We decided to take this Norwegian cruise, in part, so we could visit the fjords. After 16 days out of 20 we finally were able to see some beautiful Norwegian fjords. Geirangerfjord is one of the most beautiful and most visited of all. More than 100 cruise ships visit this slice of Norway during the tourist season from May to September. The town of Geiranger itself only has about 250 permanent residents, but in summer, several hundred thousand tourists descend on the village.
We took a 3-1/2 hour hike up onto a mountainside that proved to be quite strenuous. We learned that Nepalese sherpas built the path using large rocks that were brought in by helicopter. The sherpas positioned and secured the rocks, where needed, with iron and wooden pegs and wedges to make for a well-engineered foot path in order to climb up to the beautiful waterfall.
This is what we woke up to as we cruised through the Geirangerfjord. The little town of Geiranger sits at the back of the fjord.
Here's a shot of the Geirangerfjord from up above on our way to the hike start point. Our ship is off to the right.
This is what the surrounding countryside looks like from up above the fjord.
It was pretty cold during our hike up to the waterfall, but with all the expended energy, we stayed pretty warm.
This waterfall was our intended destinatiion. Once we got there, we discovered that we could actually hike down and behind it as seen below.
Here we are behind the waterfall. If you look closely to the right in this picture, there are more people in our hiking group coming down behind the falls.
In this photo you can see the work of the Nepalese sherpas. Not only did they fit the rocks into a very walkable path, but they also created short footbridges to span the small streams that come down the mountainside.
This photo shows the Geirangerfjord at the back where the actual town of Geiranger is located. There were four cruise ships in the fjord, and the sad part of this is that the MSC giant ship totally dominated the harbor looking from above on the mountain.
On the way out of the Geirangerfjord we sailed past the Seven Sisters Waterfall. We could only count six waterfalls!
Some of the passengers on our trip took a 7-hour bus ride overland between Geiranger and Hellesylt. After we got back from our hike, the ship sailed back down another fjord to pick them up in Hellesylt.
This is the town of Hellesylt, Norway. Its primary landmark is a waterfall right in the middle of town.
This is a shot looking back down the fjord from Hellesylt where we would sail upon leaving the fjord.