colesjoholm
- Jun 23, 2023
- 4 min read

Geiranger, the apex of this voyage (pun intended)

Updated: Sep 1, 2023

Overwhelmingly beautiful. In a town that has a giant campground in the center of town, right on the bay, in a Norwegian Fjord Box Canyon, surrounded by waterfalls...by my count at current location, 8 of them, the scenery is beyond description and simply stunning.

I've was overtaken by emotions several times yesterday, and I promise I am in a great headspace. Happy tears flowed and 24 hours later still in disbelief that such beauty exists.

The water in the bay is emerald green. The flora is greener. The roar of the nearest waterfall, lapping of the waves against the shore and seagulls honking overhead are the only sounds that fill the air. Peaceful. Stunning.

Surely, if Walt Disney had ever had the opportunity to visit, Disney Parks would look different. The Fjords are enchanting and magical, in an other worldly sort of way.

It reminds me a lot of Ouray, Colorado, but on a Fjord, with a population of whopping 250. As one writer describes it, "Geiranger is the most famous fjord in Norway. After all, it is UNESCO World Heritage-listed for being the most 'fjord-like' of the fjords. It's absolutely spectacular."

According to Norwaytravelguide.no, "like the rest of Norway's fjords, the Geirangerfjord we see today was created during several ice ages. The enormous power of the glaciers carved out this huge canyon between mountains 1600 meters high, and the fjord depth reaches 250 meters. This makes Geirangerfjorden as deep as the Grand Canyon."

The noontime consisted of a walk up waterfall walk, where I decided it was 100% required to step into the spray. I got quite wet...well soaked, an no regrets.

A quick bite to eat at Froysa Restaurantdrift consisting of a latte, almond cake and a smoked trout sandwich. Note: smoked trout tastes the same in Norway as it does in the States. Not all things are different 🤷🏻‍♂️

Now that I got that writing out of my system and emotions are in-check, it's time to go ride a RIB Boat. I have my GoPro in tow and left the Sony on the ship. It was a very difficult decision and I may go back and grab it after the excursion but with being around the fjord in a high speed, motor boat or you're guaranteed to get wet didn't sound like the appropriate outing for my travel sidekick.

The RIP Boat was also better than I could have ever hoped. Legend has it he (the Suitor) wanted to date the Seven Sisters. After he got rejected (feel that for you sir...) he turned to the bottle, and this the bottle shape on the middle of the falls directly across from the Seven Sisters.

Our Norwegian RIP Boat Captain, stunning in his own right, spoke of the area history, pointed out many of the abandoned farms and made the tour much more informative than I ever expected. Sure, there were the expected high speed corners that you would expect on a RIP excursion, but the historical talks were a bonus. After a drive further down the fjord, back towards the distant sea, we turned and approached the Suitor Falls, roaring down in our face. The tip of the boat seemingly touched the jagged rock face of the falls and water poured in our faces. Norwegian waterfall soaked for the 2nd time today. Memorable.

The farms were all largely abandoned in the 1960s, likely because at the end of WWII and the discovery of oil in Norway, life had gone from being pretty poor to being better off economically. Farming cliff-side in a fjord couldn't be for the faint of heart, so changing gears is understandable.

Farm children would go to one of 2 schools depending on the weather, and because of the distance, they would often go for 2 weeks at a time and then home for 2 weeks to work on the farm. If the weather was bad in one direction, they would go Helleyst, and if it was bad in Helleyst, go to Geiranger. Rowing to school and the towns beimg separated by 20 kilometers, they better not make the wrong decision of their direction.

Excursion over, I was walking on the pier, back towards the ship, I ran into Nick, fellow traveler onboard with his husband and in-laws. He invited me to go in his electric Renault rental car to go up to Skyview Point, high above the treelike to take some photos.

We had met a few nights earlier at one of the LGBTQ mixers held at 6p daily in the Eden restaurant, aft ship (back of the ship for you non cruisers). That's where most of my onboard connections have been made this voyage. Leave it to a bunch of gays and allies to socialize over a cocktail...

Back to the ride up the mountain: twists, turns, waterfalls, wildflowers abound, more waterfalls, green alpine meadows, more waterfalls, high alpine lakes, rocks, snow and lots of it remaining at the peaks. I think you get the picture.

Walking back onboard around 6:30p, I went to the spa and found a heated stone lounger, positioned directly in the center of the ship with the panoramic windows, and we sailed away from Geiranger. Protected from the now onslaught of rain that had evaded us all day, the added cost of the spa pass was definitely worth it for the unobstructed view. Another spin of the cruise ship around the Seven Sisters and Suitor Falls and down the fjord we went.

In bed by 10:30p after an 18 hours day of Norwegian Fjord bliss.

I'll have to work on GoPro videos, Sony pics, but for today you'll get a few iPhone camera shots.

Enjoy.

Cole from Colorado

Happy, content, fulfilled in this trek around the globe.