As the ship left Ålesund we were concerned about the weather. How much of Geirangerfjord (guy rang 'er fyord) would we see?
Incidentally, almost all the following pics will reward looking at the hi-resolution version. (At the risk of insulting your internet skillz, don't forget you can control-click [mac:command-click] to open a pic in another tab, so you don't have to use the back button all the time.) Shown below are only about half of the shots we kept. Go to our Smugmug gallery to see the ones we left out.
Soon the scenery became like the fjords we'd visited out of Flåm two days ago.
Massive cliffs, teeny lighthouse, hydro-power plant on opposite shore.
Bit of sun, and another ship for scale.
There are scattered, very isolated farmsteads.
They actually had a neighbor—half a mile along and across a waterfall.
After rounding a couple more bends, as the fjord deepened and anticipation grew, it became quite crowded on the promenade deck. Step away from your spot at the rail and you never get it back.
First view of waterfall "The Suitor".
"The Suitor" on the right, "The Seven Sisters" on the left.
A little further along, there were many audible "Oh!s" and "Wow!s" as the next bend revealed this beautiful, sail-assisted cruise ship coming out.
Also, note the road to the left of the ship, zig-zagging up the steep side of the fjord.
Just around the bend is the end of the fjord and the town of Geiranger with hotels, campgrounds, cruise ships.
Cruise ship is the Costa Aida, which we saw in Flåm two days ago.
Here, we and others transferred to coaches for a road excursion from Geiranger to Molde,
Which began with a climb up out of the fjord on the "Eagle's Road".
View over the bus driver's shoulder.
Looking back down at Geiranger through the coach window.
At the edge of the cliff we had a stop to look down...
...at the Polarlys sailing away without us (Hurtigruten has a schedule to keep!).
Not to worry, we meet again in Molde.
Our fleet of coaches headed across alpine scenery.
More hairpins, an omen of things to come.
We crossed Eidsdalfjord on a little ferry.
We stopped at Gudsbrandsjuvet (Gudbrands Gorge) where they had built a very original viewing walkway over the dramatic narrowing of the Valldøla River).
The road was lined with kiosks, farmers selling boxes of local jordbaer (yoord-burr, strawberries). We bought a box and ate the whole thing in about ten minutes. They were exceptionally good — 20-some hours of sunlight does wonders for ripening fruit.
The road up through the mountains continued to be scenic.
But as we approached the summit, we wondered if we would see anything but clouds.
We found ourselves in the most scenic place we've ever been, rivaling anything in the Rockies or New Zealand.
We were looking down at the river and Trollstigen (troll shtiggen, troll's ladder or path, depending on your source), a dramatic eleven-hairpin 10% grade road plunging down the other side of the summit.
and beyond, to a deep valley in full sunshine.
Off to the right a second viewing platform is cantilevered off the cliff.
From there you get the wider view. The following is an ultra-hi-res image made from two shots.
Click on this and scroll around for details.
On the descent of Trollstigen, we looked up at the river plunging down into the valley.
And at clouds playing around a peak above the summit.
The coaches rolled on, using one more ferry, a bridge, and a tunnel to get to Molde (mole-duh) where we had supper in a hotel while waiting for our boat to arrive. It had been a rather long day and we were ready to board when it arrrived.
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