Chapter 9: Geiranger but not Hellesylt
The Hellesylt, you say
07.27.2023 - 07.27.2023 54 °F
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Chapter 9: Geirangerfjord but not Hellesylt
Thursday, July 27, 2023
We sail to Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is “arguably the most famous fjord on the planet…with deep blue waters, towering mountain peaks and abundant waterfalls.” On one side is the Geiranger Skywalk, a platform rising almost 5,000 feet above us. Were we not aboard Silver Dawn, we could board a ferry between here and Hellesylt, scheduled to be our next stop but inexplicably skipped. It is a tiny village with a great heritage: it was once the first Viking port in Norway. Oh, well.
The brave souls who live in Geiranger are under unrelenting threat of a tsunami from the mountain Åkerneset which is slowly eroding into the Sunnylvsfjord. A 2015 Norwegian disaster movie, “The Wave” (or Bølgen) about how that might come about was the country’s Academy Award submission for best foreign film. It didn’t win. But you can catch it on Netflix; it's pretty good. To get here, one passes by (but doesn't stop at) Hellesylt, a 258-person village split in two by the Hellesyltfossen waterfall which sends a flood thundering over granite rocks. The seasonal torrent of water is created by melting snow.
Netflix viewers would enjoy six seasons of “Vikings” which ran from 2013 until 2020 and featured the brutal adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok. “Vikings: Valhalla” is its sequel. Valhalla translates to “great hall” where heroes slain in battle are received by the gods. It is the Norse Pagan equivalent to the west’s concept of heaven, ruled over by Odin, the god of war and death who sacrificed one of his eyes in trade for wisdom so as to “see everything that happens in the world.” These are the homelands of all that.
We are inland in the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county at Geiranger which itself is in the municipality of Stranda, at the head of the Geirangerfjorden which is a branch of the large Storfjorden. Ålesund town (where we were a couple of days ago) is two hours by car west of here on the Norwegian Sea. Getting here takes one through a spectacular fjord—a very long, very narrow, very deep inlet surrounded on both sides by high cliffs. Glaciers created these deep seawater covered ravines centuries ago and the remnants of one lingers still up the mountain. If the water covered formation is wider than it is long it is not a fjord. Because of the way fjords are nestled between mountains, they are sheltered from prevailing wind currents so the water is almost always quite calm.
Below us the fjord bottom is 850 feet down and the mountaintops alongside us are 5,500 feet up. The water stretches nearly 5,000 feet from left to right.
More importantly, you can get a more recent glimpse of Hellesylt by going to see the new movie, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The mind-blowing cliff-jumping-on-a-motorcycle-stunt was filmed in December of 2020 at Helsetkopen mountain in Hellesylt. The locals are now offering a “Mission Impossible 7 Filming Location Tour” promoting “Drive the curvy Eagle Road towards the adventure valley of Valldal. This is the area where Tom Cruise stayed in a cabin while preparing for filming the stunts in Hellesylt.” Silversea offered us--and we accepted--a drive up the Eagle Road from Geiranger, consisting of 11 hairpin bends, to reach the famous viewpoint Eagle Bend. From the top we can see the famous waterfalls De Syv Søstre (the Seven Sisters).
B4 is not one for cycling (ask her about her recent bike ride in the Maldives. Nor is B4 one for skydiving--a thing I did once in New Zealand and loved. Neither of us is a motorcyclist. For those reasons and more, our ride up hairpin/hairpin Eagle Road was inside the safety and comfort of a bus--or, as Silversea calls it--a coach. More than once, oncoming traffic would be forced to stop, back up, move over or otherwise accommodate those going the opposite direction. Nobody seemed to mind, however. But, of course, this is Norway. All for one, one for all.
Here is the description of the excursion quoted here from the ship's closed circuit television system:
But first, having taken the tour this morning, i'll give you my description. The scenic beauty is truly spectacular. As one winds up the road, you ultimately get past tree level to nothing but stone, water falls, and clouds (or maybe it is fog?). It feels like civilization ended, that is until you see the souvenir shop at the very top of the look out. The road too is private and a toll must be paid to get to the top. $25.00 for a car and $250.00 for a bus. Capitalism at its best. I have not purchased a single thing this trip other than a little sweater for our granddaughter - a miracle. The truth about the whole town of Geiranger is that civilization is close to ended. There is a population of about 200 people. There is a church and a general store as food has to be sold somewhere. There is an ambulance hut should someone have an accident or medical emergency, the ambulance will take you the 2.5 hour ride to the hospital. You can surmise for yourself what the survival rate may be given the distance one has to go. And of course that 2.5 hour drive is when the roads are not snowed in. They do have snow plows which pile the snow up on each side of the road to heights of 30 feet. In the summer months, for a reason i can't explain, Geiranger becomes one of Norway's most visited locations. What folks are doing there is a mystery unless they are participating in the summer farms raising goats and sheep. If one wants to escape the world and not be found, Geiranger might be the perfect spot. Last night we met 'Lilly' in the bar. She is Norwegian and here with her family celebrating her 90th birthday. She was going to visit today the hospital she was born in. i hope to ask her tonight just where that might be as it doesn't seem to be in Geiranger or anywhere close.
"Experience the magnificent natural splendor of Norway during this panoramic sightseeing tour. Your excursion features a picturesque drive through the mountains surroundings the Geirangerfjord. From the village of Geiranger at the head of the famous Geirangerfjord, drive up the Eagle Road, consisting of 11 hairpin bends, to reach the famous viewpoint Eagle Bend. From the top you can see the famous waterfalls De Syv Søstre (the Seven Sisters). Continue towards the Eid Lake surrounded by attractive farms, passing Eidsdal village and pause for memorable pictures.
Return via the same road, through Geiranger village to continue in the opposite direction, passing the little octagonal church, towards the Flydal gorge viewpoint: the perfect spot to capture the extraordinary mountainous scenery, in one of the most beautiful fjords of Norway.
You continue on the curvy road towards Djupvatn Lake. Situated at 3,378 feet above sea level, the Djupvatn Lake is normally covered by ice and show until the end of June, when it then transforms into beautiful clear blue waters. Fog, or perhaps a better description is low hanging clouds, both obscure and accessorize our views. Previous visitors have constructed countless cairns to both mark the place and give those of us who follow them notice that there were here before us.
Following along the mountain road, your journey will bring you to the summit of Mount Dalsnibba, which sits approximately 4,920 feet above sea level. Here, photographers will delight in the superb 360° views, and on a clear day you can see the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Geirangerfjord deep below. T'was fogged in.
Please note: This tour requires a minimal amount of walking; however, guests must be able to embark and disembark the coach via steps. Guests may remain on the coach during photo stops. This tour is suitable for guests with limited mobility. The routes taken by the coach are on winding roads, therefore it is not recommended to guests prone to motion sickness. The order of sights visited may vary. Local vehicles are utilised; coaches may not be equipped with air-conditioned cooling." On this day, the temperature is just about 54°and the sun never broke through the clouds so air-conditioned cooling was not required.
With heat provided from overhead people warmers, the two of us retired to the Silver Dawn Deck 7 fantail for a lunch repast, topped off by ice cream sundaes. We sure do love to cruise. After lunch, B4 is off for a massage at the spa while I, back in suite 1010, pen this entry as rain/drizzle drifts into our gorge. Internet here is spotty to terrible so there are fewer pix and flix to entertain you; they just wouldn't upload. Why? Well, it could be our remote location tucked into an open sliver of air blanketed in low clouds, flanked on three sides by 5,000 feet of sheer rock cliff. Yes, that could account for it.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight." Paul: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the sight of bread and peanut butter and jelly requested from the fancy butler in tails after he has presented prosecco on ice and evening canapés." Enjoy your pre-dinner PB&J, B4
Dinner tonight at a venue previously unknown to us: Silver Note, which turns out to be the hidden gem of the entire week. A New York piano bar bistro white-tablecloth, funky menu intimate space, it was very nearly perfect. Afterwards, almost the entire ships guest list gathered in Dolce Vita for a chocolate desert extravaganza: "Death By Chocolate." The band played, the singers sang, the culinary team over provided and took a bow and we ran into a couple of couples from Naples (FL) with whom we have much in common and shared good conversation about cruising and life in general. All of that after the Captain spun Silver Dawn in the middle of the fjord so we could all get a good look at the Seven Sisters waterfalls and the Suitor waterfall on the opposite wall of the fjord. I shot a time lapse of that but its not the best. Here it is anyway.
While not the final night of this cruise, it felt like the high point. Tomorrow will have a tough time topping it. What's that hackneyed old adage? "Wish you were here?" It applies.
