It’s difficult to follow a near perfect day, but somehow the tour from Geiranger to Flydalsjuvet, Dalsnibba and Ornesvingen managed an excellent show. The lucky weather held and we had a “one in three” day for Dalsnibba, meaning that a high cloud ceiling left the view clear from mountain top down to the sea.
Getting to Dalsnibba was all the fun. The mountains are an incredible, brilliant green below the tree line. The greenery is broken by narrow, long waterfalls, known here simply as rivers. Lacking any semblance of flat land, the water splashes down, quickly. The scenery is spectacular as the tree line gives way and the basalt underpinnings of Norway take over. At 1500 feet, the lake well below, and the glacier at eye level tell you clearly that nature is bigger than you.
The mountain slopes make for an interesting road, one that consists entirely of hairpin turns. Bus drivers and locals understand yielding on the turns as buses require both lanes on the tight turns. Tourists driving muck up the system. More than a few of the passengers on our bus were ingesting Dramamine. The twisty road and vertical drop offs were unkind to people suffering vertigo and keeping their eyes determinedly fixed on the seat back in front of them. No amount of “Wow! Look down there!” could entice them.
Once at the Summit everyone took in the view, some from the rocks at the very edge of nothingness and others safely behind the rails. The small shop exuded the enticing aromas of coffee and cinnamon. Perfect for the gray chill. Eventually though, what goes up, must come down, including tourists. As we passed down the mountain from the private toll road to a public one, our guide waved to the affectionately nicknamed, Toll Troll. Down was as mesmerizing as up, same scenery or no.
Once down, we passed through town again only to ascend once more to Ornesvingen. From there we could see the entire fjord as well as the seven sisters waterfall. One was an unusual twin waterfall with one flow slightly in front of the other. The Seven Sisters, were not seven waterfalls but rather a legend of seven actual sisters and how their fates intertwined with the waterfalls.
At each place it was a blessing to walk away from the herd of tourists and simply be.
For the start of the Norwegian journey:
https://www.clarenovak.com/location/alesund-norway/
For more on the skywalk
