Norway. Rich and extremely beautiful.

all right simple question what can one expect from a week in norway a lot of things like this and this i mean even this including a million other sites my first seven days though were spent in this hotel room all because right after i arrived to the country i was quarantined let me explain as is tradition no trip can start without me walking in front of the camera so let's not deviate upon arrival i was packed into a police guarded bus filled mostly with pakistanis and taken to the radisson blue hotel where i had to spend the next seven days being locked in a single room my room 19 square meters in size was generally packed with everything one may need for a comfortable isolation including a tv a kettle bathroom accessories random artwork and most importantly food which the staff left at my door five times a day the room was roughly 200 a night but i only had to pay 50 because the rest is covered by the local government and that's all you need to know about norway think of it like a little budget getaway paid for by the kingdom not as much fun as i could during these seven days i read books watched videos on youtube even did some training as well as decayed mentally it was a strange week because you're in a different country but you can't see it because you can't leave the hotel seven days in a pcr test later i was left free to finally start exploring oslo a city i've never been to before oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] my friends what can i tell you about oslo well it's a quintessential scandinavian capital with all of the expected features you've got a house with aspire a large green park a monument to some famous guy who we most likely have never heard of before and some cool scandinavian architecture then there are strange sculptures boats comfortable public transportation and really cool districts that we will soon investigate in detail anyways let's go explore the city i came to norway for the beautiful scenery but i've got to make mention of the economy and social life too so yeah here comes another piece on a rich and prosperous country perhaps you already know that norway is one of the most progressive and wealthiest countries in europe and the world and oslo is representative of this [Music] the human development indicator is the primary index for comparing countries and norway has been in the top spot for at least 12 years it's also in the top 10 when it comes to gdp per capita i gotta say that it must be one of the most expensive countries i've ever been to whether it's for tourism or simply doing everyday life all right since we're on the subject let's discuss the prices there's going to be a lot of this because norway is the most expensive country i have ever visited even hawaii is less expensive that's saying something okay this is only my personal experience but i gotta share with you let's begin with the taxis a taxi from the airport to the city center ranges from 100 to 200 which is more than a plane ticket to norway you won't find a hotel with breakfast included that's less than 150 unless you want to dish out a hundred dollars for something like this the least amount you're going to spend at a restaurant will be around 30 however real estate prices are the most interesting part of it all an apartment in oslo costs roughly the same amount as the external debt of the entire country of bangladesh see this house over here a friend of mine is selling her 30 square meter renovated flat in this block for 480 thousand dollars and it's an old block flats and the prestigious chief holmen will set you back by a million dollars you know just in case you're in the market yeah i understand that these price points aren't entirely representative because people earn good money here and norway has a very well developed economy but it hasn't always been this way now let's go back in time to the days when norway was not as wealthy and not as prosperous which is actually half of its existence norway used to be a part of denmark then sweden and its population was all about agriculture and fishing in some places oslo serves as a reminder of the past meet the royal palace yeah it's the one behind the monument looking like a library building in some post-soviet country this is not only a palace but also an active residence of harold v the king of norway a little modest for a royal palace isn't it things changed a lot in scandinavia in the middle of the last century but norway was still lagging behind its neighbors denmark and sweden back in the 1950s many norwegians migrated to the us looking for jobs which is difficult to believe today but it was a very real occurrence at the time it all changed in the 1960s thanks to a dark oily substance it was 1969 when a large offshore oil field was discovered near the small town of stavanier then another one popped up and more and even more you get my drift today norway is one of the largest producers of oil and gas in europe but its uniqueness lies in what they did with the money that they managed to earn of course they could have lowered the cost for the population just like many other oil rich countries do but norway shows a slightly different path these guys decided that pouring all of the oil money into the country wasn't the best idea because of the possibility of inflation and also because everyone would just become too complacent in the wake of the country's newfound wealth this is why they kept the taxes and the standard prices on gas norway has got to be the only oil producing country in the world that still has high gas prices i mean gas is more expensive here than in sweden a country that imports it from norway you want cheap gas go to venezuela in norway you're not going to find it instead norwegians heavily invested in infrastructure the remaining money was put into a fund it's called the national oil fund and to this day it is still the largest national welfare fund in the world it is worth over 1 trillion us dollars or 1 trillion 300 billion to be precise it serves as a safety net for the country and the fund owns stocks in apple amazon microsoft google nestle and 9200 other companies in other words roughly one and a half percent of all stocks in the entire world belong to this fund right now since the money is invested it naturally generates even more money so the safety net is slowly but constantly growing at this point it's so big that if they were to split it amongst their population every citizen would get 220 thousand dollars yeah each and every person not bad for a pension don't you think the fund does have rules though they don't invest in weapons manufacturers or the tobacco industry although the fund was formed on money generated from oil in 2021 they sold all of their holdings that were tied to oil and gas companies as the industry took a 10 billion hit this year [Music] crazy the norwegian people were some of the first to take seriously the idea that oil is a finite resource and that some type of action needed to be taken regarding its consumption so they decided to switch to electric cars and man oh man they really knocked it out of the park with this one so i get it that electric cars are not a brand new technology anymore but here in norway it feels like you're in the future or something because electric cars are all over the place that's an electric car there's another one another one one more that's one yep that's one two and there's one over there as well back in 2020 norway became the first country in the world where electric cars overtook the ic engine car sales all because electric cars are not taxed and carry a few other additional perks it's why you bought the electric car environmental reasons actually most of the people i asked about electric cars told me they bought their car for environmental reasons not economic factors there's another secret to the success of electric cars here in order to charge electric cars you need to produce energy which typically you get by burning carbon fuel as you may know this is not super eco-friendly but norway is unique in this capacity too because 98 of the electricity comes from renewable resources norway has extensive hydropower resources and most of its electricity comes from hydropower plants by 2030 the kingdom plans to cover 100 percent of its energy needs from renewables becoming even less dependent on oil this makes norway the only country that not only managed to save but also grow its funds unlike other oil and gas rich countries surprisingly being the wealthy country that it is for the most part norway doesn't act like one norwegian athletes have won the most medals in the history of the winter olympic games and it's one of the most sacred subjects in the country norway has hosted the winter olympics twice already and oslo was a contender for hosting the 2022 games until they pulled out at the last moment all because the ruling party decided that massive expenses tied to the olympics did not reflect the interest of the country's citizens and wouldn't be supported by them therefore they decided to pull out of the running even though they definitely had the money to host the event thrift is the word when it comes to the norwegian way of managing the crazy oil income [Music] guys sorry for the interruption i just want to tell you two quick facts first i have a spanish channel as well you can subscribe if you want and the second one this is actually not my voice my voice is being dubbed this is how my voice sounds like as you can hear i don't speak fluently english or spanish yet but every day i'm one step closer to this and babel the sponsor of this video helps me a lot babel has a very simple interface in many different ways to learn lessons podcasts videos and live classes babel teaches real world practical conversations for your personal tasks for me personally it's travel and filming just choose the language you want to learn or remind yourself pick your level and deja que choose your own goal and in just three weeks you will see the results click the link in the description and get 65 off your subscription last but not least i managed to catch oslo in the sun and got to see the locals flock to the parks taking full advantage of the short norwegian summer [Music] another interesting and modern trend of the capital are the floating saunas and since i'm a huge fan of sonic culture i couldn't resist hopping on the bandwagon guys you have no idea how amazing it is to be engulfed by the sauna heat while looking out over the city and then having a chance to go for a quick dip the water is really cold and salty because it is a fjord it's an inflow of the northern sea the best part about it is that this tradition only began around 10 years ago when a local man decided to build a floating sauna then the idea picked up steam and everyone else did it today there are dozens of floating saunas all over oslo i actually know a guy who comes here every day five days a week just to get energized before work what can i say i love saunas it's an awesome tradition and you should definitely try it next time you're an oslo this is all i wanted to show you in oslo there's no point in spending more than two days in the capital given how beautiful the rest of the country is also keep in mind that the country is pretty stretched out take this for example if we were to superimpose it on top of europe it would actually cover the distance between portugal and the black sea well ladies and gentlemen let's go [Applause] [Music] there's no need to travel far to see the beauty of norway only one hour away from the capitol and you are surrounded by breathtaking views let me fill you in on some car related facts about norway while we are making our way out of the city first the driver's license it's not cheap i have paid over 3 000 euro for the license it's just for the learning part and it doesn't include theory exam then you need to check your eyesight get a med report so all in all it's around 3 300 euro learning to drive is akin to a special forces training course here all due to a large number of mountain passes you'll have to pass ice and night driving as well as a reaction test against wild animals there's a special road for that where plastic cows or moosh jump in your way you also need to pass the first aid training because they can take your driver's license away or even put you in jail if you pass a car accident and don't stop to help it's happened here before luckily for me i can drive freely with my ukrainian driver's license but the fines for breaking the speed limit are ridiculous in norway especially in the city here's an example i was doing 90 kilometers per hour in the 70s zone got stopped by police i did 20 kilometer per hour over the speed limit and they issued me a very hefty fine how much was it it was 1 000 euro i could either pay it or go to jail for a day it was written in the paper that they gave me i could just spend a day in jail and not pay exactly by the way jail option doesn't mean you'll go to jail that day because believe it or not there's actually a cue for spending a day in jail so if you opt for jail time you might have to wait four months before they call you to spend a day in jail since we're on the subject let's dive a little deeper into local jails one story in particular that became headline news after the imprisonment of anders breivik there was outcry from the general public after it was revealed that he was being detained in a three-room space he definitely can't call it a cell right it's more like a room anyways apparently he complained a lot about the inhumane detention conditions he asked for his ps2 to be exchanged for a ps3 and it didn't happen can you believe it poor guy i decided to go even deeper and actually see one of the jails in person this is hauled in jail at my back we're roughly 100 kilometers from oslo and this is the second largest jail in norway apart from being regarded as the best jail in the world and winning a plethora of architectural design awards the detention conditions are very interesting here and that's what i want to get into a bit so unfortunately i can't get in and film anything but i do know someone who used to work as a security guard here for a year and a half so i want to see what he has to say i was uh super scared prior to my first day on the job thinking that i would have to deal with rough detainees in reality though they were all super friendly nice and we even ate pizza together with the inmates yeah sure can you tell me more about the conditions they live in everyone gets his or hers own room some people call it a cell but we prefer to call it a room each room has a shower a loo a small fridge for groceries and a tv the rooms are single here and just look at those windows there are actually no bars on the windows this is the main thing that differs this place from an actual gel why oh because it's it's not the modern way inmates also get access to a gym and even a music room and yes these pictures are from the jail i've heard that the inmates can work and even buy things inside of the jail sure yeah this happens in most local jails and it's the detainees who work in these shops too and the inmates get roughly 8 euro per day as a salary what can you buy with the money just about anything you can buy groceries just like in any other corner shop see all jails in norway follow the principles of normal which means that detainees should have the same rights and possibilities as people in the outside world hence they should have the chance to go to a store buy things and pay for them with their own cash this is the way it works this is done to help them avoid stress once they come out of jail and so that they know that everything must be paid for there's a house in hauled in jail designed in a beautiful scandinavian style at first i thought that it was a hotel but it turns out it's for the inmates the house is located a couple of hundred meters from the jail inmates live here for a few months before they get released during this time they socialize go to work and prepare to become completely free citizens i've noticed that all the jail employees come here like it's a standard job everyone looks happy everybody smiles what do you think that is well i can tell you before this job i was working as an airport security officer and i must say that it was more stressful than this job there is simply no need to yell at detainees if you're in a good relationship with them instead if they see you help they will surely help you back maxim told me that the staff and inmates eat together always shake hands and even celebrate each other's birthdays together it's the principle of normal the common belief in norway is that a former inmate can always become your next door neighbor and it's the jail's job not to punish but to re-educate people this is a very effective solution given that only one in five inmates end up back in jail after their release [Music] there's something else i've noticed here during my first few days in norway as you may remember norway is full of rivers lakes and most locals own boats as it's pretty easy to navigate that's why most small islands here are occupied in fact if you see a patch of land in the middle of a lake it's pretty much a guarantee that it will be flying a norwegian flag and have a barbecue grill with people around it [Music] since the boats require storage let me introduce you to another incredibly popular building this is an alien it's a covered multi-level boat storage where the ground floor is usually designated for repairs the top floors are the living quarters ailings are incredibly diverse in color some have even become instagram famous i found this cute little bunch right beneath the mountain in a town called cendalcera [Music] you may have noticed that red is a popular color for ailings and local houses here and one of the stories about the red buildings is that norwegians used to be so poor that they couldn't afford to build brick houses but they really wanted to so they painted them red to make it look like brick from afar the paint itself was the cheapest they could get it was made out of fish in particular ohre norway is famous for its fish and it's the leading country in the world when it comes to salmon cultivation which happens in sea farms like this one and as you might expect there are many amazing seafood restaurants here and i've been wanting to visit one of them for a very long time and finally i got a chance to do it this is under the first underwater restaurant in europe designed by the famous norwegian snojeta bureau of architecture it's a 35 meter long monolith partially submerged five meters into the water the idea behind the design was for the restaurant to integrate with the marine life over time since its rugged cement outer surface can serve as an artificial sea reef it is one of the local architectural marvels and it was nearly impossible to get in given that all of the tables are pre-booked months in advance still here we are and i am ecstatic to show it to you [Music] imagine having dinner with this kind of you i seriously have no idea how people can eat here because i can't take my eyes off the water just looking at this water is so peaceful [Music] pure zen the restaurant has been the recipient of several architectural awards and a michelin star just 10 months after its launch under is nearly 500 square meters and seats 40 patrons this makes it the largest underwater restaurant in the world perhaps the most beautiful too unfortunately the kitchen wasn't open yet but i did have a chance to speak to the chef who took part in every stage of the project development the restaurant specialty is its high quality local seafood and as you can probably imagine dinners aren't cheap here between 450 euro to 5000 euro despite the steep price tag according to nikolai this place is pre-booked for the next three months and the next available weekend for dining is in six months and yes all of this success is happening despite the lockdown that began soon after the restaurant was launched we are still fully built and have been for the entire covet period where we have been open what we stressed a lot about when kobe hits us when we get kissed because before 50 of our guests came from abroad from all over the world but again you know goosebumps just talking about it but norwegian people really supported this restaurant and we filled up like this you know we were fully we have been fully booked now throughout the entire kovit period with only a weekend guest under is managed by an international team of 16 chefs and bakdon from the ukraine is one of them anyways i highly recommend trying to book a table in this unbelievable restaurant if you're in norway and rest assured your dining experience is bound to be an unforgettable gastronomic experience [Applause] i almost forgot to mention that the local roads aren't exactly a race track they're very narrow just a tad wider than the ones in bali so the 50 kilometer an hour speed limit makes a lot of sense especially when you consider mountain roads and passes the bonus though is that these roads take you right next to the best sites in the country and that's where we are heading friends prepare for the fjords the road takes me to an observation point known as yard stole situated 640 meters above sea level and the views are unbelievable [Music] lisa fjord is the first landmark on my list at 42 kilometers in length it is not the largest fjord according to locals and you can get down to it via 27 sharp u-turns on the lisa vayne pass at the bottom the road ends and the only option is to continue by ferry well then let's discuss fjords until the ferry a arrives which is a norwegian word is a narrow inlet with rocky beaches on both sides housing more than one thousand of them norway is the land of fjords and if you check the map you can see how the country is literally cut into pieces by them and it's also why norway has the largest beachfront in the world fjords were formed during the ice age and this entire space was filled with ice that was melting and sliding down cutting through the rocks afterwards the space created by the ice filled with sea water and that is how you end up with a fjord [Music] ferry is the best way to do fjord exploration so let's pay 90 euro for a ticket get onto the main deck absolute next level scenery [Music] fjords are one of the best things that mother nature has ever created you have it all here mountains forests the sea all packed into a tiny and compact space i guarantee that it will blow your mind the first time you see it especially when you see it in norway where the natural world blends with the man-made architecture and villages of legendary beauty we aren't done with the lisa fjord yet as there is one more site we need to see you haven't been to norway if you haven't tracked the local mountains [Applause] norway is brimming with scenic hikes that fit all tastes in ages this trail here for example was set by nepalese sherpas who were specifically hired for the job by the norwegian government this hike introduces you to some great sites but it's not an easy one as we climb towards a peak above lisa fjord two hours later i finally get to the top but there is a problem it's the gale winds the wind is blowing so much that i can hardly stand on my feet needless to say it made any sort of movement extremely difficult and there was no way i could get close to the edge a few brave souls managed to stand up but the rest of us crawled around on the ground you know for safety reasons no chance to launch a drone either then about 15 minutes later the wind died down a bit and i decided to unpack the bee honestly i could have probably kept it powered down because the wind was doing a fine job spinning the blades but despite the heavy side winds we managed to get it airborne krika stole or pulpit rock is a gigantic square cliff 25 meters by 25 meters that rises 600 meters above lisa fjord the views well they are awe-inspiring making this spot one of the main postcard attractions of norway and one that helps you begin to understand how enormous the norwegian fjords are i managed to land too which i was thrilled about honestly this was the most difficult flight of my life and i even said goodbye to this guy a few times but alas the bee stood strong i love this thing strangely enough there's no protective fencing here and people risk their lives standing on the edge when the wind really picks up i was surprised to find out there was not a single case of someone falling down based on information that i managed to find on the internet yes there were a few suicides but no one fell down by accident and no one was blown down by the wind pricay stole is fenceless for a reason local authorities believe that the destination would lose its charm so if you're not scared of heights and want to capture a picture with these amazing views i definitely recommend coming over i view these hikes like little adventures and special events but the same can't be said for the locals for them these hikes are treated more like a trip to the gym seriously it's like a walk in the park for them in fact hiking is a cult here there seem to be as many height gear shops as there are cafes and it's what everyone does no matter the age even with kids i met these guys on the way to praia castolla we're hiking every other morning one and a half hour before breakfast really yes and the other every other day i'm biking 40 50 60 70 kilometer and how old are you 75 come on yeah that's right it's amazing but you look gorgeous yeah i feel fun can you believe this gentleman he does not look his age and he's not the only person like this norwegians might be the most athletic people i've ever seen and they casually go for runs regardless of the weather there's even a saying here that bad weather doesn't exist wrong clothes do some even take their babies for a run amazing these guys love their winter sports and to keep fit during the summer they hop on their roller skis and of course their bikes anyways the norwegians really motivate you to start being more active but for now let's load ourselves on to the next ferry [Music] by the way this time i didn't even have to buy a ticket because they scan your license plate and send you the bill at the end of the month via email we now introduce you to another tourist attraction called the scenic routes it's scenic routes obviously and there are 18 of them so let's go check out at least one the routes are labeled and the signs usually indicate that there's something beautiful around the corner scenic routes are a great way to explore the country by car and spanning over 2 000 kilometers these roads take you to the most scenic parts of northern and central norway making for a very pleasant drive think of it like a puzzle where piece by piece you get to witness gorgeous canyons glaciers mountain rivers with incredibly clear water and of course the fjords [Music] believe me there is no way i could show you this country in its entirety in just one episode even two or three because norway is so full of beauty that it's hard to even know where to begin i don't even notice waterfalls anymore because they're so common seriously i'm at a loss for words something similar to me happened when i was in switzerland here i also saw small cute villages by the lakes and houses in the background of norwegian landscapes that look as if they are little toys designed to capture the attention of tourists like myself i couldn't help but stop all the time which didn't bode well for my schedule [Music] one thing i learned at burning man that kind of applies here too is that you need to multiply the satnav eta by like two because you stopped here you stopped there you stopped to take pictures you stopped just to enjoy the views it's a never-ending process [Music] this is norway man [Music] and like switzerland norway also has trains for sightseeing that take you along some beautiful routes i jumped in for a ride and although it wasn't as scenic as the swiss one the fact that these trains even exist here is a bonus in and of itself sorry if i sound like a broken record but i can't stop raving about the beauty of these sites now let's get back to the less scenic stuff like the infrastructure norway's landscape makes infrastructure development tricky and yes it's because of the fjords building bridges is also an intricate endeavor all thanks to how deep the fjords are some go 500 meters deep and this is why most bridges are suspended and the supports of the bridges are not in the water but on land there are about 15 bridges here that reach one kilometer or more in length which is mind-blowing the roads in the mountains are another difficult and expensive thing to build plus they get covered in snow in the winter they need to be cleaned this is why norwegians took a different path remember how i told you that switzerland is like the country of tunnels well it's because i hadn't been to norway prior to it this here is the real kingdom of tunnels there are around 1240 tunnels which is impressive for a country with a population of only 5 million they're everywhere you go i tried to start counting them and around 30 in i gave up as there are just too many of them norway is home to the longest tunnel in the world the lardall's tulnan 24 kilometers long and it was developed with a team of psychologists who introduced rest areas in multi-color lighting in an attempt to increase driver attention at the wheel there are even roundabouts here which is something you usually don't see in a tunnel as we gradually progressed further into the country we reached one more fjord and this is airlon's fjord a benefit to these scenic routes is that you get to discover really cool architectural structures and you get to see cool natural sights as well and the former is designed to highlight the latter [Music] this 30 meter steel structure serves as a viewpoint and elevates 650 meters above the fjord and design wise it kind of looks like it's always been here still it's all about the views [Music] being here got me thinking that some people have a chance to witness all of this magnificence on a daily basis they see it all the time can you imagine it still blows my mind and i gotta say the norwegian people are extremely lucky to have all of this in their backyard being surrounded by all these sites wherever they look they've also learned how to highlight the beauty of nature with architecture which is what i'd like to talk about next since it's a topic that really astonished me in the same way the nature did you start to realize pretty quick that norwegians know a thing or two about design the minute you land in oslo just take the barcode project district for instance that was built where the old marine docks used to be its design is a master class in feng shui [Music] nevertheless it's the oslo opera house that is considered to be the most renowned building in the capital it was designed by snojeta the same company that created under the restaurant we saw earlier the building's most unique feature is that its roof is open to the public and although the walk-up is quite steep it has some beautiful views well-designed buildings are not limited to just oslo and churches are a great example of it for instance here's a church that i found in narvik heavenly design don't you think [Music] i would have never guessed that this is a church if it wasn't for the cross i mean this looks like an expo center and there are plenty of them too or how about a museum wrapped around a ship as you may have noticed sustainable is the buzzword these days and it means being environmentally friendly and consuming natural resources with care and norway is sustainable to the max in fact norwegians are busy building a bunch of environmentally sustainable structures called powerhouses all over the country for example powerhouse telemark in the town of porshkram this building has a negative co2 emissions rating which means that it produces more energy than it can consume throughout its lifespan this includes the construction of it and even the demolition solar panels cover both the roof and the facade of the building producing 256 000 kilowatts of energy per year this is more than the building needs so it supplies the power it doesn't consume back into the network the roof has long windows that provide light to the top three floors and the materials the building is made of accumulate heat during the day and then release it slowly at night heating is also made possible by geothermal wells hidden 350 meters below the ground simply put this is future tech that is already put to full use in norway i hope we can all get a piece of it soon and now let me introduce you to one of my personal favorites set up in a national park with a very complicated name this is the snojeta viewpoint and yes it is also made by the same architectural bureau after a one and a half kilometer hike you find yourself in a large steel pavilion with a huge panoramic window that opens up the whole valley to you this place is not just a viewpoint but also a rest stop for tourists protecting you from the winds and warming you up with a cozy fireplace it feels like i'm at the movies because everyone is whispering so they don't bother you while you're enjoying the views and the views are not limited to the landscape you get to see wildlife too including northern deer and even arctic foxes there's very vulnerable species in this area so it's really nice if people don't like disturb them that much it's still a place where they can yeah look at them in short it's a place where people can interact with the wildlife without disturbing the peace and now let's shift gears to the second largest city in norway [Music] bart again is famous for an area known as whitigan where you'll find a dozen of incredibly ancient wooden houses all roughly 300 years old which makes it part of the unesco heritage there's also a well-known funicular railway which in six minutes takes you to the top of mount foyen with magnificent views of the city [Music] to be honest with you i didn't even come to bought again for the walks the city serves as a base for employees of the oil and gas industry and sometimes you can see massive rigs in the bargain airport hopefully we get to visit a real norwegian oil rig today i plan to do this with my friend vitian who works for trans ocean company and has lived in norway for the last 12 years it was nearly impossible to get a shooting permit since this is a highly secure area but we were incredibly lucky to catch the platform here we are really lucky because the oil rig is here in the bargain port for maintenance and this only happens once every five years before they let you in you need to pass a covet test change it to special clothing and sit through the safety instructions which included things like not allowing watches with a metal wristband my watch was fine though after that you were finally allowed to see this engineering marvel and guys i can't even describe how humongous this thing is meet the transocean enabler a last-gen oil rig weighing 45 000 tons made for drilling in extreme conditions in the barnett sea and it's made to house a team of 130 people first an elevator took us 12 levels up and we entered the behemoth that was undergoing its scheduled maintenance in order to get back to work soon all the work must be completed within just two weeks since each day that the platform isn't operational it cost the company 450 000 usd so the whole team was hard at work here are a few more details about this extraordinary engineering creation first off it's not just an oil platform it's actually registered as a ship that gets where it needs to on its own this beast is controlled by a special computer system that keeps it stable even in 50 knot winds in huge waves maybe you're kind of like yeah whatever but trust me when i say that this is a technical masterpiece in the world of oil rigs transocean enabler can drill both vertically and horizontally at depths up to 8 500 meters and i still have no idea how it's done crazy the control panel looks as if it was designed for dota 2 gamers and the chair it needs an introduction all its own this chairs has been used in the star wars movie really yes the job is not easy the schedule that these guys are on makes up for it the guys spend two weeks offshore men go home for four weeks which is a lot of spare time as you can imagine and hence most of them have side jobs that they do until the next shift on their platform comes do they do the side gigs for extra cash or just for a change of pace yeah for a change mostly because they do earn quite a lot working here so yes definitely not for extra cash now to the living quarters the way i see it this is pretty comparable to like a good three-star hotel right in the middle of the bar and sea each employee has his or her own cabin with all the necessities and it's quality food together with the catering staff the chef joined the rig after working for a hotel when you're living offshore it's it's this is a five-star hotel really is is amazing the rig has a movie theater game rooms a music studio a solarium and a gym which is the most interesting part apparently you get paid by the company to go to the gym due to exercise the company will give us 50 knocks per hour when we are down here and that money we will use for new movies playstation games there's also a hospital here with all the required surgical equipment and there's even a video conference setup which allows doctors on the rig to treat patients with the help of their colleagues off the platform and still the craziest thing is they store blood for every member of the team these guys store blood of the right type and recess factor for each member of the team all due to the fact that the platform is usually very far off the coast and as you can imagine anything can happen including blood loss for example and extraordinary feat isn't it that's not all though as you know norwegians are very conscious about the environment and that's why they are now building a factory that will take the co2 from the atmosphere and turn it into the liquid that will be pumped back into the reservoirs where they pump the oil from norway is planning on implementing this technology soon and so not only do these huge machines extract the natural resources but they will also be used to fight global warming i think that's super cool one of the definitive statements i can make about norwegians is that they truly love their country plan to leave it to their children in the most pristine condition they can and they don't just talk about it they actually do something about it which is something we can all learn from i think it's time to summarize a few things since i've already got a lot to share after being on the road for eight days just so you know i'm still only 500 kilometers away from oslo which is ridiculous back in the old days i drove across the entire country of new zealand in that same amount of time here though i'm moving around like a turtle and i think there's a couple of reasons for that first off it's the roads they're mostly mountain passes and i suppose you could drive fast on them but that might backfire on you and get very expensive because of the crazy finds the second reason is just how beautiful this country is i swear i stop like every 15 minutes to get out of the car and just soak in the beauty of it all and all the stops definitely add up and can put you behind schedule all right i need to pull myself together but guys so far norway is ridiculously awesome okay enough with that let's get going when traveling in norway it's helpful to get used to the fact that there will be a lot of time spent in line for a ferry you should also keep in mind that ferries and toll roads add up and are going to eat up your budget pretty quick i mean i spent a few hundred euros just on the toll roads probably around 500 euro to be exact but maybe even more i don't know as for our progress we're now at songane fjord the longest and deepest fjord in norway it's 200 kilometers long and 1300 meters in depth so if you're a diver you probably won't hit the seafloor even if you've been pounding cheeseburgers your whole life at this point i've seen so many stunning things i'm kind of at a loss for words which is why i just keep driving and i've resorted to oohs and eyes every time i see something amazing the cool thing about driving across norway is that it just keeps revealing its beauty with every turn and trust me this place is a feast for the eyes too much of it for one city we're traveling deeper into the center of the country a place filled with mountain passes and the one we are currently on reminds me a lot of the romanian transfagaras and wouldn't you know it another viewpoint [Music] of course they couldn't just build a viewpoint they had to take it to another level [Music] no doubt norwegians are the masters when it comes to viewpoint construction what can i say kudos to them a few hundred kilometers later we reached the stream commune home to a landmark you won't find on any travel websites which is a shame i'm talking about the glacier formed lake luvotna it's the melting glaciers that create such lakes with beautifully colored turquoise water the lake is surrounded by tons of glaciers and waterfalls and this guy is the most famous among the waterfalls it's called romney fields folsom i hope my pronunciation is right meet kamikaze's cousin who i'm now going to try to fly around that waterfall with [Music] according to sources the waterfall is six to eight hundred meters high which makes it one of the highest waterfalls in the world and it's definitely the highest waterfall i've ever flown alongside of with a drone [Music] uvatna made me fall even more in love with this place and it wasn't just because of the lake the area is teeming with other amazing sights which we'll get to see in just a bit first a quick interesting story here's something that surprised me apparently this lake had a tsunami which is not what you'd expect from a lake tsunamis usually occur in the ocean however vatna's tsunami wasn't caused by an earthquake but a landslide that took place in 1905 resulting in a 40 meter wave which is the equivalent of a 20-story building it took the lives of 60 people and completely destroyed a few villages and even though geologists said that this would never happen again it actually did 30 years later when an even bigger landslide with around a million cubic meters of earth created an even bigger 75 meter wave to put things into perspective this is what 75 meters looks like it's the size of a small skyscraper there haven't been any other tsunamis since but there's really no reason why it couldn't happen again like at any moment not that i want it to happen just saying these disasters didn't stop people from building houses next to the lake and the lake is still a very popular attraction for tourists it's hard to blame anyone for taking the risk when the upside is that you have views like this out your window [Music] there are a few hiking trails here too and one of them takes you to the picturesque village of rock citra [Music] just like we saw on the fairy art islands the houses in the village have grass on their roofs this actually used to be the most popular method to construct a roof in norway a few centuries ago because the grass roofs get so heavy that they compress the log walls blocking strong wind and it also blocks water and looks awesome so there's a lot of good reasons for it i quickly fell in love with this place and decided to stay for a night which was easy to do given how many campsites there are love it i then decided to go for a swim and this my friends turned out to be a very bad idea since glacier lakes yeah they're freezing check out what i found in the grocery store it's an eco-friendly grill made out of fully recyclable materials you put it together like legos and then you can use it as a legit grill to barbecue on [Music] morning next to the lake was simply amazing in the vatna i love you let's see what else we can find around here [Music] [Applause] [Music] a few miles from the campsite and i found myself at the tip of a glacier known as brickstall's brand the tip is more of a tongue shape a thin slab of ice that weaves down to the lake [Music] [Laughter] [Music] and this is a great example of how the ecosystem works here in the valley glaciers melts turning into waterfalls which in turn fill the lakes with crystal clear turquoise water and luvotna has hundreds of these waterfalls [Music] it's worth mentioning that the tongue of the glacier has shrunk by about half of its original size in just the past few years take this as a recommendation not an advertisement that if you plan on visiting norway check out the country's tourism website first it's seriously the best nation tourism website i've ever seen and it's got tons of helpful information photos hiking maps with the latest updates the website is called visit norway and has so much useful information and really pleasantly surprised me and it's what i've used a lot throughout this trip well done norway i hope you're not worn out from all of these insane sites because there are still a few more to come but first let's gawk at the last fjord on my route i know i know i've shown you a lot but this one is definitely worth seeing as it's known for being the most beautiful fjord in all of norway it's called garanier fjord and it's widely renowned for its waterfalls did you ever see that one video that went viral on social media well it was shot here more specifically on that mountain the only difference is that the video was shot in the spring when the waterfalls were really coming down now it's the beginning of august and it's not quite the same geranium fjord is an official unesco heritage site and they're trying to keep it in pristine condition for years to come so apparently a couple of years ago scientists measured the air pollution level in the fjord and it turns out that it had similar readings to what you'd see in the city in large part due to the cruise ships that were here in droves before covid so by 2026 only electric ships will be let into the fjord no more diesel burning ships that pollute the area anyways i definitely recommend visiting this place next time you're in norway another thing i haven't told you all about yet is the norwegian hotels actually they're kind of more like cabins set up in the most beautiful places this country has to offer just imagine renting a house surrounded by forests lakes and fjords and waking up with these kinds of views unfortunately i couldn't book any of these places because they're booked for months in advance not by the tourists but actually by the locals turns out little getaways are a tradition here and many folks go to these cottages called hita heta kind of has a summer home feel and i really enjoyed it so let's delve into the topic a little bit more back in the day most norwegians seem to favor living in the country opting for the most scenic spots they could find this changed in the era of industrialization as most people flock to the cities and that's how the tradition of getaways back to the countryside started there's a good chance you can find someone's getaway home even in the most remote backwoods classic hita is a small hut with no water or power supply or any other benefits of civilization additionally most don't even have road access which not so subtly suggests you might have to take a little hike to get to it another tradition is that hita should be no further than a three hour drive from your permanent home so that it's easily accessible during weekends scenic views are another must-have for every heater out there but then again that's not hard to find in norway the whole heat situation is literally blowing my mind there are so many of them all located by the lakes fjords and the design design god bless ikea it is simply stunning obviously i wanted to rent one of these but they are fully booked but still i did manage to find my own little gem so now my dear friends let me show you my own little pita [Music] this here is a tiny classic heater that is over 200 years old and according to the landlord nothing has changed apart from the front door from the outside it looks like a typical barn inside a gas stove is the only vestige of the modern world the rest including the heater and furniture are extremely rural and simple there are also a few old pictures of the family that owns the house and books that date back to the end of the 19th century the doorways are so low that you have to bend over to enter the room there's no cell coverage and the internet is non-existent as well need to wash the plates you can but first you'll have to fetch the water need to warm up fire up the stove and as the evening falls you let up some candles because electricity also isn't a thing here the outhouse is actually better than what you might expect and there's a portrait of the royal family inside which is another local tradition i spent a full day here i cooked food listened to the sheep and savored the city detox in this truly unique countryside [Music] hita serves as a great reminder that to really appreciate the modern amenities that each of us has sometimes we need to distance ourselves from them [Music] my day spent in hita helped clear my head and it got me thinking that maybe i need to get something similar close to where i live and i thank norway for giving me the idea it is an absolutely unmatched reset that we all need given the modern pace of life by this time i only had two things left to see the first was the famous troll stegen pass which means the trolls ladder the weather wasn't very cooperative when i was there i nearly lost my drone and i didn't really get to film much apart from this defaults and waterfall the second thing i have been dying to see is the atlantic ocean road that passes right through the norwegian sea connecting a series of islands with seven bridges this one here is the most famous bridge of them all called drunk giving you the feeling you're going to drive right into the clouds and of course i had to drive over [Music] wow what a beautiful beautiful place and i love driving on this road built back in the 1980s it started its life as a toll road and after 10 years of tolls it finally paid for itself and now the road is free to all [Music] friends i've got a confession to make this entire trip i've been doing a little secret investigation of a certain phenomenon and this phenomenon is the norwegian bathrooms [Music] and believe me this is next level stuff for my entire two weeks of traveling i've filmed practically every public toilet i saw and taken dozens of selfies inside i've been to quite a few and man do i have some things to show you since the big mac index already exists i propose a new index the toilet index because toilets can say quite a bit about a country norwegian bathrooms are as top-notch as the country itself regardless of the situation you find yourself in there will always be a free clean and most likely very cozy toilet nearby even your classic porta potties are never filthy and have the essentials including toilet paper and an antiseptic and since we're in one of the prime architectural countries in the world the design of these bathrooms are fittingly also extraordinary and immaculate complementing the already fantastically beautiful landscape these bathrooms are so well designed that sometimes it's hard to believe that you're not actually looking at an art piece but then again there's nothing that should stop bathrooms from being art right norwegians decided to take public toilet design to the next level and i'm not mad about it because as a tourist it's a pleasure for me to see bathrooms like this and the happiness factor kicks up another notch when you see something like this yeah it's also a free public toilet you run right into it while exploring one of the local scenic routes did you know that norway is home to the most beautiful bathroom in the world it's only 1058 kilometers away but hey you'll do anything when nature calls let's get going [Music] welcome to the big toilet drive to the most scenic bathroom in the world and to get there we need to get to northern norway [Music] it's a region that looks incredibly similar to canada by the way [Music] we're going to need to pass the arctic circle which will land us in the arctic of course that's right we're going to the arctic just to see a bathroom didn't see that coming 1 000 kilometers and two days later we made it [Music] it's magnificent [Music] [Music] oh man so i drove over a thousand kilometers to see a bathroom and it's closed all right then well i guess i'll do my business in the woods and then talk about this in a little bit i i still can't believe it my plan was actually to finish the episode here because norway really is that good that it makes you want to travel this far just to see their toilets so i mean that should tell you something it's a country that is packed at the brim with mind-blowing nature and the architecture that is mixed into the environment is it's like nowhere else and it's all constructed so masterfully and goes to such great lengths that you really can't take your eyes off of it and this bathroom here looking like a wave known as the most beautiful bathroom in the world serves as proof that with the right design anything can work with its surroundings unfortunately it's also the biggest fail in my filming career because when this bathroom is operational it looks like this this is a hundred times better but bathrooms can break even in norway man this is totally normal so let's move on yo so we're on a ferry now the wind is blowing strong so don't mind the shaky camera it's not me doing it it's the norwegian sea just so happens that norway has kind of always been the final check on my travel list i've really wanted to come here for a long time but every time i was about to go something would get in the way but now here i am totally in awe norway amazes you with its nature and architecture and what i showed you is just a small part of it all there's a lot more and at the same time it's government and populations attitude towards the country's future in terms of economics and ecology it's really eye-opening and i think it's something that we could all learn from on the practical side of things if you plan on visiting norway be prepared that you probably won't be able to see everything you want in one trip i don't see how it could be possible anyway it would be really hard the navigation in my car says that in a little less than two weeks i traveled over 4 000 kilometers which isn't that much but it took me 75 hours it was a lot and it was tiring that's why i suggest coming here two or even three times and now this country is one of my all-time favorites well this ferry is on its way to the lou futen islands i can actually see them already which means that i'm not quite done with norway and i'll see you soon [Music] i know i'm cheap but i'm sold to whatever you're selling i guess if truth be told a trip to not failing over my head even though i said i'm not looking for a lover one of these days you're gonna blow my cover [Music]

Channel: Anton somewhere

Views: 3,743,113

Keywords: anton, ptushkin, Norway, Oslo, fjord, glacier, tsunami on the fjord, Halden Prison, Norvegian jail, Norwegian architecture, Snohetta architecture bureau, Under restaurant, brown oil platform, hytte, visitnorway, norge, nature

Id: oYhuf4fHHzY

Length: 66min 52sec (4012 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 25 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/melbbear]

I wish I could a fjord to live there

[u/Joe_Redsky]

They're not rich simply because they were lucky enough to have oil resources. They're rich because they shrewdly manage their natural resources and collect hefty royalties instead of giving their resources away for peanuts to multi-national corporations the way most countries do. Looking at you Canada.

[u/CommunistCappie]

Can’t go wrong with a Ptushkin clip

[u/SarcasticAssClown]

Dream country indeed. If it wasn't so effing cold and rainy...

[u/NealR2000]

1. A mostly singular race/culture.
2. Oil.
3. Corruption is incredibly low in Government and the general population.

This is basically why Norway is such a great place for it's inhabitants.

[u/AlmanzoWilder]

Norway. Rich and extremely beautiful. - Lady Gaga

[u/leighanthony12345]

Crazy expensive as well