Day 19 - An exciting and scary one!

By the time we’d bought some milk, yoghurt, broccoli and fruit, then found a garage with a black waste dump (£3) it was 10 before we were off to have a look at dramatic Trollvegan, the highest vertical wall in Europe, its ragged summit rising 1800m from the valley floor. It was first climbed on 1958 by a joint Norwegian and British team.

Mr C had Trollstigen on his bucket list. This corkscrew of a road is apparently Norway’s most famous stretch of road. Completed in 1936 after 8 years of labour, the Troll’s Ladder is a stunning feat of road engineering, spiralling up the mountainside through 11 hairpin bends (it felt like many more!) and a 1:12 gradient. So off we went, stopping at the bottom to look up at it, then it was off up the hairpin bends on what is effectively a single-lane narrow road with slightly widen bits to allow passing . I did a lot of breathing in, holding my breathe and generally behaving like a total wimp. (I’m glad I didn’t react to the Cuillin Ridge like this or Skye 1 Gerry Ackroyd wouldn’t have put up with me). Eventually we reached the viewing point which was stunning. Down the other side was more gradual thankfully.

I thought that was it but Mr C decided we’d continue on, getting a ferry over the fjord and up the next scary lot of bends to the *iconic* (hate that term!) Geirangerfjorden, UNESCO-listed and considered to be one of the world’s great natural features, a majestic combination of huge cliffs, waterfalls and deep water. The drive also afforded stunning views from many stops on the way down to the village. No cruise ships today. We stopped by the fjord for our picnic - I couldn’t eat as I still felt sick.

The next climb was equally bad but again there were stunning views which did compensate, though I was really still not in the right frame of mind to fully appreciate them. To compound it all I tripped up a step after a photo stop and I and my phone crashed to the ground. It looks like the bottom corner of the phone is shattered but it could just be the screen protector. (No damage to me.) The blip is the famous view.

We carried on up more bends till we reached the last of the summer snow. It was a nice cruise down to a couple of little lakes where we have a lovely quiet spot for the night away from the road. Another UK van has joined us - they are slowly heading north and gave us a lot of tips about places to see.

It was love at first sight for #2 daughter and family and Sandy the rescue lurcher. She was very chilled and happy to play with the boys. They are arranging to pick her up soon.