Monday, February 1, 2010

Andalsnes (Geringer Fjord)

Day 9: Andalsnes Sightseeing: Don't leave your camera behind as today we follow the 'Trolls Road' past the Stigfoss Falls and up the mountain for fabulous views of the glacial valley below. Why not join us on an optional fjord cruise, past some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world, it's an experience you'll never forget. (Breakfast and Dinner included)


Hotel: Trollstigen Camping & Gjestegard


Breakfast: 7:15 Bus departs: 8:00


I got up at 6am and when I got to the shower I realized I didn't have my towel, so I had to walk back to my cabin for my towel, which was REALLY annoying. and was of course one of the place with the longest walk to the showers. We had to pay for showers again, 15 Nkr for 5 minutes and since I had mastered the 5 minute shower I did what I had to do in plenty of time. Today we would have a substitute driver since it was Andy's day off, by the time we were out of the campsite we knew we were lucky to have Andy as a driver, because this other guy wasn't so hot. But today was one of the big excursions, one of the reasons you come to Norway - to see a Fjord.


We tool the Trollstigen (Troll's Path) which has a 1:12 gradient up the mountain, don't really know what that means, but you had to snake up the road with hairpin turns. It's an amazing road, pretty much one really wide lane up a mountain. On the way up we had great views of waterfalls and on top there was snow. When we got to the other side we took a ferry from Eidsdal to Linge, which also had amazing views. We arrived at the Geiranger Fjord at 10:45. We had some time to do some shopping for lunch and for Souvenirs before meeting at 11:15 for an 11:30 cruise. It's amazing how much you could get done in 30 minutes, I got lunch and souvenirs.

The fjord was beautiful, like being in a valley surrounded by mountains, with beautiful water. We saw the 7 sisters (7 waterfalls from one place) and some face in a rock (which I didn't see because I didn't hear them announce it). The Fjord was magnificent and an absolute highlight. the clear water, the mountains around it - all that nature has to offer in one place. Ok, maybe not all, but I couldn't have thought of another thing I needed either. This is the type of place that makes you wonder if there is anything more beautiful out there. The pictures only portray part of the beauty. The cruise was over at 1:15 and we had another half hour for shopping.

On our ride back some people took naps, but we had some photo stops, including one in the snow to keep us entertained. Of course there was a snowball fight and Nancy and Jilly made angels in the snow. When we stopped an Insight Tours bus also stopped, a couple people seemed excited to see a Contiki bus, ahhhh, the Contiki reputation followed us to Norway. On the way we met up with Hollywood, the photographer for our group picture, which we took in the rain.

We got back to camp at 4:15 and I wrote some postcards and had a hot chocolate while most people slept until dinner time. Although I got to bed fairly early, 10:30, we were up talking for a while, apparently there was no water at the campsite, I prayed it would be fixed by morning.