.