Day 9 Geiranger, Norway Part 1

I have too many photos (limit 10 per post) so there will be at least 2 parts, maybe 3 to this stop.
Geiranger was decidedly our favorite stop and excursion. This is our second day/stop in Norway. Geirganger is a small village at the end of a fjord. In winter it has about 100 people but booms with tourists during the summer. Due to the environmental damage from cruise ships they will be stopping the ships from coming into this fjord in 2026. Not sure how that will affect their economy but this is a World Heritage site and they want to keep that designation. There is an RV park at the shore which is completely filled with travelers.
To get here our ship traveled the west coast of Norway from Bergen to Alesund then into the Inner Channel to Geirangerfjord. It was ~3am when we traveled the Inner Channel so I didn't see it. We will go back to Alesund for tomorrow's stop.
Today Alicia and I are hiking up the mountain to a hidden waterfall called Storseterfossen. The bus takes us a little way up then we begin to walk. I've read this is Westerasfjellet Mountain and that will will be some 800 feet above the village. Not sure but I think the trek is about 4-5 miles round trip. We begin the climb on stone steps laid down to be stairs. It's steep but we're handling it. Though at one point we begin to sweat. Glad I brought a cloth to wipe with. Then it begins to rain, gently but we got wet! Alicia pulls out her rain poncho to wear. The rain stops before we reach the waterfalls. It's misty here with low clouds. Actually, we've had low clouds all morning and couldn't see the mountaintops. I say all of this to explain why we look like drowned rats in our photo.
The multiple waterfalls are powerful and raging. I don't think I captured its grandeur. There is also a rock overhang so we can walk down behind the waterfall and I take more photos.
Upon our return to the trailhead there is a restaurant where they serve us waffles with honey and jam. Yum!
The bus then takes us back to town past the Norwegian Fjord Center. This looks interesting but we stayed on the bus not realizing we had an option to get off until too late. Alicia wants to accomplish some shopping so we browse the shops, have hot chocolate and yummy pieces of chocolate at a chocolate making shop, then find the grocery store called Joker (probably a "y" sound to that J). Alicia is headed back to the ship but I really want to back to the Fjord center. A tour guide says it's about a 20 minute walk and I can see it is all uphill following hairpin turns. It was worth the climb!Baca lagi