Miraculously, the sun was shining for the third day in the row.  We were headed towards the most famous fjord in Norway, the Geiranger Fjord, and in a short while we were hair pinning it down to the fjord and town of Geiranger.

Geiranger

It was packed with grey haired tourists who had gotten off two huge cruise ships which were parked in the fjord and completing the postcard photos of the fjord.  The older generation tourists milled around town and meandered up the roads obstructing it like the cattle we had come across many times.  We did two reasonably short hikes around Geiranger for the views and then took the hour long ferry to Hellesylt.  We passed by waterfalls which were bountiful and small farms which were scares on the fjord’s sharp faces.  At least the sun was still shining so the views were remarkable.

Once we docked we drove to Briksdalsbreen from where hiked to the tongue of Europe’s biggest glacier.  The stream and lake below were exceptionally blue-green from the glacier that it appeared to be a water color painting instead of real.  Around the glacier lake, the landscape was desert-like, all brownish yellow with just the white ice lapping into it.  On the peaks which surrounded us, we could see bits of the glacier peeping down.

We had planned on going to Kaupanger for the night but since we were running late, we decided to camp somewhere on the way. We wanted to try our hand at wild camping again but the roads around the fjords were just too hilly and every road away from the main road led to a farm house.  So following small roads led us nowhere and we realized that finding a convenient, and legal wild camping site was not so easy.

Bøyum Camping in Fjærland

Giving up, we chose the nearest campsite on our GPS and went there.  Bøyum in Fjærland camping was very peaceful, adorable, and surrounded by high peaks with bits of glacier seeping out of them.  They had clean facilities and internet so the 18 EUR it cost to pitch a tent seemed worth it.  It was a very empty campsite, and we only came across two other guests, this was probably because it was already autumn and in hindsight we should have spent extra money and got a cabin since it was freezing at night and our tent failed to keep the heat inside and we were kept awake by our own shivering.

At least our way overpriced hotel had the most amazing breakfast spread that the price almost seemed fair, for a second at least since a buffet like this I imagine to cost 70 Euros a person in Norway.  The whole room was full of food on multiple counters and you could have anything from herring to 4 different types of eggs to fruit and pancakes.  It was by far the best meal we had in Norway, and Hendrik wanted to stay another day so he could try more things at the breakfast buffet, but our bank account couldn’t handle it.

After checkout, we drove down the Atlantic Road over many beautiful bridges crossing over the island landscape.  Bridges overtook tunnels with ease and got a massive head start so I began to worry for my tunnel team.

Bridges of the Atlantic Road

We were headed south towards Geiranger and started to drive through the fjord region.  The Troll Road or Trollstigen was part of this area and we twisted and turned up through the hairpin turns.

The Hairpin road

We had excellent weather all the way up the mountain allowing for exquisite views of the bends.  From a distance they looked rather horrifying but when we were on them they were less hair raising.  On the top, we stopped to go to the lookout area and as we walked towards the main one, which was actually closed because the walkway was being repaired but all the tourists just made the barricades into an obstacle course, it began to rain.

Troll Road

Even though our pictures than had rain droplets in them, it was still better than not seeing the winding road at all, because just as we were heading back to our car on the broken path, a thick cloud rolled into the valley and around the lookout area obstructing the view.  Even when we continued to drive the whole road was completely covered in a marshmallow white.  We considered ourselves very lucky as we crossed tourists going the other way just making their way to the lookout point when there was nothing to see but a dense film of white.

Further along and 2 ferries later it was getting dark so we were on a lookout for a place to stay.  We saw signs advertising cabins with a fjord view and skeptically followed it to a location where we saw three red cabins on the side of the mountain.  We were given the best cabin unit in Hothaug Gard, a place known only for its cabins, since as we were told ours’ was ensuite with a toilet AND a shower.  It wasn’t even a ¼ of what we paid last night, but also didn’t include any food, so since we were in the middle of nowhere we had Ramen and got cozy with a fire.  After the not delicious but on the other hand cheap meal, we went for a walk to check out this fjord view which was advertised.

We walked further up the road we had driven on and Hendrik saw a hill which he demanded on climbing.  It was getting dark but it was a marked trail so we set off.  The ground was like a sponge and wherever I stepped water came up through the soft ground into my shoe.  At one point it was a pool of mud instead of a path and Hendrik, like a gentleman, carried me across to dryer ground.  We couldn’t go much further because it was getting dark fast and the trail seemed to be going around the mountain rather than up which was the original intention of going up the trail.  Little did I know that Hendrik had other intentions in mind which made this walk especially memorable.  On the way down we had to cross the mud pool going downhill this time.  As if he was well trained in carrying me across less than ideal terrains, Hendrik swooped me up so my non-water proof shoes wouldn’t be ruined.  He could have used some more training because before I knew it I was lying flat on my back head pointing down with Hendrik on top of me, my bum and back seeping up the mud.  Not only had he dropped me in a pool of wet dirt, but he also used me as a shield for his own slipping and fully protected himself from landing face first in the mud.  It was only a bonus that I had put on fresh jeans that day since now they were caked in mud.  At least it made it a perfectly memorable walk.

We awaked with the sun peering through the window.  It was like a miracle since we hadn’t seen the sun once in the morning so far and today we were to go horseback riding and I was convinced we would be going in the rain.  At breakfast we packed ourselves a lunch, there were mainly lunch items anyway, so I guess it was the Norwegian way.  They provided bags and fresh baked bread.  Then we went down to the barn where I was expecting to see tacked horses.  No such thing they had to be gathered from the pasture, and we had to brush them and tack them ourselves.  The horses were run across the street to the muddy paddock next to the barn.

Horses crossing the street

At least the horses were fetched for us because I did not want to go into the paddock as I had no riding or protective equipment.  I got a brown horse with a white main called Imar and Hendrik got a beige horse with a white main named Ljøme.  They were so short I kept wanting to call them ponies.  We took them to the barn for breakfast and to groom them.  I helped Hendrik since he had never groomed a horse before and Ljøme was way muddier than Imar. We both needed help tacking the horse since Icelandic horses wear the saddle further back and not on top of their withers as I was used to.  They are also ridden with long stirrups with the knee barley bent so it felt weird to me and the taller people’s feet ended up below the horse’s stomach so it looked as if they could drag their feet through the ground.

Wading through the pond

Shortly after we had begun to ride we brought our horses into a tölt which is a gait somewhat like a trot but smoother and it is unique for Icelandic horses.  It was comfortable and smooth and apparently it doesn’t tire a horse out as much as a trot.  We even tried a canter which was pretty advanced since Hendrik had never sat on a horse before but he did very well but lost a stirrup but that is normal for beginners.  We waded our horses into a pond which Imar did not seem to like and at every opportunity tried to escape the water.  Near the end of the ride we climbed atop a small mountain overlooking the farm and the whole valley.  We were able to take some great pictures.  Then we had to go back and it was pretty steep coming up and for me going down something steep is harder on horseback then going up especially since Imar decided he knew a better route than following the trail at one point. I thought he know best since he was the one going down but that was not the case and at one point I was so vertical I thought I was going to fall off.  Afterward, I made sure he stayed on the path.  All in all it was a great and beautiful ride and sunny the whole time.

On top of the hill

After the ride, we ate our lunch which we had packed in the ranch and then set of for Kristiansund, from which the scenic and famous Atlantic Road began. Kristiansund is an island city and to get to it we had to cross over several expensive bridges only to come to a town that wasn’t worth our time.  We decided to spoil ourselves in a nice hotel, Rica.  We wanted to find something to eat and went on trip advisor and found a highly rated fish and chips place.  We decided that would be great since we were in a fishing town.  We arrived at the shop at 6:30 only to see that they close at 6:00.  Most everything else was closed as well.  We thought that was incredibly strange since in many places restaurants don’t even open until 6.  We were quite disappointed because our other options seemed less enticing and much more expensive.  We went into a wanna-be American family style pizzeria chain called Pepe’s Pizza. The service was less than subpar and after getting the menus ourselves and ordering at the bar we were forgotten about.  It wasn’t until the waitress’ friends had come and gone that she noticed us and realized she had forgotten about us for an hour.  She panicked a bit when she saw us and was apologetic but tried to blame the mistake on the server instead of her social life, but she did give us a free appetizer of our choice which was good since we could save some of the pizza for lunch and also gave us 20% off the total bill so all in all it only turned out to be semi-outrageously expensive with all the discounts. We went to use the sauna when we came back to the hotel but we could only use it for about 15 minutes since Pepe’s had drained all of our time and the sauna was turned off at 10.