Week 36 - Norway

My week started on Vega Island. Unfortunately, my coastal hike literally fell into the water. On Tuesday, I went on another beautiful hike before taking the ferry to the mainland in the evening. On Wednesday, I hiked to Torghatten. The mountain has a natural tunnel that you can walk through. Luckily, the weather held up for the hike. I decided to backtrack a few kilometers as I felt like I wasn't making any progress. So on Thursday, I drove about 300 kilometers south, just before Trondheim. I stayed overnight at Storfossen waterfall, which gave me some much-needed movement after hours of driving. Friday was another day of driving, this time to the famous Atlantic Road. The road goes through small islands and bridges over the sea. One bridge is particularly popular. However, I can't see the charm of the curved bridge - it's just a bridge. On Saturday, I continued to the Troll Church. The hike was really great, and the cave at the end was the highlight. You need a headlamp for the cave because there is no light otherwise. When I arrived, there was no one else there, so I had to climb into the dark hole alone. After 70 meters, you reach a waterfall that cascades into the cave. If you climb a little higher outside, you can reach a second cave that is accessible by ladder. In Germany, exploring the caves would probably not be allowed, but once I overcame my fleeting fear of the darkness, it was really great and different from the usual :-) In the evening, I drove up the famous Trollstigen Pass. Even on the approach with a 10 percent incline, my engine was getting really hot. So I took another break at the foot of the pass and watched the others. I could see that the road is not dual carriageway, but often only one lane with pull-off points. I got sweaty palms, especially because I was really concerned about whether my motorhome could handle it. But I made it up, always keeping an eye on the engine temperature gauge. Just before the red area of the gauge, I was already considering what I could do. In the end, it just barely made it, and I took a long break at the first parking lot at the top. One situation was still 'tricky': in a curve, a coach bus was coming towards me. I backed up a bit so that the bus could pass correctly. I had only a few centimeters of space between the bus and the cliff. It is important to know that there is no real guardrail. So the bus was on the left and the cliff was on the right. I stayed overnight on the plateau after the Trollstigen, surrounded by snow-covered mountains and streams. The weather forced me to travel a bit faster in the past days because I really wanted to have good weather at the Geiranger Fjord. That's why I arrived here this morning. I got a spot at the campground right away and now I'm standing here with a fjord view for the next 2 nights. Currently, there is no cruise ship in the fjord, so the view is really amazing. Today, I went straight up again - to a viewpoint. The view was really great. I have already booked a boat tour for tomorrow because otherwise, you only see parts of the fjord and not the many waterfalls like the Seven Sisters at all.