True Pilgrim ┃ Norway - Devil's Tongue

Why was he born into this world?

When my parents were in my elementary school, they almost got divorced, and when I grew up, my relationship was frustrated. I had to ask myself this question countless times.

It was not until I began to understand how big the world is, and that many people have not been able to get answers in their lifetimes, that I gradually kept a proper distance from this endless distress, so as not to be swallowed up by it. Paradoxically, it was precisely because of distress that I chose to leave. During the long journey, I was fortunate enough to meet my guide - Attila.

After leaving the North Cape of Norway, I went to the Lofoten Islands, which is known as the most beautiful island in the world. However, compared with the world-class beauty, it is those precious encounters that are difficult to inventory. Three weeks after the North Cape, I hitchhiked more than 2,000 kilometers to Bergen, Norway's second largest city, and prepared to take a detour to Norway's famous scenic spot, Trolltunga. The Giant's Tongue is the most challenging of the three strange rocks in Norway. If you want to challenge, then pick the most difficult one.

However, it is too difficult to carry all the luggage to climb the mountain, and it takes a whole day to go back and forth to the Giant's Tongue, so I found the owner of the sofa in Odda, the nearest town to the Giant's Tongue. After departure, in order to minimize the waiting time for a ride, I hailed a car as I walked before reaching the pickup location, and I actually stopped a car.

Not long after a little brother took me out of the city, a British father with two children took over to bring me closer to the destination, and then after being picked up by an African who was an interpreter for a while, I was stuck in the distance from Odda. 50 km north. After waiting for an hour, I finally got a car, but it only went 10 kilometers. At this time, the car also carried another hitchhiker.

The man with the long beard in front of him was Attila.

Attila also planned to go to the Tongue of Giants. We couldn't find a car, so we went to the convenience store to chat, and the more we talked, the more we found that this person was unusual. But even if I really want to chat with him more, I can't ignore the agreement with the Odda sofa owner at this moment.

So we continued to hire a car, and after waiting for more than an hour, we only traveled a short 10 kilometers. Since Attila and I had no internet connection, I couldn’t help but feel anxious thinking that the sofa owner might be waiting for my message.

After continuing to recruit for an hour, I finally met the owner of the car who was going to Odda. The owner kindly took Attila to the direction of the Giant's Tongue first, and then took me into Odda. It was 11 o'clock in the evening.

After arriving at Odda, I quickly found Wifi in the city and contacted Kenan, the Turkish sofa owner, before arriving at his house smoothly, enjoying the bread and pizza prepared by him, sharing everything about Taiwan, and finally falling asleep at 3:00 midnight.

The next morning, I only slept for 4 hours. After having breakfast with Kenan, I slowly went out to the town to get a ride. After half an hour, I got the first ride to the bottom of the mountain. , After walking for about half an hour, there was finally a car willing to stop. Finally I saw Attila from the car window before hitting the trailhead.

From the entrance at the foot of the mountain, we walked slowly along the 4-kilometer hairpin detour. When asked where Attila was sleeping in the rough yesterday, he shared the beauty of nature with ease. Rough sleeping has long been a common occurrence for Attila.

Before being a traveler, Attile was more of a walker. When I hitchhiked to meet him the night before, he was carrying only a regular-sized backpack and a small carry-on bag. At first I thought he was a casual short-term traveler in Europe, and I have met such casual people during my travels.

Not so.

Attila had no electronics, no money, or even a tent sleeping bag. Everything on him is the bag with a total capacity of less than 30 liters. In the carry-on bag is his passport and Bible, and in the backpack is toilet utensils, minimal daily necessities, a little clothing and food.

He has been traveling in Europe for a year and a half.

It's not that Attila insists on refusing to use money or electronics, it's just that as he keeps walking, he gradually feels that those are no longer needed, and Attila listens to his inner voice.

Four years ago, he lived in a very prosperous environment, with his own apartment, job, savings, and nothing that could be called a burden.

But he wasn't happy at all.

Attila even lived in an abyss of extreme pain, until one day, he escaped from a strong depression and felt the presence of God. After that, he began to cry with joy every day, feeling that he was loved. Such a strong feeling lasted on him for half a year.

He started selling everything around him, carrying a 75-liter backpack the size of me, and started his journey, which at first was not with people, but spent a lot of time with himself. More precisely, with his God, who will speak to him and tell him where to go.

One day, Attila traveled to Israel, and after a pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem, he felt it no longer mattered who he was, so he decided to bury his passport.

A few days later, when he was questioned by the police that he did not have a passport, he was immediately invited to the police station for tea. But he didn't do anything bad, and the police finally let him go, let him go to the Hungarian embassy to apply for a temporary passport, and returned to Hungary safely.

In between, he went home for a while, but came out a year and a half ago to continue his journey. Now, there are only five countries in Europe that he has not visited yet.

"The outside world doesn't matter, it matters what's going on inside you," Attila said.

We chatted from all over the world, and I felt that I had known this person for a long time.

"The country doesn't matter, it's the people that matter," Attila said. The encounter came so suddenly, at that moment, I couldn't chew every word of his, and the light reflected in his eyes.

I was really curious about the various appearances of this man's inner world, so I bluntly asked if he had no sexual desire at all? Then he talked about an affair half a year ago - being picked up by an Italian girl and brought home, and it was a logical relationship. But after that, he felt that his desire for sex gradually surpassed the existence of God, and he felt that it made him nauseous, and it was not what he wanted. So, when another girl came to invite him home one day with kindness, he refused.

"Women are great. But no woman is better." Attila, in plain English, finished the conclusion as if it were the truth.

When he talked eloquently about this, which seemed to me to be so true that it was difficult to tell others about it easily, I could feel that he really didn't take these things to heart. He said he knew he had desires, but it was only his body, not his spirit.

Attila has no sense of saving money, because he doesn't feel that he needs money. Occasionally, he encounters people who insist on giving him money. After he accepts it gratefully, he will use it on the means of transportation or necessary things that he should use. He didn't have a mobile phone, but he was able to make 6 calls to his mother in a year and a half because of a kind-hearted person borrowing him to use the phone. Because he didn't have any valuables on his body, even if he was sleeping outside, he wouldn't worry about anyone stealing it.

If there is no desire, it is rigid, and the word speaks of Attila.

After arriving at the Giant's Tongue, I asked Attila to take a photo for me. I sat on the edge of the cliff and found that the cliff is actually tilted upwards, and even if I sit on it, it is unlikely to lose my balance and fall. But when sitting on the edge of the cliff, the pressure is still unbelievable. When I think of the cliff under my feet that is 1.1 kilometers deep, my body becomes extremely stiff. When facing death, I realize that I am actually afraid of death.

On the return journey, I talked about the experience of free-riding with each other. I complained that the Norwegians are very cold and it is not easy to get a ride. Attila said no. If you are in Albania, the person who picks you up will even charge you money. Norway is very good, and there is no such problem.

"Don't worry about people who don't want to stay, because we're waiting for the perfect person to show up, and he's always on time," Attila said.

Up and down the mountain, we walked all day, and it was raining all the time on the way back, and the words between us gradually diminished due to fatigue. Attila wanted to visit Odda next, so we decided to hitch a ride together. Before reaching the parking lot down the hill, I asked him one last question, as if to wrap up the day's interview.

"Do you think this is a wonderful world?"

"No" Attila smiled, as if I had asked a silly question.

Yeah, that's a silly question.

After going down the mountain, we first went under the eaves to shelter from the rain, waited for those who had not yet descended the mountain, and prepared to give them a thumbs up to call for a car.

"They don't feel like they're going to stop," I said pessimistically.

"Half and half, I think," Attila said. Did not expect this sentence to become a prophecy.

Having no choice, I gave my thumbs up to the only car leaving in the rain, and the car that was about to leave the parking lot suddenly stopped.

"Sorry, we only have one seat..." The family from Russia said in a somewhat regretful tone.

"You go first, I'll follow." Attila concluded quickly.

I thought that Kenan, the owner of the sofa, was waiting for me to come home, and that seemed to be the only way to go.

I hugged him gently and said to him, "Take care."

That was the last time I saw Attila.

The next day, I left Denan's house and searched the town for Attila's form, singing and waiting for the figure that might appear, until I decided to continue on the journey.

In a blink of an eye, the encounter two years ago seemed like a lifetime away, and where is he now?

The answer is no longer important, but I feel a great redemption just by actually realizing that there are still people like this in the world. In the misty life, as humble as me, I still want to be a real person.

It was this journey that allowed me to become a real person.