Far from the over-crowded beaches of the Mediterranean, Norway offers a dramatically different holiday experience, with its towering mountains, deep fjords and multitude of cabins providing shelter for weary hikers.

"This is an intelligent and healthy way to spend your vacation. It also offers a guaranteed oneness with nature that will mark you for life," Anne Joergensen of the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) told AFP.

From huge complexes equipped with 200 beds to small, intimate huts, the association administers more than 400 cabins, allowing hikers to lose themselves in the wilds of Norway's breathtaking, untamed spaces, but still find a warm meal and a comfortable bed at the end of a day's trek.

Deep within the national Jotunheimen park, stands the Gjendebu cabin, which can only be reached on foot or by boat.

"It's fabulous! We go from mountaintops still partially covered by snow and where it's cold to valleys where it's hot. Only a half hour separates winter from summer here," said Peter Olaerts, an avid mountain hiker from Belgium, enthusiastically as he set down his large backpack.

Far from his flat homeland, Olaerts and three countrymen were on a three-weeking trip to hike and climb in Norway's imposing mountains, and were especially looking forward to the spectacular Besseggen crest, which sits between two shimmering lakes.

"Norway is expensive, but at least its nature is free," Olaerts' wife Elke Hendrix said.

Affordable accommodation
While finding a hotel room for less than 1000 kroner ($150) can be difficult in the Scandinavian country, the cabins sprinkled throughout its unbridled countryside can help ease the strain on visitors' wallets. Once the 445-kroner DNT membership fee is paid, a bed in one of the association's cabins costs less than 200 kroner a night.

And after a long day of hiking through rough terrain, visitors can satisfy their healthy appetites with warm, filling meals at a reasonable price.

On one night the Gjendebu chef had prepared nettle soup, lamb fillet with creamed potatoes and wild berries with cream for dessert, for just 190-kroner.

Healthy and affordable, the cabin-to-cabin hiking vacations appeal to people of all ages and social standings and even offer cultural experiences for those not satisfied with merely gazing at their stunning surroundings, including photography courses, yoga, salsa and organized singles get-togethers.

Long a popular holiday choice for sporty Norwegians, the concept is increasingly attracting foreigners, who now account for about 10 000 of DNT's 204 000 members.

Scandinavians, Germans, British and Dutch make up the largest group of foreigners that each year trek through Norway's dramatic landscapes, but Americans, South Africans, a handful of Japanese and even two New Zealanders have also joined their ranks.

Ingunn Selvaag (21), a sporty Norwegian, was attempting to make her way from the country's southernmost point at Lindesnes to its northern tip of Cape North, a 3000-kilometre hike set to take four months.

"I could have done it quicker, but I prefer walking through the mountains rather than along the national highways. So I'm making some detours," she said. Selvaag stops frequently at the DNT cabins to treat herself to a warm meal and a comfortable bed, and if she can choose she picks the less-crowded self-service cabins.

These unmanned cabins are emblematic of the Scandinavians' trusting — some might say naive — spirit. They are accessed with a skeleton key provided to all DNT members and equipped with large quantities of canned and dried foods that guests help themselves to and, despite a lack of any surveillance or control system, are expected to pay for.

"In France or in Belgium they would surely go bankrupt. Back home, it's a national sport to try to avoid paying for things," said another Belgian hiker Hilde Cuppens.

DNT however insists that it is extremely rare for guests to leave without paying their bill, pointing out that visitors are more likely to round up their check.

"People don't go to the mountains to steal food. That would be like robbing a disabled person. The system is based on goodwill and trust on both sides," Selvaag said.

Gazing at the dramatic mountains all around, Bart Caerts, the fourth hiker in the Belgian group, sighed admiringly. "I've lost my heart here," he said.

AFP