On 2^nd June, 2022 we set off from Trollstigen Resort at about 7.30 am, after having stripped the bed of the sheets cleaned the kitchen, swept and mopped the floors, as per the instructions given by the Resort.

If doing household chores early in the morning wasn’t enough of a drag, on top of the disappointment of not being able to drive the Trollstigen scenic route, which I had explained earlier was still closed, the weather forecast was of rain all day.

To start off with, we pretty much had similar weather to the day before (see Day 2 -Atlantic Road), it was raining and misty. We took route E136 till after Tresfjord Bridge, then turned left onto E39 and just short of Sjøholtonto, onto Route 650 , we continued on R650. At Stordal we stopped to visit the Rosekyrkja church, but it was closed, so we got to admire it only from the outside. We reached the Linge Ferry Pier on Route 63, to catch the ferry to Eidsdal, this is where Trollstigen scenic would have brought us, but from the east. We were the first in the queue for the next ferry, or as my partner jokingly said last for the previous ferry. While waiting for the ferry, we munched on those delicious Norwegian strawberries, we had bought the day before in Bud. We had a 10 minute wait and then were ushered on. The day had cleared up in the meanwhile, the sun was trying to make an appearance, the crossing took 10 minutes and at Eidsdal being the first one’s to exit we managed to drive into the parking lot of a supermarket than onto the road, so we stopped and bought provisions for the next couple of days, seeing that we had a self-catering accommodation.

From here the road wound uphill and we stopped to get a glimpse of the view towards where we had crossed the Norddalsfjorden by ferry, it was stunning, Norddalsfjorden is branch off of Storfjorden, just as Geirangerfjord is. We then drove along lake Eidsvatnet and for the first time during this trip came within touching distance of snow. We got our first, and spectacular glimpse of Geirangerfjord from the Korsmyra rest area, which has a huge parking lot, toilets and picnic tables with fantastic views. We had a photo session and chatted with some other travellers. From Korsmyra there are several walking trails and since the day had cleared up, we decided to go for a walk, but we could not go far as the path was covered with snow and we were not wearing the right shoes.

Next stop was the famous viewpoint of Ørnesvingen, an elevated platform overlooking Geiranger fiord from where you can see the Seven Sisters waterfall to the right and Geiranger town to the left. There was a cruise ship docked at Geiranger fiord so we were treated to the iconic view that is synonymous to Norway and on the cover of every travel brochure.

The water was deep blue, the hills were lush green and the Seven Sisters were like strands of Lorelei’s hair. From here the road wound downhill and the view was spellbinding.

Geiranger town itself was like a bit of a contradiction, with not very attractive buildings interspersed with picturesque waterfalls and teeming with people, I presume the cruise ship crowd, one had to drive at snail’s pace, as there were no footpaths and the road had been taken over by them.

We reached Hole Hytter up on the hill by about 1 pm, our accommodation for the next two days was a cabin with a fantastic view over the waterfalls, Geiranger town and the fiord. The sun was still out so we took advantage of our picnic table and had lunch al fresco surrounded by the beautiful hills and looking down on the fiord.

Just as we finished lunch, it started to rain so we sat on our covered balcony, my partner was exhausted and went for a nap, while I went off for a walk in the rain, the cruise ship crowds had dissipated and I had the path all to myself and could stop and admire the Hole waterfall and then the run off from what I think was the Grinddalsfossen waterfall. The wild flowers were lovely, there were sheep on the hills and lots of birds.

It was evening by the time I got back and we had a meal of grilled salmon and some stew and went to bed early on our bunk beds, to rest and prepare ourselves for the next day, without the least inkling of the dramatic sights that we were going to behold the next day. Day 4 – Snowballing on Route 63.