The fjords are wonderful, to begin with. It’s almost as if they are carved through the mountains by the finger of God rather than glaciers. We are here in spring, so the waterfalls are plentiful and a bright white color befitting their origin in the snow banks not very far above. Add to that increasing daylight hours as we move north, we were up at 5 AM watching the scenery go by as our ship slowly moved towards its destination, Geiranger.
NCL gave us a long day here as we don’t have far to go tomorrow. Our excursion did not start until after lunch time, giving us the chance to leave the ship and just walk around a little. Geiranger is a small village of about 250 year-round residents that become 2000 or so in the summer. Our ship’s 3100 passengers increased the head count a bit. Clearly it’s a popular place with Norwegians as well as cruise lines; we saw three campgrounds full of RV’s. More than a little like Skagway, Alaska, the town consists mostly of a group of tourist shops and a few houses. Access to town is either by water ferry or by road over the mountains; the closest town with a hospital is 2.5 hours away…the doctor comes into town one day a week…schedule your broken bones carefully!
The day’s excursion was a bus ride up the windiest road you’ve ever seen…9-10% grades with switchbacks too numerous to count. The road takes you from sea level to the top of a snow-covered mountain at about 5,000 feet of elevation. You look straight down at the town, our ship, and the fjord; the other direction shows mountains as far as the eye can see. Greg was thankful he was not navigating this road in our motorhome, but more than a few brave drivers were doing just that.
Our guide shared several things a government possessing the balance sheet of an oil producing nation can do for their residents. The one we enjoyed the most: winters are very dark in the fjords and the population is prone to depression. Doctors are allowed to write a prescription, not for anti-depressants, but for a vacation near the Mediterranean for as much as two weeks on the government’s dime. Where was that solution when we were working?
We were told that the Norwegian government may ban cruise ship travel in Geiranger Fjord in order to protect that waterway. We are thankful we were able to visit. Tomorrow is a short cruise to Alesund, where will get to the city celebrating Norway’s Constitution Day, the anniversary of the country’s final independence from first Denmark, then Sweden. More then…
